Unseen pics reveal vision of shopping days past
PREVIOUSLY unseen pictures have been unveiled by Rochdale BID which show Yorkshire Street frozen in time exactly as it was on a busy summer day in the early 1990s.
The pictures were found by Rochdale Town Centre BID Manager Paul Ambrose in a dusty filing cabinet.
The first photo shows the bustling entrance to Rochdale Shopping Centre with people milling around, wearing shellsuits iconic of the era, with others showing popular shops Seniors, Allsports, a local bakery, and the recently opened McDonald’s as the fast food chain began to take over the UK.
What is most striking is the sheer amount of people - the town is bustling, filled with mothers with prams, pensioners in anoraks, people resting on benches and coming in and out of the shopping centres.
Many people commented on the pictures of Yorkshire Street with their memories on the Rochdale Town Centre’s social media.
Janet Gough said: “These photos almost made me cry, took me back to when Rochdale was the best shopping centre for miles around and was the place to be on a Saturday afternoon when you were a teenager for all your essentials.”
People also noticed the metal sheep outside the shopping centre, that are still there. Marie Rawlinson said: “I miss my grandma and grandad we used to meet up at the sheep every other day and go to the cafe for a brew can’t no more because they sadly passed.”
Francine Marshall said: “I had a Saturday job at Freeman Hardy Willis shoe shop about 1975. worked at Coombs shoe repairs when I left school.
“My auntie Linda O’Shea worked on the coat stall in the market with Jenny and a friend Josie Freeman worked opposite her.
“My grandad Ludlow also had an electrical shop near the Champness Hall.”