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The Towers

A history of Summervale and Crossbank

The Towers: A history of Summervale and Crossbank is a digital community project designed to create a digital archive of the West Street Area in Coldhurst, Oldham, with a focus on the time Summervale House and Crossbank House stood (1975 - 2022).

This site hosts a timeline of personal stories, news, and archival images, to allow you to explore this part of Oldham’s history, as told by residents, neighbours, and those who passed through. It’s arranged chronologically, to show the changing area through time, and follows the stories of those living in and around the towers.

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1920

  • A black and white photograph showing Elk Mill, a five storey brick building with lots of windows, and a smokestack to the rear which reads ELK in large white letters.

    Elk Mill opened in Oldham in 1927. Lancashire had long been a global centre for cotton manufacturing, and Oldham had developed a specialism as a spinning town. By 1890, Oldham’s mills were responsible for 12% of the world’s cotton spinning capacity. Cotton dominated the town’s economy, providing employment for tens of thousands of local people. Elk Mill was the last mule spinning mill ever to be built in Britain, designed by architect A Turner and Son, and run by the company Shiloh Spinners. The cotton mill cost ¼ million to build, had 107,240 spindles and employed 400 people. At the time Elk Mill was built, the industry was in decline — Elk Mill’s modern technology was seen as a potential solution for this decline, and provided work for many working class mill workers in Greater Manchester.

    oldham news

1930

  • An Ordinance Survey map showing West Street and the surrounding area, with the mill (referred to as ‘Summervale Mill’) at the centre.
  • A black and white aerial photograph showing Summervale Mill and the surrounding streets, which are mostly terraced houses with some other industrial buildings.# If there is one
  • A photo of a white card on brown paper. At the top left of the card ‘1933’ is written in blue crayon. On the card is an illustration of an elk, surrounded by ‘Elk Mill’ in decorative red lettering. The card reads ‘December, nineteen hundred and thirty-three. Once again Christmas comes. It reminds me of old friends and also the coming of a new year with all its possibilities. May our future relationships be as pleasant as the past… We have valued your business and desire you to accept our thanks… Our aim, as it always has been, is to be consistent in quality and service… With all good wishes, We are yours faithfully, ELK MILL. Royton, Lancashire’

    Shiloh Spinners both ran Elk Mill and were heavily involved in the everyday lives of their workers. A key statement of their work practises included their involvement with their workers in social activities. Workers would engage with sports day activities as well as pageants, and more. These qualities of leadership made workers quite fond of Shiloh Spinners, and many were excited to work for the company.

    oldham history

1940

  • I was born on Crossbank Street, Oldham in 1946. Crossbank Street ran along from the corner of Manchester Street. From my home on Crossbank Street you could look down towards Manchester Street which had shops running down it. Bankside Mill could be seen through the junction. It was then an engineering factory, selling wood instead of coal.

    Sheila

    surrounding estate

1950

  • A scan of a yellowed photograph of the view along Butler Street, with visible signs of age. There is a washing line hung across the street, and the top of a pointed tower barely visible in the distance. At the bottom of the photo, some text reads Butler ST. 1950.
  • A scan of a yellowed photograph of a road junction at Crossbank Street. The road pictured is wet with rain, and there is a black car in the foreground behind some shrubbery. There is a shop on the corner, and some billboards opposite.

  • During the 1950s and 1960s, in an attempt to fill the shortfall of workers and revitalise local industries, members of the wider Commonwealth of Nations were encouraged to migrate to Oldham and other British towns. Many came from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent and settled throughout the Oldham borough.

    Wikipedia

    oldham history
  • A black and white aerial photo of streets of houses, with a school at the centre of the frame.

    I have memories of playing on the rooftop playground at Richmond School.

    Sheila

    surrounding estate

1960

  • I was brought up on Main Road, Westwood and attended both Richmond Street Infant and Junior Schools in the 60’s. I actually followed in the footsteps of my mother, who had also attended the school and who often recalls playing netball and rounders on the actual roof of the building!

    Angie

    surrounding estate
  • A black and white photo of a family of six, with two older women, two younger girls, and two younger boys. They’re standing on a street, with the view down the street behind them.

  • Manchester Street included a run of shops with the clock above. At the time we did not have a clock at home and my parents would ask me to run round to check the time. I have fond memories of the carnivals that would run on Manchester Street on annual basis and shopping at Landes Clothes Shop.

