Oldham

Oldham is a former textile town in Greater Manchester, 7 miles northeast of city centre in the foothills of the Pennines. The main reason to visit is to explore the villages and valleys leading into the Pennines. In 2024 the population was 205,500.

This area was little more than sheep farms until well into the 18th century. Oldham manufactured hats, but the early industrial revolution passed it by: the town is perched on a chilly ridge some 700 ft (200 m) above sea level, with no rivers to drive waterwheels or canals to transport materials. 19th-century steam power made all the difference, fired by coal from the town's own coalfield, and Oldham suddenly became the world's leading cotton-milling town, outstripping Manchester and Bolton. This textile industry crashed in the late 20th century and the town has yet to reinvent itself.

Historically Oldham was in Lancashire, while the area of Saddleworth just east was in Yorkshire, including the villages of Delph, Diggle, Greenfield and Uppermill. In 1974 the county border was moved east onto the crest of the Pennines, and all those villages became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham within Greater Manchester.

Manchester Airport (MAN ^IATA) to the south of the city has frequent trains to city centre. Pick a train that continues through Piccadilly to Victoria, where you change for the tram to Oldham as below. You can ride the tram all the way from the airport and change trams at Deansgate, but it's much slower for scant fare saving.

Oldham is a motorists' shortcut to the airport: A663 through Chadderton cuts off an angle between M62 and M60 for transpennine traffic.

53.5404-2.11221 Oldham Central is served by Metrolink trams (pink and grey lines), which take 30 min from Manchester Victoria via Newton Heath and South Chadderton. Trams run every 5-10 min 6AM-midnight. Oldham is in Fare Zone 3 so in 2026 a single journey from city centre is £3.80. The pink line continues east to Shaw, Milnrow and Rochdale, all in Zone 4. Westbound, the lines run through Victoria to St Peters Square, Deansgate, Chorlton and East Didsbury. Change in city centre for all other lines.

The only mainline railway station in the area is at Greenfield near the Pennine village of Uppermill. This has hourly trains from Piccadilly via Stalybridge and Mossley (both near Ashton-under-Lyne) which continue east to Marsden and Huddersfield.

You'll probably approach either on M60 which circles Manchester, or on M62 from the Leeds / Bradford area then take the A627(M) spur into town.

A62 leads from central Manchester, 20-45 min depending on the traffic.

National Express NX540 / 541 runs from London Victoria to Manchester every hour or two, change in city centre. On F, Sa and Su only there’s a direct bus, taking 7 hours via Milton Keynes and heading for Rochdale.

Transport in Greater Manchester is co-ordinated by TFGM, branded as Bee Network. See their website for fare deals and journey planner, a day ticket is often a good option.

Trams (above) are often the quickest transport even if you have to go into city centre then out again. It's worth riding one extra stop beyond town centre just to get off at a place called Oldham Mumps - a mumper was a beggar.

53.5433-2.11572 Oldham Bus Station is north side of town centre. The main routes are:

• Bus 83 / 84 from Piccadilly takes 40 min via Newton Heath and Hollinwood, every 10 min. Bus 84 continues hourly to Uppermill.
• Bus 81 from Piccadilly takes 55 min via Moston, every 30 min.
• Bus 59 from Piccadilly takes 70 min via Cheetham Hill, Middleton and Chadderton, every 10 min.
• Bus 409 from Rochdale takes 70 min via Thornham and Royton to Oldham, continuing to Hathershaw and Ashton-under-Lyne. It’s every 10 min M-Sa, every 20 min Su.
• Bus 184 from Huddersfield takes 80 min via Marsden, Diggle and Uppermill. It’s hourly M-Sa and every two hours Su.

Over a dozen taxi firms ply in town.

