Help Identify Oldham From The Air
Do you know where in Oldham this is? (picture: GMP)
Archivists from Greater Manchester Police are asking for help in identifying this image of Oldham. It was found in the force’s collection of pictures but there’s no label on it, so it’s not clear exactly where or when it was taken.
The experts are particularly keen to know which mills are shown in the photo, and whether any of the buildings are still standing.
If you’ve got any ideas, please do leave a comment beneath this article.
Last month, Saddleworth News published another classic image from the Oldham police archives, featuring several mystery men posing for the camera. To take a look at that, and read some interesting comments about the picture, click here.
More archive images of the police in Oldham can be viewed at GMP’s Flickr page here.
The Greater Manchester Police Museum in Manchester’s Northern Quarter is well worth a visit. It’s open on Tuesdays, and more information is available here.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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I dont recognise it but the one in the middle has Britannia Mills written on it, and a bit of googling mentions Bellfield although I am not aware of an area called this any more?
Hi,
Just had a quick look on our historic maps in OldhamInfo (www.oldhaminfo.org): Britannia Mills were in Busk, North of Middleton Rd (to the West of Coldhurst Ward). Seems to have been demolished poss between the wars, as our post-war map shows playing fields. Olive Mill, also named in the pic, was on Quebec St, off Featherstall Rd near to where the big Tesco’s now is.
cheers,
Martin
I say this with no shred of certainty, but the dip and bend in the road together with the mills reminds me of Dunham Street in Waterhead. But I am afraid it is all guess work on my part.I can put it no higher than that!
If you zoom in top right you can see ‘OLI’ on the mill chimney. Martin is right – it is the Olive Mill on Quebec Street. This was built in 1883 and demolished in the 1950s. The mill to the left is the Osbourne Mill (on Osbourne St). The one south west of that is Busk Mill (on Busk Rd). The the reservoir at the very bottom belonged to the Neville Mill. The street pattern’s still the same (the dog-leg on Busk Road, for example – check out Google Maps: tinyurl.com/6yf8a9r
). None of the mills exist anymore – long gone, like most of Oldham’s phenomenal 19th century industrial heritage.
I came across the writer “hot_ed2” who recalled that the Britannia Mills were largely destroyed by fire on 9 November 1932. Hence the photograph must pre-date that.