Is the Owl to become a flamingo? ......... Oldham in 2018

Now, I thought about that that song by the Oldham Tinkers which laments the passing of an older Oldham, after Andy Robertson sent over some of his latest pictures of the town.

The Star, King Street ...... now a food outlet, 2018

Is the Owl to become a flamingo?,  appeared on their LP, Oldham’s Burning Sands which was issued in 1971, and perfectly captures that sad reflection for what was happening to the town in the late 1960s.

And of course those changes were not just happening to Oldham, because whole swathes of terraced streets, with their mix of 19th century houses, pubs and factories were being swept away in shinny new redevelopment schemes, some of which have also now vanished.

The Buck & Union, Union Street, 2018

The pubs were often the last to go, and even now some still appear as isolated buildings surrounded by open land with new social housing just beyond the grass.

Back in the 1970s when were in Ashton we would sometimes take the bus up the Oldham Road to the town, and more recently I have “jumped” the tram from Chorlton.

And that is what Andy did yesterday, and on a wet miserable, grey day he recorded some of the pubs and some of the former pubs around the metro stop.

George Tavern, George Street, 2018

Leaving me just to mention the link which will take you to the story of the Owl and the flamingo**

Location; Oldham

Pictures; Oldham, 2018, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Oldham’s Burning Sands LP  TOPIC TSDL206 STEREO, The Oldham Tinkers, Ballads, Songs & Daft Ditties, First published by Topic 1971

 **Is the Owl to become a flamingo?  The Oldham Tinkers, http://www.oldhamtinkers.com/the-owl-of-oldham.html