College Bank in the picture

COLLEGE Bank Exhibition

- BY MATTHEW HAIGH

ROCHDALE, a town famous for many things in its history - the birthplace of the co-operative movement and the many famous people that grew up here such as the England lioness Keira Walsh, Gracie Fields, Lisa Stansfield and Sue Devaney.

This is something that Rochdale can always pride itself on, its people. One such dale-born citizen, Ellie Waters, shares images she has taken but also the pictures taken by her grandfather, M J Burgess in the Notes from College Bank exhibition.

This exhibition began at perhaps one of the most famous and interesting parts of Rochdale, the “Seven Sisters” blocks of flats and continued through the centre of the borough while stopping periodically to hear aural recollections from different people from the borough and their experiences of living here.

This really added a layer of emotion to the whole exhibition as an example of a heartfelt moment was the line ‘I think he likes me - just doesn’t love me enough to stay with me’ was a sentence that truly hit deep within.

Another emotion that should be noted here also is the feeling of nostalgia from the way Rochdale used to be. This was generated by images of the black box and pictures of carnivals, old buildings that are no longer standing and other such infrastructure of the past.

But all these buildings tell a story, a story of grit, passion and determination of workers from the mills, factories and other such labour-intensive work that made Rochdale what it was, what it is and what it will be.