Oldham

Toponymy The toponymy of Oldham seems to imply "old village or place" from Eald (Saxon) signifying oldness or antiquity, and Ham (Saxon) a house, farm or hamlet. Oldham is however known to be a derivative of Aldehulme, undoubtedly an Old Norse name. It is believed by some to be derived from the Old English ald combined with the Old Norse holmi or holmr, meaning "promontory or outcrop", possibly describing the town's hilltop position. It has alternatively been suggested that it may mean "holm or hulme of a farmer named Alda". The name is understood to date from 865, during the period of the Danelaw. Cumbric alt, meaning "steep height, cliff", has also been suggested for the first element. Early history The earliest known evidence of a human presence in what is now Oldham is attested by the discovery of Neolithic flint arrow-heads and workings found at Werneth and Besom Hill, implying habitation 7–10,000 years ago. Evidence of later Roman and Celtic activity is confirmed by an ancient Roman road and Bronze Age archaeological relics found at various sites within the town. Placenames of Celtic origin are still to be found in Oldham: Werneth derives from a Celtic personal name identical to the Gaulish vernetum, "alder swamp", and Glodwick may be related to the modern Welsh clawdd, meaning "dyke" or "ditch". Nearby Chadderton is also pre-Anglo-Saxon in origin, from the Old Welsh cadeir, itself deriving from the Latin cathedra meaning "chair". Although Anglo-Saxons occupied territory around the area centuries earlier, Oldham as a permanent, named place of dwelling is believed to date from 865, when Danish invaders established a settlement called Aldehulme. From its founding in the 9th century until the Industrial Revolution, Oldham is believed to have been little more than a scattering of small and insignificant settlements spread across the moorland and dirt tracks that linked Manchester to York. Although not mentioned in the Domesday Book, Oldham does appear in legal documents from the Middle Ages, invariably recorded as territory under the control of minor ruling families and barons. In the 13th century, Oldham was documented as a manor held from the Crown by a family surnamed Oldham, whose seat was at Werneth Hall. Richard de Oldham was recorded as lord of the manor of Werneth/Oldham (1354). His daughter and heiress, Margery (d.1384), married John de Cudworth (d.1384), from whom descended the Cudworths of Werneth Hall who were successive lords of the manor. A Member of this family was James I's Chaplain, Ralph Cudworth (father of the Cambridge Platonist philosopher Ralph Cudworth). The Cudworths remained lords of the manor until their sale of the estate (1683) to Sir Ralph Assheton of Middleton. Industrial Revolution and cotton '' by James Howe Carse (1831), depicts the early skyline and industrial activities of Oldham. All the green space has since been urbanised. Much of Oldham's history is concerned with textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution; it has been said that "if ever the Industrial Revolution placed a town firmly and squarely on the map of the world, that town is Oldham." Oldham's soils were too thin and poor to sustain crop growing, and so for decades prior to industrialisation the area was used for grazing sheep, which provided the raw material for a local woollen weaving trade. By 1756, Oldham had emerged as centre of the hatting industry in England. The rough felt used in the production process is the origin of the term "Owdham Roughyed" a nickname for people from Oldham. It was not until the last quarter of the 18th century that Oldham changed from being a cottage industry township producing woollen garments via domestic manual labour, to a sprawling industrial metropolis of textile factories. The climate, geology, and topography of Oldham were unrelenting constraints upon the social and economic activities of the human inhabitants. At above sea level and with no major river or visible natural resources, Oldham had poor geographic attributes compared with other settlements for investors and their engineers. As a result, Oldham played no part in the initial period of the Industrial Revolution, By 1911 there were 16.4 million spindles in Oldham, compared with a total of 58 million in the United Kingdom and 143.5 million in the world; in 1928, with the construction of the UK's largest textile factory Oldham reached its manufacturing zenith. At its peak, there were more than 360 mills, operating night and day; Oldham's townscape was dominated by distinctive rectangular brick-built mills. Oldham was hit hard by the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861–1865, when supplies of raw cotton from the United States were cut off. Wholly reliant upon the textile industry, the cotton famine created chronic unemployment in the town. By 1863 a committee had been formed, and with aid from central government, land was purchased with the intention of employing local cotton workers to construct Alexandra Park, which opened on 28 August 1865. Said to have over-relied upon the textile sector, twice the number of their nearest rivals Dobson & Barlow in Bolton and Asa Lees on Greenacres Moor. Coal mining On the back of the Industrial Revolution, Oldham developed an extensive coal mining sector, correlated to supporting the local cotton industry and the town's inhabitants, though there is evidence of small scale coal mining in the area as early as the 16th century. The Oldham Coalfield stretched from Royton in the north to Bardsley in the south and in addition to Oldham, included the towns of Middleton and Chadderton to the west. The Oldham Coalfield was the site of over 150 collieries during its recorded history. Although some contemporary sources suggest there was coal mining in Oldham at a commercial scale by 1738, older sources attribute the commercial expansion of coal mining with the arrival in the town of two Welsh labourers, John Evans and William Jones, around 1770. Foreseeing the growth in demand for coal as a source of steam power, they acquired colliery rights for Oldham, which by 1771 had 14 colliers. The mines were largely to the southwest of the town around Hollinwood and Werneth and provided enough coal to accelerate Oldham's rapid development at the centre of the cotton boom. At its height in the mid-19th century, when it was dominated by the Lees and Jones families, Oldham coal was mainly sourced from many small collieries whose lives varied from a few years to many decades, although two of the four largest collieries survived to nationalisation. In 1851, collieries employed more than 2,000 men in Oldham, although the amount of coal in the town was somewhat overestimated however, and production began to decline even before that of the local spinning industry. Today, the only visible remnants of the mines are disused shafts and boreholes. Social history , Oldham, 1900 Oldham's social history, like that of other former unenfranchised towns, is marked by politicised civil disturbances, as well as events related to the Luddite, Suffragette and other Labour movements from the working classes. It has been put that the people of Oldham became radical in politics in the early part of the 19th century, and movements suspected of sedition found patronage in the town. Oldham was frequently disturbed by bread and labour riots, facilitated by periods of scarcity and the disturbance of employment following the introduction of cotton-spinning machinery. On 20 April 1812, a "large crowd of riotous individuals" compelled local retailers to sell foods at a loss, whilst on the same day Luddites numbering in their thousands, many of whom were from Oldham, attacked a cotton mill in nearby Middleton. On 16 August 1819, Oldham sent a contingent estimated at well above 10,000 to hear speakers in St Peter's Fields at Manchester discuss political reform; it was the largest contingent sent to Manchester. John Lees, a cotton operative and ex-soldier who had fought at Waterloo, was one of the fifteen victims of the Peterloo Massacre which followed. The 'Oldham inquest' which proceeded the massacre was anxiously watched; the Court of King's Bench, however, decided that the proceedings were irregular, and the jury were discharged without giving a verdict. Annie Kenney, born in nearby Springhead, and who worked in Oldham's cotton mills, was a notable member of the Suffragette movement credited with sparking off suffragette militancy when she heckled Winston Churchill, and later (with Emmeline Pankhurst) the first Suffragist to be imprisoned. Oldham Women's Suffrage Society was established in 1910 with Margery Lees as president and quickly joined the Manchester and District Federation of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. The Chartist and Co-operative movements had strong support in the town, whilst many Oldhamers protested in support of the emancipation of slaves. At least 20 people were injured in the riots, including 15 police officers, and 37 people were arrested. Similar riots took place in other towns in northern England over the following days and weeks. The 2001 riots prompted governmental and independent inquiries, which collectively agreed on community relations improvements and considerable regeneration schemes for the town. There were further fears of riots after the death of Gavin Hopley in 2002. == Governance ==

