Contents:
- Editor's welcome
- John Kay - Man of Rochdale
- Photography by Karl
- Rochdale Cycling Club
- Rochdale Borough Police Force »
- Northern Baroque Orchestra
- Junction 21 Executive Travel
- ‘Keeping Rochdale Dancing’ for 70 years
- Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy
- Skylight Circus Arts
- Interview with Keith Hicks - Rochdale AFC
- Rare Innocenti Mini Cooper
- Birds at Hollingworth Lake
- Noddy's Puncture
- Addams Family - Theatre Review
- Take a walk in Healey Dell
- Hairdressing Trend - Precision Haircut
- Carole Kelly - Woman of Rochdale
- Scones & Strawberry Jam recipe
- Burn those calories but don't singe your skin
- Plastic-free glitter created in Rochdale
Summer 2019Rochdale Borough Police Force
50th ANNIVERSARY OF AMALGAMATION WITH LANCASHIRE CONSTABULARY
The 50th anniversary of the amalgamation of the Rochdale Borough Police Force into Lancashire Constabulary was commemorated on 1 April 2019 at Rochdale Town Hall.
To celebrate the day, the Rochdale Branch of the National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO) invited surviving members, together with widows/widowers, of the old Rochdale Borough Police Force, to the usually closed off police cells at Rochdale Town Hall where the area containing six cells, including one for females, with a toilet in each as well as a shared bathroom at the end of the block, could be browsed.
Members of NARPO organised displays of memorabilia and photographs throughout the cells from when the local force was formed, up to the amalgamation on 1 April 1969.
Ranging from ceremonial swords from 1870, to Hiatt Nipper handcuffs used in court escort from 1910, the cell blocks were filled with local history.
In April 1857 when the Rochdale County Borough Police was formed, there were 15 serving officers: one superintendent, two sergeants and 12 constables. The first working year of the police force cost £1,235.
112 years later, on Sunday 30 March 1969 at 10.00am, Rochdale Borough Police Force assembled for the very last time in a parade from Rochdale Town Hall to Rochdale Parish Church of St Chad’s.
There were over 200 officers and workers on Rochdale Borough Police Force at that time. Keepsakes were gifted to all of the force at a farewell service at St Chad’s, taking place before the amalgamation with other forces into a new Lancashire Constabulary.
NARPO aimed to provide those same treasured keepsakes and produced a commemorative reminder for the 50th anniversary, like the ones received 50 years ago at the farewell service to remind the officers of their work.
Secretary of the Rochdale Branch of the Retired Police Officers Group, John Bamford, said: “This celebration is purely a show of appreciation for those who truly policed the town, before we even had radios or computers, and every street was manned.
“The people here are Rochdale people through and through.
“I joined the police force in 1978 and when I retired in 2009 I made sure to stay in touch with all the men. Some of the people we contacted to join us today have come from as far as the Isle of Man, Scotland and even Australia.
“Thank you to everyone who has joined us at this celebration.”