Next door

In Toad Lane, Rochdale is this splendid pub - The Baum. Next door to it, to the left of the picture, is the shop where the world's first Co-op opened for business, exactly 167 years and one day ago. I will blip the shop when its current refurbishment and extension is completed, during 2012, the International Year of Cooperatives. Meanwhile, the beer is very good indeed.