Civic history of the former County Borough of Oldham council, granted 7 November 1894, based upon those of an ancient local family surnamed Oldham. The owls suggest that the family, like the town, called itself 'Owdham', and adopted the birds in allusion to its name. The motto "Sapere aude" ("Dare to be wise") refers to the owls. Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Oldham was recorded in 1212 as being one of five parts of the thegnage estate of Kaskenmoor, which was held on behalf of King John by Roger de Montbegon and William de Nevill. The other parts of this estate were Crompton, Glodwick, Sholver, and Werneth. Oldham later formed a township within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham, in the hundred of Salford. As Oldham had an 1881 population of 111,343 it duly became a county borough on 1 April 1889. The borough, while independent of Lancashire County Council for local government, remained part of the county for purposes such as the administration of justice and lieutenancy. In 1951 parts of the Limehurst Rural District were added to the County Borough of Oldham, and in 1954 further parts of the same district added to it on its abolition. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the town's autonomous county borough status was abolished, and Oldham has, since 1 April 1974, formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, within the Metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. Created as a parliamentary borough in 1832, Oldham's first parliamentary representatives were the radicals William Cobbett and John Fielden. Winston Churchill began his political career in Oldham. Although unsuccessful at his first attempt in 1899, Churchill was elected as the member of Parliament for the Oldham parliamentary borough constituency in the 1900 general election. He held the constituency for the Conservative Party until the 1906 general election, when he won the election for Manchester North West as a Liberal MP. After he became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1940, Churchill was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Oldham, on 2 April 1941. Politics In the 2016 European Union membership referendum, Oldham voted in favour of Brexit. The vote to leave was 60.9%. == Geography ==