    Sheila

    surrounding estate
  • A black and white photo of a view down a busy road, which has plenty of cars on it. There are street lamps and houses lining the road, with a row of shops visible in the background. The road seems to curve off to the right, uphill from the photograph’s perspective. There is a yellow piece of paper stuck to the bottom, which reads Manchester ST. 1965

  • I remember sharing a toilet on Butler Street with 30 other people and my father having to empty overnight waste there.

    Sheila

    surrounding estate

  • I have fond memories of the Corner Shop on Manchester Street & Crossbank Street which was owned by Mr & Mrs Sutcliffe. Local residents would go in and collect food in advance before paying their dues to the store once wages had been received.

    Sheila

    surrounding estate
  • A sepia tone photo of a corner shop, in a three storey brick building, with lots of advertisements and billboards all over the side facing the camera. There are a couple of seemingly broken windows on the top floors, and a woman in a white knee length coat stood in front of the shop.

  • I lived on Broome Street until I was 16 when the back to back terraces were demolished and the new estate was built. They were just left like a demolition site and then another block would be pulled down. We were one of the last blocks, so we were just sort of living in a bomb site really, before they moved us out.

    Jean

    surrounding estate

  • Up until the Second World War, development was mostly done by private people - building houses, cotton mills, things like that. Councils only did things like gasworks, electricity supply, fire brigade, police stations and that sort of thing - they weren’t really into actually building houses. Council housing only came in relatively late. So the big difference in World War Two was that was more centralised planning developed, because obviously you have to fight the war and the government took more and more control.

    Roger

    oldham history
  • A black and white photo of Summervale Mill, a five storey brick building with a sign at the top which reads S DODD & SONS Ltd. There are large windows throughout the building. There is a rickety wooden fence in the foreground of the image.

  • It was lovely [to grow up here]. Everybody knew everybody who like you see them on the television when they stood on front talking. Because there’s nothing else to do. We didn’t have a telly. We just played, played out. And mothers just did the cleaning, do you know what I mean? it was just easy. Well, not if you were a mother I suppose.

    Jean

    surrounding estate
  • A black and white image seemingly copied from a publication or newspaper, which features a row of houses with one house featuring a number of chimneys, turrets, and other castle-like features. It sticks out from the row of houses a long way. There is an iron fence and some cars parked in the foreground of the image. At the bottom of the image there is a caption which reads “York Castle on York Street, Bank Top. This house was built by a local steeplejack, Joe Ball and demolished on the 16th October 1968”

  • It was nice to not be in where cars are flying about. We had an ice cream man what came with a horse and cart believe it or not. I’m not, it sounds like, it sounds Dickensian but it was, the horse come. And, the milk, the milkman, you know, we didn’t have a milkman like they have and dad, before he died built us kids all a big igloo for us all to play and the milkman tried to come down the street. And the Milkman couldn’t deliver the milk because we’d built an igloo.

    Jean

    surrounding estate

1970

  • Decimalisation of currency

    UK news
  • A black and white photo showing clearance and construction work in the foreground. In the background you can see a couple of larger industrial buildings, and rows of terraced houses identifiable by their pointed roofs, as well as one tower block to the right of the frame.

  • The whole town was changing it seemed in the seventies. Lots of new concrete builds and a lot of terraced houses being knocked down. I remember that distinctly. But there were playgrounds for kids like me, collecting bonfire wood and hanging around on street corners and dereliction was really a big part of my childhood watching the terraced houses come down.

    Angie

    surrounding estate
  • A photo of a newspaper clipping with the headline “A proud era of Lancashire history is ended” and the subheading “LAST OF THE COTTON MULES STOPS SPINNING”

    It was first announced that Elk Mill was to close in 1974. However, the mill ultimately kept running until 1998.

    oldham history

  • We was in the houses, and houses were still being built around us when we moved in. It was still like a building yard, type of thing with houses being built. Vale Drive where we lived, that was built. But further round they were still building houses.

    Paula

    surrounding estate

  • So we moved in when they first got built, I think it were about ‘74. We were the first ones into Vale Drive. The reason we moved to the area was because the house that we lived in was being pulled down. It was only 5 minutes from where we used to live.

    Paula

    surrounding estate

  • There was plenty to play. There was plenty to do. There was lovely neighbours. So yeah, it was great.

    Paula

    surrounding estate
  • A black and white photo showing construction work on a flyover, with two large concrete structures in the centre of the frame. Behind the structures are Crossbank House and Summervale House, to the left of the frame.

