The Co-op, Broad Street, Ely

History of the Co-Op

Ann Powell recalls: The Co-op occupied the rest of the building on that side to the corner of Victoria Street. A small door on the right led to the bakery. Here they unloaded sacks of Canadian flour, which had survived the wolf packs of the German Reich in the submarine infested North Atlantic. With them came a bonus. The sacks were not made of hessian but of fine strong cotton and, joy upon joy, covered in red or green spots.These were soon washed and made into smocked dresses for small grirls along the street. … In the centre of the Co-Op Miss Bidwell, like a Valkyrie with her blonde plaits round her head, held sway in the cash deak as the tubes of money whizzed in and out on the wires festooning the ceiling. 

Audrey Denton in Broad Street, Ely, 1991, writes about reminiscences of Mrs Florence Flack from the 1930s. Mrs Flack had her wedding cake made in the Co-op Bakery at the cost of £1 10s. There was also a large function room over the shop which could be hired for functions.

In 1894 the premises were enlarged to provide departments for Grocery, Provision, Drapery, Boots, Shoes, Hardware and Coal Stores.