The Co-operative Movement traces its history back to the 1840s, and most towns all over Britain were eventually served by a local co-operative society. Societies set about retailing – to meet a huge variety of needs, and rewarded customers with a “Dividend” – a sum of money returned to the customer in proportion to how much he or she had spent.

But societies wanted to be more than just retailers and this talk covers the variety of activities provided by Co-operative Societies.

Ned originally hailed from Essex but moved to the Black country at the age of eighteen. His many interests include railways, cinemas and theatres, film-making, the fairground and the circus, Black Country history and shops and other buildings. As well as giving talks, he has written a number of books on all of these subjects.