Derby’s landmark Co-op Cow has been relit for the first time in over two decades, following a campaign by Central Co-op and Derby City Council to mark the International Year of Cooperatives.
The metal structure was designed and built in 1955 by the Derby Co-op Society as a “beacon” representing health and wellbeing, while advertising the Co-op dairy. The red and green sign, which also displayed the slogan “the gateway to health“, stood at the top of the Central Hall building until it was redeveloped 2001. It was removed during roofing work and repaired and returned to a more sheltered position on the east side of the building, where it remains today.
Central Hall has housed meetings and concerts for up to 1,200 visitors, including the 50th Trades Union Congress in 1918 and a host of distinguished performers, including jazz legend Louis Armstrong in 1933. The cow was relit on 1 March using sustainable white LED lighting.
“As a little girl, it was the Co-op cow. We had Co-op milk, and it was just part of Derby,“ said Elaine Dean, president of Central Co-op.
“We’ve been aware of how fondly the local community in Derby remembers the Co-op Cow and how it evokes so many happy memories. For decades, there has been a local desire to bring it back to its full glow, but it needed a clear and sustainable plan to achieve it.
“Central Co-op has listened to the community and taken the opportunity to reinstate this beloved landmark to its former glory using eco-friendly LED lights. What better way to celebrate the UN’s International Year of Co-operatives and its theme, ‘Co-ops Build a Better World’, than to restore a welcoming beacon of such joy and heritage to our Derby community.”
Baggy Shanker, Labour MP for Derby South, added: “I’ve lived in Derby my whole life, so I know just how much the Co-op Cow means to local people – with memories spanning generations.
“I’m delighted that Central Co-op has brought the light back to this special and unique piece of Derby’s heritage for generations to come.”
