A monumental exhibition of work from Signs by Umberto inspired by the history of Mossley's high street and the reasearch and collections of the Mossley Heritage Centre.
Up Our Street is a community engagement and heritage programme enabling people to explore the rich history of Mossley’s high street and those stories and elements that contribute to making our high street a fantastic place to work, visit and explore. The project draws on research compiled by Mossley Civic Society on the history of ‘Mossley shops through the years’, the wonderful collections of the Mossley Heritage Centre, our own research at The Vale and research from volunteers and local artists.
The history of Mossley’s high streets is the history of its people. Though times change and the high streets have had their ups and downs, they continue to serve the community well, with their many friendly shops, pubs, cafes and community centres. Mossley is home to the first Co-operative Society in Tameside opened in 1856, has been a Fairtrade town since 2011 and our research revealed that JD Sports actually began on one of Mossley’s high streets, as well as having a strong claim to be home of the worlds oldest chippy? For a small town, it has always had a lot going on!
It has been fascinating uncovering little known tales of the town’s past and we’re delighted to share them with you on these pages. So best foot forward, jump in and have a mooch around ‘Up Our Street’.
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Up Our Street is supported by the Welcome Back Fund, which provides councils across England a share of £56 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to support the safe return to high streets after the pandemic.
Though Centre For Cities data shows that smaller towns are recovering faster than their larger neighbours, with Manchester in the bottom 10 cities for post-Covid footfall recovery, towns like Mossley have still been badly affected.
On Saturday 26th March 2022 we held a day-long celebration of Mossley’s high street, with events around the town including artist talks, a light-hearted guided walk with comedy characters Jebediah Heckerslike and Obediah Ifyoulike, a reminiscence workshop, participatory art installation and the unveiling of an unofficial blue plaque to a high street giant.
No account of Mossley’s high streets would be complete without a special mention and thanks to the Mossley Town Team. The team work tirelessly to make our town a beautiful place to be and a community we can all be proud of. From fund raising and arranging local events, to planning and maintaining the planters and hanging baskets around the town, they really are the flourishing fabric of Mossley.
‘Painting the Town’ is a new outdoor art trail curated by Woodend Mill based artist Chris Cyprus, featuring work by Chris along with Liz Ackerley, Hugh Winterbottom, Phil Craven and students from Mossley Hollins High School. The works aim to reflect the character, landscape, buildings and townsfolk of Mossley with large-scale paintings installed around the town and smaller works around Mossley Market Ground and at St Joseph’s RC Primary School.
The art trail is funded through private sponsorship and the Welcome Back Fund.
Nestled down the cobbles of Queen Street is the Emmaus Mossley Secondhand Superstore, arguably the most eclectic charity shop in the North of England. This thriving social enterprise at the heart of the Mossley community sells a wide range of donated furniture, household items, clothes, bric-a-brac and vintage wares. Emmaus has its own workshops where donated goods can be repaired, refurbished, reupholstered and upcycled.
Emmaus Mossley is much more than a large charity shop though, it’s a thriving community that is home to 26 formerly homeless people. The people supported by the charity, known within Emmaus as companions, work alongside local volunteers in all areas of the social enterprise, gaining skills and valuable work experience. The social enterprise sustains the charity and in so doing, gives people a home, stability and a fresh start in life.
2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of Emmaus Mossley. Be sure to attend their celebration events throughout the year to bag some bargains and feel the community spirit of Mossley. Look out for a very special Carnival Celebration in partnership with Global Grooves on Saturday 17th September.
Visit the website to find out more about the amazing work of Emmaus and how your support can make a real difference to the lives of others : https://emmaus.org.uk/mossley/
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Pop your email address in the box here and we’ll send you updates about our work, including how to get involved. We promise we won’t inundate your inbox, but you will be able to unsubscribe at any time.
