Tameside Local Studies and Archive Service

Tameside Local Studies Library Stalybridge Library Trinity Street Stalybridge Tameside SK15 2BN Tel: 0161 303 7937 Fax: 0161 303 8289

The Local Studies Library maintains a comprehensive collection of books specifically about the towns of Tameside, but it is also a research collection for relevant aspects of social and economic history such as textiles, transport, labour history, women's history, and Lancashire dialect. Works relating to Lancashire, Cheshire and the North West in general are also held. The library also takes a wide range of journals. Local newspapers are held from 1855 to date, the Manchester Guardian from 1821 to 1864, and the Cotton Factory Times from 1885 to 1937 are available on microfilm. The Local Studies Library holds comprehensive collections of census records, parish registers, maps (including small-scale county maps from 1577 and a wide range of Ordnance Survey maps), photographs of the area and its people, a small collection of engravings, posters and broadsheets. Many images from the photograph collection can be viewed online in the Tameside Image Archive at www.tameside.gov.uk/history. Local history slide packs, exhibitions, and slide packs designed for reminiscence work are also available for loan.

There is also a collection of oral history tapes, containing around 100 interviews with elderly residents of Tameside, recalling life in the area during the early 20th century. The library also holds tapes recorded by the former Manchester Studies Unit during the period 1974-1984, which explore themes such as domestic service, the cotton industry, and the Spanish Civil War. The collection also includes commercially-produced sound recordings by local musicians.

The archives comprise a wide range of records which document the history of Tameside. The surviving local authority records of the nine towns make up a large part of the holdings. Many local organisations - including churches, hospitals, schools, Mechanics Institutes, trade unions, and Turnpike Trusts - have deposited records with the library, as well as the Manchester Regiment. In addition, many individuals have donated personal papers, and local history societies and local businesses have deposited their archives.