• Oldham Owls are the sculpture in Parliament Square. "Owls, Owldham", geddit?
• Gallery Oldham, 35 Greaves St OL1 1AL, ☏ +44 161 770 8000. Tu-Sa 10AM-5PM. Art gallery plus museum. Free. (updated Sep 2026)
• 53.5335-2.10441 Alexandra Park, half a mile south of town centre, is a pleasant green space with gardens and a boating lake.
• 53.505-2.1232 Daisy Nook Country Park, Stannybrook Rd, Failsworth (Bus 230 / 231). Daily 9AM-4PM. Attractive area in the Medlock valley, with the disused Hollinwood Branch Canal running through. There are woodlands, a lake, and open meadows with bridleways and footpaths. There's a cafe and toilets with access for wheelchairs and pushchairs.  (updated Sep 2026)
• 53.574-2.1443 Tandle Hill is an upland park with beech woods and open grassland, with a panorama of the surrounding countryside. The woods were planted early in the 19th century to prevent radicals using the area as a marching and drilling space. Multiple access points, Bus 409 towards Rochdale passes half-a-mile to the east.
• 53.5467-2.00754 Saddleworth Museum and Art Gallery, High St, Uppermill OL3 6HS (Bus 84 / 184), ☏ +44 1457 874093. Daily 1-4PM. Small museum in a former textile mill. The gallery features work by contemporary artists and travelling exhibitions. Adult £3, conc £2.  (updated Sep 2026)
• Huddersfield Narrow Canal runs for 20 miles, connecting the Ashton Canal in Ashton-under-Lyne with the Huddersfield Canal on the other side of the Pennines, via 74 locks and the 5675 yard (5189 m) Standedge Tunnel. Opened in 1811 (after huge expense, labour, and two disastrous floodings of the village of Marsden), it operated until 1943, fell into disrepair, but was completely re-opened in 2001. It's only seven feet wide, and the tunnel has no towpath: "leggers" had to lie atop the barges and apply feet to walls, for one shilling and sixpence per load. The canal above Oldham climbs out of the Tame valley at Uppermill to Diggle, where it plunges into the tunnel to Marsden in Yorkshire. Bus 180 / 184 runs alongside the route. No, not through the tunnel.
• 53.631-2.0965 Hollingworth Lake Country Park is in Littleborough near Rochdale.

• 53.5425-2.108061 Oldham Coliseum, Fairbottom St OL1 3SW, ☏ +44 161 624 2829. Theatre with a full programme of repertory and an annual pantomime. Local talents Eric Sykes and Dora Bryan learned their trade here, as did many others including Charlie Chaplin.  (updated Sep 2026)
• Cinema: Odeon is in Parliament Square by the shopping centre.
• Golf: nearby courses are Oldham GC, Werneth GC, Blackley GC, Crompton and Royton GC, Bishop Park, and Saddleworth GC.
• The Pennine Way is a long-distance hiking trail from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders. The local section follows the crest of the ridge bordering Yorkshire, and there are other walking trails around Saddleworth Moor, Wessenden Moor and Standedge. It's not the most scenic part of the Pennines, a plateau of impervious gritstone topped by a peat bog, without the limestone that embellishes the Peak District to the south and the Yorkshire Dales to the north. But the trails are well marked, with boardwalks over the boggier sections, and the landscape is haunting and spare. Saddleworth Moor has a dark history: it's where the "moors murderers" Ian Brady and Myra Hindley buried four of their young victims 1963-65. One of the bodies has never been found.
• Football: 53.5553-2.12862 Oldham Athletic, Boundary Park OL1 2PA, ☏ +44 161 624 4972. "The Latics" play soccer in League Two, the fourth tier. Their Boundary Park Stadium (capacity 13,500) is half a mile east of the A627(M) / A663 junction.  (updated Sep 2026)
• Rugby league: "The Roughyeds" also play at Boundary Park Stadium, in the Championship, RL’s second tier. The playing season is Feb-Oct.

• Town Square and The Spindles are effectively a single shopping centre, open daily with the usual big-name retailers. Other stores are along High St and Union St.
• Tommyfield Market, founded 1788, is on Henshaw St OL1 1LJ, within the hall and spilling out across the square. It's held M-Sa 9AM-5PM, and on Sunday (6:30AM-noon) there's a car boot sale.

