Friends of Rochdale Art Gallery visit Rochdale’s Local Studies

The Friends of Rochdale Art Gallery at Touchstones (FRAG) group has been on its travels since August 2023 when the renovation of Touchstones began. Members have embraced both art gallery and museum collections for some time now. So, it was fitting to visit a key part of the heritage provision at Rochdale’s Local Studies and Archives Collection, Norman Road, Rochdale.

The formation of the Local Studies Collection dates to the late 1800s, and one of the earliest items in the collection is a land grant in Todmorden dating from 1318.

With the closure of Touchstones, it was relocated with help from Arts Council funding.

The Friends were met by centre manager, Janet Byrne, whose enthusiasm was infectious. Soon the group was immersed in Rochdale’s art and cultural heritage, submerged in fascinating material such as records of births, marriages and deaths, wills, mill ledgers, trade journals, maps and photographs and a library of information about the borough.

Particularly poignant, for example were record books of Birch Hill Hospital (formerly Littleborough Workhouse) in poor condition having been rescued from the demolition site. What a wealth of human stories there!

History is no longer restricted to old documents and artefacts but enhanced by modern technology. Guidance and access to computer study and research facilities is encouraged at the centre. One member was totally captivated by computer research into her family tree – a popular speciality of the centre.

Quite where this fantastic resource will eventually settle is unsure, but surely it will continue to be an integral part of the borough’s recent massive developments in arts and cultural heritage.

Future meetings of FRAG at Rochdale Music Service, The Butts, Rochdale.

• Thursday 13 February 2025: FRAG AGM, including a focused update from Mark Doyle, Director of Arts, Heritage and Wellness, Touchstones, with the very latest information available at the time
• Thursday 13 March 2025: Speaker Philip Dearden, ‘Harold Dearden – Artist son of Rochdale’

FRAG meets every second Thursday in the month: 1pm for 1.30pm at Rochdale Music Service 7–11 The Butts, Rochdale OL16 1XT
Annual Subscriptions £10; entry is £4 (£3 members)
More information from 01706 648872 or [email protected].

Dr Joe Dawson, interim chair of FRAG