Oldham Things to Do Tips by Balam

The Huddersfield Narrow Canal, through the Saddleworth area of Oldham, re-opened in May 2001 following a £30 million restoration project funded mainly by the Millenium Commission and English Partnerships. It is more than 50 years since the waterway was last open to through navigation.

The canal played an important part in the development of the area during the Industrial Revolution. Now it's role has changed to that of a major attraction for visitors, providing leisure opportunities for towpath walks and canal boat rides aboard the Pennine Moonraker through breathtaking countryside.

The waterway runs for 20 miles between Ashton-under-Lyne and Huddersfield - passing through the scenic Saddleworth villages of Greenfield, Uppermill and Diggle - before entering the Standedge Tunnel through the Pennines.

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Above Oldham there is miles of moors.
Many people like to go walking on the Moors or just go for a drive over them to Visit Towns like Holmfirth.

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Hartshead pike serves as a focal point in the Oldham landscape, Many people will go for a walk up to the pike or just drive up and sit and look at the view, The pike is visible from miles around with unbroken views across 4 counties and has been a beacon hill through antiquity.

Before the Romans the local tribes lit fires here to celebrate the cycle of the seasons, there were many ancient sites close by, including a stone circle at Buckton Castle, once visible from the pike it is now sadly lost. It is highly probable that the druids worshipped at Hartshead Pike during the Iron Age, and sacrifices may have been held to appease their gods.

During the Roman occupation the area took on a more mundane role and became a beacon site, the trackways became routes for the Romans to navigate quickly between the fort at Buckton, and the Roman road at Limeside. The beacon may have been lit in times of unrest to warn the local garrisons.

After the departure of the Romans much of Oldham was inhabited by the Anglo Saxons. There has been some suggestion that the pike was the site where they held their mote (moot) - to appoint leaders and to create law, and the name Hartshead may come from their habit of marking a meeting place with the skull of a wild animal (although this is pure speculation).

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Directions: The pike can be reached from a minor road off the A669 at Lees. A pub called the Colliers Arms is not far from the pike, once used as a watering hole for miners working a nearby pit.

Daisy Nook is the name of an area of the Medlock Valley between Oldham, Failsworth and Ashton under Lyne. The River Medlock runs through a steep-sided, wooded valley between Oldham and Ashton under Lyne.
During the Victorian period, Daisy Nook began to be a destination for afternoons out. Families would picnic by the river, walk by the canal, take a boat ride at Crime Lake and visit one of the refreshment facilities. Each year at Easter visitors flocked from miles around to the large annual Daisy Nook Fair.
The canal stopped being used around the 1920s, but luckily were not filled in. In the 1960s and 70s the area was developed into a country park and the canals and basins were made into a feature for visitors. The area is very popular for short walks, sunbathing, fishing and horse riding, with several stables nearby. A garden centre is a magnet for many people and the Fair is still held each year.

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Park Bridge was a bustling, noisy centre of industry a hundred years ago. It is difficult to imagine now, as it has become a quiet backwater between Ashton under Lyne and Oldham.
There were a number of small collieries around Park Bridge, at Rocher Vale to the east and Fairbottom to the west, sending out their coal by means of a tram road to Fenny Fields Bridge, where the coal was loaded onto narrowboats on the Fairbottom Branch of the Ashton Canal.

The Lees family began developing iron works at Park Bridge in 1747. They also built housing and other facilities for their workers. The remains of a later rolling mill and cotton mill which were built close to a railway viaduct which has since been demolished,

When the Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Railway was built in 1861, crossing the Medlock Valley on a high viaduct, a branch led right through to the Rocher Vale works. Scrap iron was brought in by rail to be made into iron and steel goods.
The tramway to the canal was still used, however, and in 1865, the horses which had been used to pull the wagons, were replaced by a small locomotive engine called "The Ashtonian." This had to be specially designed to have a funnel that hinged downwards to enable it to pass through the tunnel between the foot of the viaduct and Rocher Vale, which was only six feet high and five feet wide!