• Valentino's, 8 Retiro Street OL1 1SA, ☏ +44 161 624 6002. W, Th & Sa 5:30-10PM, F 11:30AM-2PM, 5:30-11PM, Su 2-9PM. Cosy place for Neapolitan fare. (updated Sep 2026)
• Molino Lounge in the former Town Hall is open Su-Th 9AM-10PM, F Sa 9AM-11PM.
• Café East is Indian, at 13 Yorkshire St, open Sa-Th 9AM-11PM, F 4-11PM.
• Casa Brasil at 7 Church Terrace is open W, Th & Su noon-8PM, F Sa noon-11PM.
• Lahori Grill at 92 Yorkshire St is open M-W 5-11PM, Th F 2-11PM, Sa Su 1-11PM.
• Shimla’s at 23 King St is open daily noon-2AM.
• 53.5486-2.12611 Westwood East, Westwood House, Eleanor Street OL1 2NN, ☏ +44 161 621 0101. Su-Th 5-11PM, F Sa 5PM-midnight. Great Indian food in a large restaurant on two floors. Not licensed for alcohol so bring your own.  (updated Sep 2026)
• Toby Carvery, Burnley Lane, Chadderton OL1 2QS. Daily 8AM-11PM. Traditional British roasts. It's next to Travelodge at the south terminus of A627(M) where this becomes A663 Broadway. (updated Sep 2026)
• 53.5404-2.14932 San Rocco, 195 Broadway, Chadderton OL9 8RR, ☏ +44 161 624 3298. Tu-F noon-2PM, 5-9:30PM, Sa noon-10PM, Su 10AM-9PM. Large friendly Italian restaurant.  (updated Sep 2026)
• 53.558-2.10383 Blue Tiffin, Higginshaw Lane, Royton OL2 6LH, ☏ +44 161 628 2005. M-F 5-11PM, Sa 4PM-midnight, Su 3:30-10PM. Plush Indian place, slick service and nice food.  (updated Sep 2026)

• George Tavern at 42 George St is open Th & Su 5PM-2AM, F Sa 3PM-2AM.
• Up Steps Inn is a JD Wetherspoons at 17 High St, open Su-Th 8AM-midnight, F Sa 8AM-1AM.
• Town Hall Tavern on Yorkshire St is open Su-Th 10AM-10PM, F Sa 10AM-1AM.
• The Old Bank at 50 Yorkshire St is open M-Th 10:30AM-11PM, F Sa 10:30AM-midnight, Su noon-11PM.
• Fox & Pine at 18 Greaves St is open daily noon-10PM.
• The Tommyfield at 1A Henshaw St is open M-Sa 10AM-11PM, Su 11AM-11PM.

Most accommodation is by the motorways.

• 247 Hotel on Manchester Street is the closest to town centre.
• Victoria Hotel on Hollinwood Ave, Chadderton is being used for asylum-seekers in 2026.
• 53.5223-2.16441 Premier Inn Oldham Broadway, The Broadway, Chadderton OL9 8DW, ☏ +44 333 321 1381. Value-for-money chain hotel. B&B double £110.  (updated Sep 2026)
• Fairway Inn is a pub with rooms half a mile south of Premier Inn on Nuthurst Rd, New Moston M40 3NL.
• 53.555-2.14112 Travelodge Oldham Chadderton, Burnley Lane, Chadderton OL1 2QS, ☏ +44 871 559 1836. Decent budget chain hotel, rooms facing main road can suffer from traffic noise. Toby Carvery is next door. B&B double £85.  (updated Sep 2026)
• Premier Inn Oldham Central is on Westwood Leisure Park near the football stadium.
• 53.5691-1.98953 The Diggle Hotel, Station Houses, Diggle OL3 5JZ, ☏ +44 1457 872741. Hotel and pub with cosy rooms and good restaurant.  (updated Sep 2026)
• 53.5643-2.01954 Old Bell Inn, Huddersfield Rd, Delph OL3 5EG, ☏ +44 1457 870130. Pub-restaurant with 18 rooms in an 18th-century coaching inn, the bar has over 1100 varieties of gin. No dogs. B&B double £140.  (updated Sep 2026)

Be careful along Yorkshire Street late evening, and you have no reason to venture into the rough estates of Glodwick, Fitton Hill or Sholver.

As of Sep 2026, Oldham and its approach roads have 4G from Vodafone, and 5G from EE, O2 and Three.

• You can hardly fail to take in Manchester, just half an hour away.
• Rochdale 7 miles north is a former mill town on the edge of the Pennines.
• The Brontë Country stretches over the Pennines, centred on Haworth but stretching from Leeds to Burnley.

Liverpool ← Bolton ←	anticlockwise  clockwise	→ Ashton-under-Lyne → Sheffield
merges with / ←	S  N	→ junction (Leeds) → Rochdale
Central Manchester ← Failsworth ←	SW  NE	→ Marsden → Huddersfield