Rochdale vyes to be UK Town of Culture

4 hours ago

Paul BurnellNorth West

Two dancers dressed as birds in 2025, when the town was Greater Manchester Town of Culture

Rochdale Council Two dancers dressed in illuminated bird costumes in Rochdale's 2025 Flight of Fancy parade — Two dancers dressed as birds in 2025, when the town was Greater Manchester Town of Culture

The town known as the birthplace of the modern co-operative movement has entered the fray to be named 2028 UK Town of Culture.

Rochdale has its eye on a £3m prize from the Department for Media Culture and Sport (DCMS) to fund a year-long cultural programme.

The competition invites towns across the UK to showcase their cultural story. The bid - currently at the Expression of Interest stage - is led by Rochdale Council and Rochdale Development Agency, in conjunction with cultural groups, education providers and community organisations.

In its bid, Rochdale cites the town's legacy to UK political and social history, alongside its musical heritage as the home of the influential Cargo Studios.

Cargo Studios became an important site for the postpunk and alternative music scene hosting bands such as Joy Division and Echo and The Bunnymen

Black-and-white image of Joy Division. From left: Ian Curtis, with short dark hair and an open-necked shirt, Bernard Sumne, in a dark sweater, thin black tie, Stephen Morris with short dark hair and an open-necked shirt, and Peter Hook, with open-necked shirt - he has lighter hair and a beard. He is sitting on a table a little in front of the others. — Cargo Studios became an important site for the postpunk and alternative music scene hosting bands such as Joy Division and Echo and The Bunnymen

The Rochdale Pioneers were a group of 28 working-class individuals who founded the town's groundbreaking co-operative society.

In 1844 they created a member-owned shop based in Rochdale's Toad Lane.

The shop was run according to ethical principles, such as democratic control and profit-sharing, and was intended to counteract poor food and high prices elsewhere.

Those principles, which became known as the Rochdale Principles, went on to provide the foundation on which co-operatives around the world operate to this day.

The Town of Culture bid also cites the role Rochdale has played in the UK's democratic history, highlighting the achievements of figures such as Samuel Bamford and John Bright.

In 1819, Bamford, a poet and activist, led reformers from Rochdale to St Peter's Fields, witnessing the Peterloo Massacre and helping galvanise national movements for parliamentary reform.

Some 20 years later, Rochdale native John Bright MP, co-founder of the Anti-Corn Law League, spearheaded free trade.

Bright, an MP for Durham from 1843 to 1889, promoted free trade, electoral reform and religious freedom. A powerful speaker, his parliamentary work was implicit in encouraging the government to take the first steps towards Free Trade (1845) and in the eventual decision to repeal the Corn Laws in 1846.

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