|
St George's Square
and the
Spindles Shopping Centre
The outdoor market
Tommyfield Market
The
Arms of Oldham
Armorial
Bearings
"Sable, a chevron invected plain and cottised Or between three owls
argent; on a chief engrailed of the second a rose Gules, barbed
and seeded proper, between two annulets also Gules. On a wreath
of the colours, in front of a rock thereon an owl argent, three
roses fessewise Gules, barbed and seeded proper."
Explanation
and description
of the Arms
Shield : white and gold with an inverted gold (Or) chevron, plain
and fancy, separating three owls. On the top (Chief) white (Argent)
section a full red rose of Lancashire and on either side a red ring
(Annulet). Crest : An owl standing on a rock above three Lancashire
Roses and a multicoloured wreath. Motto : "Sapere Aude". (meaning:
Dare to be Wise). The arms are largely based on those of Hugh Oldham,
Bishop of Exeter and local philanthropist who founded the Manchester
Grammar School. His arms carried the Owl with the letters "D.O.M."
issuing from the beak on a scroll - a visual pun "Owl-dom", for
the town name as it is pronounced in local dialect. This device
is still in current use by boys of Manchester Grammar School today,
and features in its simplest form on their blazer pocket badges
and school ties. The rock on which the crest owl stands is thought
to represent Oldham's high geographical setting on the edge of the
Pennine Hills.
|
Contemporary
Oldham
Oldham has
outgrown many of the less fortunate stereotypes of its past. It
is a thoroughly modern and pleasant town, with a great deal of
modern refurbishment in evidence, as well as many examples of
fine civic architecture from the past.
The impressive modern Civic Centre complex has housed most of
the local government's offices since its completion in 1977. Its
dominating tower stands over 200 feet high and was built at a
cost of £6,800,000. Much of its town centre has been made into
traffic-free pedestrian zones, where entertainments and children's
carousels abound. It appears prosperous and thriving, and its
people offer a warm welcome to visitors. Its former hilltop isolation
has been replaced by a fast and effective transport infrastructure,
with the M62 motorway accessing its doorstep, and regular and
plentiful buses and trains connecting it to Manchester and other
neighbouring towns.
Although cotton mills and coal mines have all but disappeared
nowadays, it still retains vestiges of its old Hatting Industry,
and it was in Oldham that the hat worn by Harrison Ford in the
"Indiana Jones" films was made. Town Square has a major bus interchange
with destinations all over Greater Manchester and beyond.
Within a few miles of its busy centre lies open countryside, and
the hills of the Pennines surround it like a girdle. Within the
town are places of retreat, with pedestrian squares like George's
Square offering a green oasis where shoppers and workers may relax
from business amongst well maintained gardens and modern sculptures.
Shopping
in Oldham
Shopping in
Oldham is facilitated by 3 large shopping complexes - The Spindles
Centre, the Town Square Shopping Centre, and the Tommyfield Market
Hall. The Spindles is hailed as a state of the art shopping centre,
and is prominent in both its size and location in the heart of
the town. As well as over 40 retail shops, banks and cafés, it
includes a 250 seat open food court, all situated beneath one
of Europe's largest stained glass roofs which were designed by
local artist Brian Clarke and depicts the life and times of one
of Oldham's famous sons, the composer Sir William Walton, who
was born in Oldham in 1902. Oldham's Town Square Shopping Centre
is also centrally located, and offers a complex arrangement of
covered malls and clean and spacious shopping facilities under
one roof. Tommyfield Market is claimed to be the largest indoor
permanent market in England, and with its over 300 traders it
might well be, as stalls spread outside into the market grounds,
and every kind of produce and artefact can be bought here. Its
strange name derives from "Tommy's Field", it having formerly
been a meadow which local pig-breeder Tommy Whittaker rented from
local farmer, Sir Nathanial Curzon.
In the past Tommyfield has been the cultural heart of Oldham,
with its once-famous fairs and side-shows, circuses and political
rallies.
Oldham's Tourist
Information Centre is situated inside the Tommyfield Market Hall.
Telephone : 0161-627 1024.
The town also
boasts Oldham College, a renowned local higher educational establishment,
a local orchestra, major theatrical venues like the Oldham Coliseum
and the Grange Arts Centre, and Oldham Athletic Football Club
(known locally as "'latics"). Beyond the town centre, the borough
offers several parks for the visitor.
Saddleworth on the boroughs south-eastern border offers a wild
landscape which extends into the Peak District National Park.
It also is the home of the Saddleworth Museum where visitors may
take afternoon leisure cruises on the local canal. The Medlock
Valley between Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham provides another rich
natural environment with a network of footpaths and bridleways,
as well as parks and golf courses.
The town has a number of minority ethnic communities, including
Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Ukrainian, Chinese, Indian and Afro-Caribbean.
These communities offer a wide range of cultural experiences and
arts groups as well as excellent restaurants. Among its other
celebrities are numbered the opera singer Dame Eva Turner, who
was born in the town in 1892, the English Cricket Captain Mike
Atherton, and the England Football Team Captain David Platt. Sports
and the arts are well represented in the town, with a large new
Sports Centre, an Art Gallery and town Museum.
Part of Oldham's most recent cultural enterprise has been to set
modern sculptures made by local artists throughout the town centre.
These figure in the Oldham Town Trail, a circular walking route
around the town centre which takes in most of the sites of interest
and importance. A leaflet outlining the Trail is available from
the Tourist Information Centre in Tommyfield Market.
|
