Context 165 - August 2020

C O N T E X T 1 6 5 : A U G U S T 2 0 2 0 37 Food and drink little remains of this 19th-century CWS estate. Goods were transported by horse and cart, so depots were designed to facilitate easy access. Newcastle’s branch occupied a series of ware- houses planned by local architects Oliver and Leeson, culminating in an elaborate head- quarters (1893–9), now the city’s Discovery Museum. Within the U-shaped building was a glass-covered yard, open at one end, where local societies brought their wagons. Although a one-way system operated, the yard did get congested. Most other depots, including those designed by the CWS architects’ department, formed in 1896, had vehicle roadways run- ning straight through the buildings. Their mas- sive gateways are still visible at the former Manchester headquarters. The depots operated as warehouses, show- rooms and multi-functional factories; in Newcastle, bacon processing, pickle making and coffee roasting were three of the many trades undertaken. In addition, from 1873 the CWS moved rather gingerly into manufacturing, initially with a biscuit works at Crumpsall in the north of Manchester. Larger factories soon followed, including what was then Britain’s biggest footwear factory, Leicester’s Wheatsheaf Works (1891). During the first decade of the 20th century the CWS opened so many new mill complexes that by 1913 it claimed to be the nation’s largest flour miller. Between the wars The inter-war years were something of a boom time for co-ops and the CWS. Overall society membership rose, although the number of indi- vidual co-ops declined through amalgamations. Societies built new stores, about a thousand annually by the end of the 1920s, a third of them designed by the CWS architects’ department. They introduced mobile shops and increased deliveries, often using motor vehicles; co-op garages, for maintenance and storage, became commonplace. Many co-ops ran their own bak- eries and dairies. Doorstep milk deliveries were popular with members: the Derby society sup- plied over 70 per cent of the city’s houses daily in 1924, while by 1939 Bristol’s co-op needed around 300 electric milk floats to keep pace with demand. A few former co-op bakeries of this era remain, one of the largest being Southend’s (1920–1) with its enormous beehive pediment. Surviving inter-war dairies are rare; Batley’s odd arts-and-crafts-cum-modernist example (1932–3) may be the only one. A CWS postcard of around 1927 promoting its architects and building services. This ideal bungalow-style branch survives in Old Colwyn. Wakefield co-op’s Unity House (1901–4) retains its traditional shopfronts. The tall second floor windows light its main assembly room, Unity Hall.