  • My grandfather moved to 10 Crossbank House, where he had a one bedroom, ground floor flat. After spending his life in a two up, two down, with outside toilet and only a cold tap in the kitchen, he thought he’d been moved to a palace and he loved his new home. An added bonus was that there was a warden who dealt with any problems, and since he was quite old by that stage, that was very reassuring for the family.

    Catherine

    towers

  • Referendum on joining the EEC

    UK news

  • My mother in law lived in the flats when they built them, she lived on the 14th floor of Crossbank House. I didn’t like it because I didn’t like looking out the windows because it was too high. And I didn’t like the lifts and that. No, I didn’t like the flats.

    Jean

    towers
  • A black and white photo of Crossbank House and Summervale House during construction. There is a crane in front of the towers. There are two people walking in the foreground of the image.

  • My aunty became the warden of Summervale House for the first 5 floors upon the opening of the building. The first 5 floors accommodated residents of pension age. I remember my aunty used to make morning visits to the residents on the first 5 floors and in the afternoon, activities used to be run for the residents of both blocks in the communal room, such as bingo. On a regular basis, residents used to host birthday parties in the communal room during the evening, and celebrate other events.

    Sheila

    towers

  • The flats (themselves) were okay. The amenities were a lot better than the terraced houses what they pulled down. At least you have your bathroom and everything. So that was nice, but I just don’t like flats. Dormitories it reminds me of.

    Jean

    towers

  • There was a chap who lived round the corner from us, and he was also the caretaker at the kids’ school. And he came out at 12:00 first Christmas Eve we were there and he started playing bagpipes. Oh, it was wonderful. And he did that every single year till the year he died. I think he was called Jack.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • I worked in Summervale House, providing cover for my aunty when she was on holiday.

    Sheila

    towers

  • [When we first moved in] There were flats there on Vale Drive. And they had just been built, there was no windows in them or anything. You know, it was just the shell. And that’s what half of the estate was like when we moved on, there was no road, they didn’t have electric lights at night time.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate
  • A black and white image of a roundabout, with Crossbank House and Summervale House in the background.

  • I moved into Vale Drive [close to the towers] on the 23rd of October 1976. As you come onto the estate, it’s the first avenue. The towers had just been built when I moved in. Everybody was very young. They were all young families. I mean, me and my husband were only 26. Everybody had children and the children went to the school and the school was on the estate as well, that was called Richmond Street School. Where we lived on Vale Drive you knew everybody. And everybody knew you. So it was a clannish atmosphere.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • If ever the Industrial Revolution placed a town firmly and squarely on the map of the world, that town is Oldham.

    N. J. Franopulo, Tradition in Action; The Historical Evolution of the Greater Manchester County (1977)

    UK news

  • They had a big party on Bankside Close. I just remember because there was a park there. I used to call it ‘musical park’. And then met a few girls on there and then it started from there, and we grew up [together]. So yeah, it was great memories, absolutely brilliant.

    Paula

    surrounding estate

  • Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II

    UK news

  • There was a car park under the tower block and a lift up to the higher floors. When I took my young children it was a treat for them to ride up to the top of the building to see the view.

    Catherine

    towers

  • The first thing I remember about my visits is that whenever I entered the door to [my grandfather’s] corridor, I was hit with the smell of cooking from all the flats. And it didn’t seem to matter what time of day it was! His flat faced towards the town centre so was an ideal home for someone of his age as he could watch the world go by from his window. Also, residents passing by would wave to him.

    Catherine

    towers

  • Aw they were nice flats yeah. I thought they were brilliant. Yeah they were lovely. I used to do a bit of courting with my first boyfriend. Like underneath, there used to be like a little ginnel and a cubbyhole. And everybody used to meet in there with boyfriends, and everything. It were honestly, it was great memories.

    Paula

    towers

  • It was handy because there was bus stops, there was a chippy there. I have many great memories from there. I met a few friends, [everyone was] very, very neighbourly, good.

    Paula

    surrounding estate

  • I didn’t like the entrance, and the lift, and it was a bit scary actually going up on the lift, you never knew who was getting in, and sometimes it’d break down and you’d have to walk, up fourteen floors to get there so, you know?

    Jean

    towers

1980

  • A colour photo of a white TV mast against a cloudy sky. The mast is very tall, with lots of cables tensioned between it and the ground. The mast is in a field, with some trees at the base.