At (53.5444°, −2.1169°), and north-northwest of London, Oldham stands above sea level, northeast of Manchester city centre, on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock. Saddleworth and the South Pennines are close to the east, whilst on all other sides, Oldham is bound by other neighbouring towns, including Ashton-under-Lyne, Chadderton, Failsworth, Royton and Shaw and Crompton, with little or no green space between them. Oldham experiences a temperate maritime climate, like much of the British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild winters. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. On 23 November 1981, an F1/T2 tornado formed over Hollinwood and later passed over Oldham town centre, causing some damage. Oldham's topography is characterised by its rugged, elevated Pennine terrain. It has an area of . The geology of Oldham is represented by the Millstone Grit and Coal Measures series of rocks. The River Beal, flowing northwards, forms the boundary between Oldham on one side and Royton and Shaw and Crompton on the other. To the east of this river the surface rises to a height of at Woodward Hill, on the border with the parish of Saddleworth. The rest of the surface is hilly, the average height decreasing towards the southwest to Failsworth and the city of Manchester. The ridge called Oldham Edge, high, comes southward from Royton into the centre of the town. is characterised by its red-brick cotton mills and surrounding terraced houses. Oldham's built environment is characterised by its 19th-century red-brick terraced houses, the infrastructure that was built to support these and the town's former cotton mills – which mark the town's skyline. The urban structure of Oldham is irregular when compared to most towns in England, its form restricted in places by its hilly upland terrain. public expenditure was seen as an overhead that undermined the competitiveness of the town. There is a mixture of high-density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Oldham. There is some permanent grassland but overwhelmingly the land use in the town is urban. The territory of Oldham is contiguous with other towns on all sides except for a small section along its eastern and southern boundaries, and for purposes of the Office for National Statistics, forms the fourth largest settlement of the Greater Manchester Urban Area, the United Kingdom's third largest conurbation. The M60 motorway passes through the southwest of Oldham, through Hollinwood, and a heavy rail line enters Oldham from the same direction, travelling northeast to the town centre before heading northwards through Derker towards Shaw and Crompton. Divisions and suburbs . Much of Oldham's housing stock is two-up-two-down rows of terraced houses, a reminder of its mill town history. Many of Oldham's present divisions and suburbs have origins as pre-industrial hamlets, manorial commons and ancient chapelries. Some, such as Moorside, exist as recently constructed residential suburbia, whilst places like Hollinwood exist as electoral wards and thoroughly industrialised districts. Throughout most of its recorded history, Oldham was surrounded by large swathes of moorland, which is reflected in the placenames of Moorside, Greenacres moor, Littlemoor, Northmoor among others. A large portion of Oldham's residences are "low value" There is more modern housing in the semi-rural east of the town, in the most sought after area in areas such as the village Moorside, although terraces are found in almost all parts of Oldham. One of the oldest recorded named places of Oldham is Hathershaw, occurring in a deed for 1280 with the spelling Halselinechaw Clugh. Existing as a manor in the 15th century, Hathershaw Hall was the home of a Royalist family in the 17th century who lost part of their possessions due to the English Civil War. Waterhead, an upland area in the east of Oldham, traces its roots to a water cornmill over the border in Lees. Recorded originally as Watergate and Waterhead Milne, it was for a long time a hamlet in the parish of Oldham that formed a significant part of the Oldham Above Town registration sub-district. Derker was recorded as a place of residence in 1604 with the name Dirtcar. Bound by Higginshaw to the north, Derker is the location of Derker railway station and, said to have terraced residencies "unsuited to modern needs", is currently being redeveloped as part of the Housing Market Renewal Initiative. Coldhurst, an area along Oldham's northern boundary with Royton, was once a chapelry and the site of considerable industry and commerce, including coal mining, cotton spinning and hat manufacture. It is said to have been the scene of an action in the English Civil War in which the Parliamentarians were defeated. == Demographics ==