The iron works and railway both closed in the 1960s. The railway viaduct was demolished, as was most of the the iron works. The remains have been landscaped and a heritage centre has been established in the Stables building. Goverment funding has enabled improvement's of the area, including making more of the industrial remains accessible to visitors.

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The Gallery Oldham provides a wide range of exhibitions of local Arts and crafts and activities targeted at different audiences of all ages within Oldham and the surrounding area's.
Also houses works by famous artists such as Lowery and Turner
Talks and tours, art and craft workshops, work with schools and artist residencies are all part of the gallery’s regular activities programme.

Gallery Oldham is open:

Monday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm. (Last admission to the galleries 4.30pm) Admission is free.

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Phone: 0161 770 4653
Address: Gallery Oldham, Greaves St, Oldham OL1 1AL
Directions: Gallery Oldham is situated on Greaves Street, just off Union Street. It is a few minutes walk from Oldham Mumps railway Station and Oldham Bus Station.
There is a bus stop on Union Street, next to the gardens in front of the Gallery.
Website: http://.galleryoldham@oldham.gov.uk
Other Contact: galleryoldham@oldham.gov.uk

Saddleworth Museum and Art Gallery is housed in a former textile mill next to the Huddersfield narrow canal. Exhibitions feature local archaeology, handicrafts and customs, ranging from the Romans to the present day. There are preserved looms and other items of textile machinery, from some of the many mills in the area and includes an 18th century weavers cottage reconstruction. The museum gallery features work by contemporary artists and travelling exhibitions. Guided tours are available by prior request.

A shop and Tourist Information Centre provide an opportunity to acquire a souvenir of the visit.

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Phone: (01457) 874093
Address: High Street, Uppermill, Oldham, OL3 6HS
Directions: A627M Oldham to A62 Oldham by-pass, onto A669 then A670 to Uppermill. Museum on the left after entering the village.
Website: www.saddleworthmuseum.co.uk

Situated on a hill above Delph is Castleshaw Roman Fort (Rigodunum) . The banks and ditches of the fort have been reconstructed during Archeological work to give an impression of the scale of the fort as it was. There is a display board which tells the story of the landscape, archeology and history of the site.

Rigodunum - The Fortress of the King
The Roman name for Castleshaw is purely Celtic in origin, from the words rigon 'king' and dunum 'fortified encampment', easily translated as 'the King's Fort', although it is not known which Celtic monarch is implied in the name. The name cannot apply to the Roman fort, which was probably built here in order to mount an offensive against a nearby Brigantian stronghold, and it is this unknown native fort after which the Roman site was later named.
The Flavian Auxiliary Fort

This fort measures 360 by 300 feet inside the defences giving an occupation area of just under 2½ acres. The rampart is 18 feet wide on average, and constructed partly of turf and partly of clay. There is a 15 foot wide ditch close to the rampart, with an outlying, smaller, second ditch on the weaker sides. All four gates were of timber construction, the main eastern and western gateways were double. Originally built during the Flavian period, the fort was abandoned for some time before the site was later re-used.

The original fort was demolished in the second century and replaced by a much smaller fort or fortlet, on the same site. The "Castleshaw II" fort measured 160 by 190 feet outside the defences, which consisted of a 13 feet wide turf rampart, probably having a timber walkway and palisade along the top, with a timber double-gateway in each of the longer sides. Internal buildings were mainly of timber but at least one stone building is indicated. Artifacts found on the site suggest an occupation date of c.AD100-120

Picture from http://www.webbaviation.co.uk

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Phone: 01457 874276

Oldham Parish church was built in 1930 In a Gothic style. the interior was restored in the 1970s to the original design.
The Crypt contains Oldham's "giant" and a Crusader's coffin

Tours can be arranged by phoning John Dunkerley on 0161 626 6216

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Phone: 0161 624 4866
Address: Rock St, Oldham

Oldham Library was built in a Victorian Gothic style and the Building was opened in 1883.
An Industrial exhibition ran in the building for 2 years until enough funds were raised to stock it with books. it was then reopened as a library, art-gallery and museum in 1885

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