    So it was it was a lovely atmosphere, and that was the real reason why we [bought a house on the estate]. We [first moved there] in 76 and we bought in August 1980. And my husband was an avid DIYer. At the back of our house, we were on a plateau, and on a clear night you could see the television tower, I think they call it Belmont, which is over past Rochdale like. All those neighbours that lived on the back of Vale Drive. We always wanted this piece of spare ground that was just left there. We always wanted to do something with it.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer get married

    UK news

  • Falklands War

    UK news
  • A scan of an article in the Oldham Evening Chronicle from Wednesday August 25th 1982, with a headline that reads “IT MAY BE THE LAST WALTZ FOR JOHN, 92”. There is an image of John accompanying the article, which shows him posing his arms as if dancing, wearing a suit. The clipping is backed on pink card.

    My grandfather was lucky to stay fit, although he was deaf and, by the end of his life, almost blind. He’d always been interested in the theatre, music and dancing and attended Platts Social Club on Featherstall Road South until it closed. The Oldham Chronicle visited him at that time to record his disappointment at the closure, and an article and photo appeared in the paper on Wednesday August 25, 1982. This led to an invitation for him to attend the twice weekly tea dances at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. He made many kind friends there who looked after him well. He was still dancing twice a week, and on his 93rd birthday on February 13, 1984 he was treated to a visit from a scantily clad, singing kissogram!

    Catherine

    towers
  • A scan of a letter from Oldham Civic Halls’ Manager to Mr John Lamb, living at Crossbank House. The letter reads “Dear Mr. Lamb, One of the Tea Dancers that attend the Queen Elizabeth Hall is in the Town Centre at Oldham very kindly produced the article that featured yourself during August in the Oldham Chronicle and I am writing to you now to offer you a complementary ticket to use the facilities of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on any Monday afternoon or Thursday afternoon between 12.30 and 4.00 p.m. On Monday the dances tend to be a mixture of sequence and modern ballroom and on Thursdays we have a format of modern ballroom dancing and old time. I certainly admire your agility and energy at the age of 92 and it would indeed be an honour should you decide to attend the dances and you can rest assured that you will receive a very wam welcome from all the people that have been coming here for the last three years. May I wish you what you would wish yourself and good health for your remaining years. Yours sincerely [signature of D.H. Robinson] Civic Halls Manager.” The letter is on headed paper from Oldham Metropolitan Borough and Oldham Civic Hall. The scan is backed with a pink card, and has a photo in the bottom right corner of a wall with lots of cards pinned to it.

  • [My relatives] were only there for a few years and then they moved out. My father in law got poorly and when the lifts broke down they couldn’t get to the 14th floor, so they got a little bungalow somewhere else.

    Jean

    towers

  • Ferranti goes into receivership

    oldham news

  • After some time, security became a problem at the flats and a system was introduced to prevent unwanted visitors entering the building. Unfortunately, this led to another problem as people then started knocking on ground floor windows near to the external doors if they wanted to get in. My grandfather, whose window was next to the door, found this very disturbing.

    Catherine

    towers

  • BT privatised

    UK news

  • Miners strike

    UK news
  • A colour photo of a crowd celebrating, with Mr John Lamb at the centre, raising a glass. On the table in front of him is a cake, with white and brown icing and red candles.
  • A scan of a telegram on headed paper from Livewires Singing Telegrams. The telegram reads “Ninety third birthday ode to John Lamb // John Lamb I’ve come to sing to you to celebrate being ninety three today / at the tea dance every week you have life membership / love dancing at Queen Elizabeth Hall on Tuesday / you’ve been on Radio Oldham as the oldest member / of these tea dances so they say // Now John you like the ladies you’ve been dancing here for two years or so / you like photography you’ve albums full of photos I hear / of all kinds of transport over many a year / the management and staff and dancers have setn [sic] me here / to wish happy birthday to you / to wish happy birthday to you”. At the bottom of the scan, there are typed labels reading FEBRUARY 1984. The telegram is backed on pink card.
  • A scan of a newspaper clipping with the headline “Bucket brigade to the rescue” and the subheading “Fire leaves flats with no water”. The article is accompanied by a photo of three residents carrying buckets of water from Summervale House to Crossbank House. The residents are Mr John Lamb, Mrs Mary Turner and Mr Eric Eckersley. There is another, smaller news clipping in the scan, of Mr John Lamb sending Christmas greetings to all his friends. The clippings are backed on pink card.