According to data from the United Kingdom Census 2001, Oldham had a total resident population of 103,544, making it the 55th most populous settlement in England, and the 5th most populous settlement of the Greater Manchester Urban Area. Coldhurst, Hollinwood, St. James, St. Marys, St. Pauls, Waterhead and Werneth, has an average age of 33.5, and compared against the average demographics of the United Kingdom, has a high level of people of South Asian heritage, particularly those with roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Due to the town's prevalence as an industrial centre and thus a hub for employment, Oldham attracted migrant workers throughout its history, including those from wider-England, Scotland, Ireland and Poland. During the 1950s and 1960s, in an attempt to fill the shortfall of workers and revitalise local industries, citizens of the wider Commonwealth of Nations were encouraged to migrate to Oldham and other British towns. == Economy ==

For years Oldham's economy was heavily dependent on manufacturing industry, especially textiles and mechanical engineering. Since the deindustrialisation of Oldham in the mid-20th century, these industries have been replaced by home shopping, publishing, healthcare and food processing sectors, though factory-generated employment retains a significant presence. It has been extensively redeveloped during the last few decades, and its two shopping centres, Town Square and the Spindles, now provide one of the largest covered retail areas in Greater Manchester. The Spindles (named with reference to textile spindles) is a modern shopping centre with over 40 retailers, banks, building societies and catering outlets. It houses several of Europe's largest stained glass works, a series of ceilings and skylights created by local artist Brian Clarke in celebration of the life and music of one of Oldham's famous sons, composer and conductor Sir William Walton. That "vital contribution to advancing medical science" resulted from a collaboration between local firm Seton and a cotton manufacturer in the town. There are claims that Oldham was the birthplace of the first chip shop. The sometimes disputed claim of trade in deep-fried chipped potatoes is said to have been started around 1858–60 from an outlet owned by a John Lees, on what is the present site of Oldham's Tommyfield Market. In 1900 Oldham had the highest concentration of chip shops in the country, one for every 400 people. Yates Wine Lodge was founded in Oldham by Peter and Simon Yates in 1884. Park Cake Bakeries, sold in 2007 by Northern Foods Group to Vision Capital, have a large food processing centre in Hathershaw, which employs in excess of 1,600 people. Over 90% of the cakes produced go to Marks & Spencer. Long existing as an industrial district, Hollinwood is home to the Northern Counties Housing Association, Ferranti Technologies is an electronic, electromechanical and electrical engineering company based in Waterhead. The majority of poor families are now working families. Coldhurst in Oldham has child deprivation rate of 62.1pc, which is the worst in the UK. Oldham Athletic's contribution to the local economy have been strengthened by its community links as well as its fortunes on the field. Despite some success in the early 20th century which almost saw the club win the Football League title in 1915, the club has spent most of its time outside the top division of English football, including a 68-year spell between 1923 and 1991 – when it won promotion to the First Division a year before it became the FA Premier League. The club then survived for three years in the FA Premier League, which encouraged high attendances and boosted the club's finances as well as boosting the local economy as it struggled to recover from post-industrial decline. Between 1990 and 1994, the club also reached two FA Cup semi-finals (taking Manchester United to a replay on both occasions) and were on the losing side in a Football League Cup final. The club's subsequent years, however, have been less successful, with relegation in 2018 to the fourth tier of the English league for the first time in almost 50 years. The club's financial situation has also declined, as have its attendances, in accordance with fortunes on the pitch. == Landmarks ==

