Sheffield Co-operative Society

[2] The Co-op opened shops around the city, and set up its first branch in Sheffield City Centre in 1929, on the corner of Exchange Street and Waingate, on part of the former site of Sheffield Castle.

The store, which also housed the headquarters of the Brightside and Carbrook, featured a massive granite facade with a zigzag canopy.

Inside, the focus was on a cantilevered spiral staircase connecting all the floors, under a partially glazed dome and a sculpture of a bird.

[5] Eleanor Barton, a prominent co-operative movement activist, was for many years the secretary of the Brightside and Carbrook's Hillsborough branch, and later became a director of the organisation.

[6] Other prominent members included Michael Palin, who joined the Brightside and Carbrook Co-operative Players in the 1960s.