    In the middle of April 1985 there was a fire at Crossbank House. It was started deliberately and it seriously damaged the block’s water pump in the basement, leaving residents without water. There’s a photo of my grandfather and two other residents carrying water from Summervale House to help out people in the neighbouring block.

    Catherine

    towers
  • A scan of a newspaper clipping with the headline “Amazing dancing twosome”, with an image to the left of John dancing with Annie Buckley in a hall. The hall has a wooden floor, and many other couples dancing in the background, who are blurred.

    By now [my grandad] seemed to be becoming something of a local celebrity! On May 23 1986, aged 95, he was a guest of honour at a charity wrestling match at the QEH. He was picked up by the Mayoral car and got a signed photo of local wrestler Marty Jones. In June that year he was dancing at the Tower Ballroom Blackpool and was introduced to the organist, Phil Kelsall. In August, the Advertiser newspaper featured an article on him dancing with his new partner, 84 year old Annie Buckley from Shaw.

    Catherine

    towers

  • I was born [near St. Thomas Church] me, I grew up in that area and you know the two towers, they were like landmarks. When we were younger, my dad used to take us on days out to other towns — when we used to get on the motorway and when we saw the two towers we know we were close to home. You know that was our landmark. You know we could see it, we’re about 10 minutes away from home.

    Jia

    surrounding estate

  • We had a couple of friends that played guitar and sang and that. And so in the summer, we’d go out there. I mean, barbecues weren’t heard of then, you know. But friends used to come down and go out, we’d get the chairs out and they’d have a sing song. You know, it was just vibrant.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate
  • A photo of a scrapbook with a newspaper clipping and several other photos of a couple, one of which is Mr John Lamb. Three of the photos show the couple dancing together, and in one photo they are sat together in front of a display. The newspaper clipping has the headline “John’s still tripping the light fantastic at 97” and is dated February 1988. The clipping and photos are backed with pink card.
  • A scan of a page in a book which has two newspaper clippings taped to it. One is about Andrew Lamb, from Oldham, making career advances with Friends Provident. The other has the headline ‘John misses last waltz’, describing the Christmas tea dance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall which happened without John, as he passed away in hospital the week before. This clipping is accompanied with a large black and white photo of John, and below it ‘Northern Scrapbook - OLDHAM CHRONICLE 21 December 1989’ is written in pen.

    Sadly, my grandfather died in hospital on December 13 1989, exactly 2 months before his 99th birthday. I often wonder if my grandfather was the oldest resident to live in the Two Towers.

    Catherine

    towers

1990

  • We had a beautiful meadow. And every year when the flowers used to come up, we had bluebells, whitebells, they’d start first, then the daffodils, daffodils are my favourite flower. They’re so pretty. Then you’d get these beautiful meadow flowers, that you’d not seen for years, coming up. So it was nice to sit out. I had a nice garden of my own by this time, you know, my husband put a fish pond in and and we had a water feature. But we still liked sitting out in the community gardens. The view of Eden Field and Rochdale was wonderful.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • The family that moved in next door but one to me, they were a lovely, lovely family. Their kids were young, so we’d invite them all. We even had Christmas parties every year for the kids, in the pub around the corner. And we’ve taken them for days out, you know, to Blackpool and places like that. Although I’m getting old the memories are still there of the good times.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • The family moved in next door to us, they were lovely. Their oldest son was about 12 at the time and he was a very, very clever lad and we asked them if he would be a junior in our residents association and could he organise a football team, and he was so pleased. And his parents were so proud of him, he used to come once a month and he’d tell us about [it]. And we got a coach down from Oldham Athletic and that boosted the kids morale because, you know, it was well known coach. That was when sort of the community started to integrate again.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • The lady that ran Summervale House. She was called Brenda and she let us get a residents association. And this patch of spare land that we had at the back of Vale Drive. We got these artists that came down. There were all sorts that we could turn to. They were brilliant with us, and the council gave us money and we decided we’d do this at the back side of Vale Drive. It was absolutely wonderful. We had Japanese knotweed, so that had to be treated, before we could do anything. We had two cabins delivered that were put on the corner of Vale Drive and we used them three times a week in the holidays for the children to come in. And we went on the theme of magic, the kids wanted witches and stuff like that. So we got these arty farty people to come down and work with children, and they made this community garden. And the kids ended up, they wanted a dragon type thing, or unicorn thing. The kids actually made it out of broken tiles.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • We used to do an Easter egg hunt. We wanted to involve everyone.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • The Muslim community often don’t drink, so they wouldn’t come to the pub, but we were always putting on pie and peas suppers and things like that. [So we’d] share them with the community. If there was a wedding, there would always be delicious food shared like curries. There would be food and lots of fruit. So obviously when we had a celebration, we would share this around with neighbours, giving this out too.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • Channel tunnel opened

    UK news

  • At the time when we moved on [from Vale Street], I think it was 1997. There was a lot of racial hatred and that, it was awful. And that’s the reason why we moved off because I’d have still been there [otherwise].