, built in 1841, following its conversion into a multiplex cinema is the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham's centre of local governance. Town Hall Oldham's Old Town Hall is a Grade II listed Georgian neo-classical town hall built in 1841, eight years before Oldham received its borough status. One of the last purpose-built town halls in northwest England, In September 2008, it was reported that "Oldham Town Hall is only months away from a major roof collapse". A tour taken by local councillors and media concluded with an account that "chunks of masonry are falling from the ceilings on a daily basis ... the floors are littered with dead pigeons and ... revealed that the building is literally rotting away". Plans to convert the hall into a leisure complex, incorporating a cinema and restaurants, were revealed in May 2012 with the hall itself being used for public consultation. This £36.72 million project was completed in 2016. In the heart of Oldham's retail district, the Old Town Hall has been developed into a modern multiplex Odeon cinema. War memorial Erected as a permanent memorial to the men of Oldham who were killed in the First World War, Oldham's war memorial consists of a granite base surmounted by a bronze sculpture depicting five soldiers making their way along the trenches in order to go into battle. The main standing figure, having climbed out of the trenches, is shown calling on his comrades to advance, and is the same figure used at the Royal Fusiliers War Memorial in London and the 41st Division memorial at Flers in France. The base serves to house books containing the roll of honour of the 1st, 10th and 24th Battalions, Manchester Regiment. The pedestal has two bronze doors at either side. It was unveiled by General Sir Ian Hamilton on 28 April 1923, before a crowd estimated at over 10,000. It was designed by Cecil Howitt & Partners, It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. It was linked with the church of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich and together the sites were principal churches of the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham. == Transport ==

, pictured in Oldham's town centre. First Greater Manchester has its headquarters in Oldham, operating bus services throughout Greater Manchester. The geography of Oldham constrained the development of major transport infrastructure, with the former County Borough Council suggesting that "if it had not grown substantially before the railway age it would surely have been overlooked". Trains from Manchester Victoria station to Oldham had to climb steeply through much of its route, from around at Manchester city centre to around at Oldham Mumps. The Werneth Incline route closed in 1963. It had been replaced as the main route to Manchester by the section of line built between Oldham Werneth Station and Thorpes Bridge Junction, at Newton Heath in May 1880. Oldham Mumps, the second oldest station on the line after Werneth, tram running through Union Street, on the Oldham town centre line opened in January 2014. Oldham had electric tramways to Manchester in the early 20th century; the first tram was driven from Manchester into Oldham in 1900 by the Lord Mayor of Manchester. The system came to an end on 3 August 1946, however. There was also a short-lived Oldham trolleybus system, in 1925–26. Oldham bus station has frequent bus services to Manchester, Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne and Middleton with other services to the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Tameside, and across the Pennines to Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. The roof canopy is supported internally on two rows of steel trees. The extensive use of glass and stainless steel maximises visibility, and there is a carefully co-ordinated family of information fittings, posters and seating, using robust natural materials for floors and plinths. Despite the Turnpike Act 1734, Oldham had no turnpike road to Manchester for another 56 years and Church Lane, Oldham remained part of the main street through the town. But following a further Act of Parliament a turnpike was constructed. The first regular coach service to Manchester came into operation in October 1790, with a journey time of over 2 hours and a fare 2s.8d (about 13p), with half fare for travellers on top of the coach. Oldham is about south of the major M62 motorway, but is linked to it by the M60 at Hollinwood, and A627(M) via Chadderton. There are major A roads to Ashton-under-Lyne, Huddersfield, Manchester, and Rochdale. The Hollinwood Branch of the Ashton Canal was a canal that ran from Fairfield in Droylsden, through Littlemoss and Daisy Nook Country Park to the Hollinwood area of Oldham, with a branch from Daisy Nook to the Fairbottom Branch Canal. The canal was mainly used for the haulage of coal until it fell into disuse for commercial traffic in the 1930s. It included four aqueducts and a two-rise lock staircase. == Sport ==

is Oldham's main sports stadium, and is used by Oldham Athletic A.F.C. and Oldham RLFC Oldham Rugby League Football Club was established in 1876 as Oldham Football Club. They played at Watersheddings for years before joining Oldham Athletic A.F.C. at Boundary Park until 2010 when they moved to Oldham Borough's previous ground, Whitebank Stadium. Oldham Athletic have achieved both league and cup successes, particularly under Joe Royle in the 1990s. Oldham Netball Club's senior team is the 2019–2020 national league division 1 champion and has won seven out of the last eight titles. Former players include England's most capped player Jade Clarke. Oldham has league cricket teams with a number of semi-professional league clubs including Oldham CC, and Werneth CC, both playing in the Greater Manchester Cricket League (GMCL). Oldham CC was one of the founding members, in 1892, of the Central Lancashire Cricket League, which closed in 2015. The Manchester Fencing Centre in Oldham opened in 2015 in the former Osborne Mill, and at was said to be "the largest centre of its kind". The Marshall Fencing Club trains there, under head coach and Commonwealth games medallist Stuart Marshall, and in 2019 won six gold medals at eight national ranking events. ==Media==

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter, and one of the two local relay transmitters (Dog Hill and North Oldham). Local radio stations are BBC Radio Manchester, Heart North West, Smooth North West, Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West (formerly The Revolution), Capital Manchester and Lancashire, and community based radio stations: Oldham Community Radio and Radio Cavell that broadcast to hospital patients at Royal Oldham Hospital in the town. Oldham local newspapers include the Oldham Advertiser, and The Oldham Times. == Education ==

is a centre for further education. is one of Oldham's oldest schools, dating back to 1834. Oldham produced someone who is considered The University Campus Oldham presented actress Shobna Gulati and artist, Brian Clarke (both born in Oldham) with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters at the Graduation Ceremony of November 2006, for their achievements and contributions to Oldham and its community. == Public services ==

Home Office policing in Oldham is provided by the Greater Manchester Police. The force's "(Q) Division" have their headquarters for policing the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham at central Oldham. Public transport is co-ordinated by Transport for Greater Manchester. Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, which has two stations in Oldham; at Hollins on Hollins Road, and at Clarksfield on Lees Road. The Royal Oldham Hospital, at Oldham's northern boundary with Royton, is a large NHS hospital administered by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. It was opened under its existing name on 1 December 1989. Formerly known as Oldham District and General, and occupying the site of the town's former workhouse (named Oldham Union Workhouse in 1851), Waste management is co-ordinated by the local authority via the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Locally produced inert waste for disposal is sent to landfill at the Beal Valley. Oldham's distribution network operator for electricity is United Utilities; there are no power stations in the town. United Utilities also manages Oldham's drinking and waste water; There is a water treatment works at Waterhead. == Culture ==

Oldham, though lacking in leisure and cultural amenities, and Anne Kirkbride, and Minnie Driver, among others, have appeared more recently. During the 19th century the circus was a popular entertainment in Oldham; Pablo Fanque's circus was a regular visitor, filling a 3,000-seat amphitheatre on Tommyfield in 1869. Formerly criticised for its lack of a cinema, The Lyceum is a Grade II listed building opened in 1856 at a cost of £6,500 as a "mutual improvement" centre for the working men of Oldham. The facilities provided to members included a library, a newsroom and a series of lectures on geology, geography and education, microscopy and chemistry, female education and botany. Instrumental music was introduced and there were soon sixteen violinists and three cellists. Eventually the building was extended to include a school of science and art. Music had always been important in the life of the Lyceum, and in 1892 a school of music was opened, with 39 students enrolled for the "theory and practice of music". The Lyceum continued throughout the 20th century as a centre for the arts in Oldham. The Lyceum Players are a current amateur theatre company entering its 93rd year. They put on a varied programme of productions each season and the theatre is on the ground floor of the Lyceum building. In 1986 the local authority was invited by its directors and trustees to accept the building as a gift. Since then it has established itself as a cultural focus for Oldham and has developed one of the largest and most varied permanent collections in North West England. The current collection includes over 12,000 social and industrial history items, more than 2,000 works of art, about 1,000 items of decorative art, more than 80,000 natural history specimens, over 1,000 geological specimens, about 3,000 archaeological artefacts, 15,000 photographs and a large number of books, pamphlets and documents. Oldham is now home to a newly built state-of-the-art art gallery, Gallery Oldham, which was completed in February 2002 as the first phase of the Oldham Cultural Quarter. Later phases of the development saw the opening of an extended Oldham Library, a lifelong learning centre and there are plans to include a performing arts centre. 2016 marked ten years since the carnival was reinstated by volunteers. The main organiser is Paul Davies who runs the carnival with a number of committee members and volunteers. == International relations ==

Oldham is twinned with: • Geesthacht, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany • Kranj, Upper Carniola, Slovenia == Britain in Bloom ==

Oldham has had a pattern of success in the "best city" category in the national Britain in Bloom competition, winning in 2012 and 2014, and in several following years and gaining a gold award in 2019. Oldham Council financially support the awards, one of only five local authorities in the North West to do so. == Notable people ==

People from Oldham are called Oldhamers, though "Roughyed" is a nickname from the 18th century when rough felt was used in Oldham to make hats. Edward Potts was a renowned architect who moved to Oldham from Bury. He was the architect for fourteen mills in the Oldham area. Other notable persons with Oldham connections include the composer Sir William Walton, former British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, the artist Brian Clarke, and Louise Brown, == See also ==