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • Brenda, who was over at Summervale House, she ran their community room there and it was run like a tight ship. We used to go once a month on a Tuesday evening. We used to take it in turns, the men would put all the chairs away nice, and tidy and fluff up the cushions. And the ladies washing the pots, drying them and putting them away.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • When did we start having trouble? I think it was 95, 96. It was the younger ones. Sort of, you know, the 17, 18, well, 16, 17 year olds, all they wanted to do was cause havoc.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • The Spice Girls release ‘Wannabe’ and have their first hit

    UK news

  • Labour gain power

    UK news

  • Princess Diana dies

    UK news

  • Because of the troubles that we had, I mean, you know, I don’t know whether you’ve read about it or not but, we were frightened to go out, it was that bad. The police used to have to take us shopping, all the ladies. Take us shopping to Asda and that, in their cars.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • The last cotton was spun at Elk Mill in 1998, which was soon after demolished to make way for the Elk Mill shopping centre.

    oldham news
  • A photo of a poem called Elk Mill 1927 - 1999. The text of the poem reads 'Like a beacon Elk Mill stood, Of brick and stone, steel and wood. Shining brightly, night and day, a focal point from motorway. Standing there in all it’s glory, A special part of the Shiloh story. Though crafted from such mortal things, There bear inside a heart that sings. The last refrain so melancholy, From the mill once dubbed as Tommy’s Folly. News of it’s closure, grim and stark, The land will be a Retail Park. The last mill built in the old tradition, Lost through unfair competition. The famous phrase no longer read, Of ‘Britain’s Bread’ and ‘Lancashire’s Thread’. Due to trade’s disruptive condition, The mill’s now gone, despite opposition. Elk Mill demolished before it’s time, Elk was supreme, still in it’s prime. And now the dust has finally cleared, The feeling of loss can seem quite weird. A piece of Shiloh met an early end, As sad as the death of a very close friend. I’ve heard of people who openly cried, On hearing that Elk Mill had died. But as the months turn into years, Memories fade as did those tears. And if mills have a heaven to call their own, Elk Mill will have found a good home.' The poem is by Denis Schofield. Behind the poem is a faded image of some smiling women in front of some mill equipment.

    After the closure of the mill, many workers were deeply saddened by the loss of not just their livelihoods, but the social life and community of the mill. Former mill worker Denis Schofield wrote this poem about his experience of the mill closing.

    Denis Schofield

    surrounding estate

  • 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York

    global news

2000

  • An image of cotton processing machinery on display in a museum. The machinery has lots of skeins of cotton arranged in rows, and many moving parts.

    Oldham had historically been one of the largest producers of cotton processing machinery, with local manufacturers Platt Brothers supplying machinery to mills across Lancashire and around the world. After the closure of Elk Mill, this Platt Brothers spinning mule taken from the factory was displayed at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester.

    oldham history

  • We had a big party at our house on Millennium Eve, invited 57 people, and they all turned up, every single one of them. What a night we had. It was wonderful. At 12 o’clock, we all went out in the street doing the conga right up the street, right back down. My son then must have been, 30? He went out with a couple of his mates and set all the fireworks off. And we set ours off and it was as if all the world had set the fireworks off at the same time. It was phenomenal. Yeah, that was another good memory.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • The 2001 census shows over 1 in 4 residents of oldham are South Asian or of British Asian heritage

    Wikipedia

    oldham history

  • For three days in late May 2001, Oldham became the centre of national and international media attention. Following high-profile race-related conflicts, and long-term underlying racial tensions between local white and South Asian communities, major race riots broke out in the town. Occurring with particular intensity in the Glodwick area of the town, the Oldham Riots were the worst racially motivated riots in the United Kingdom for fifteen years prior, briefly eclipsing the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland in the media. 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.

    Wikipedia

    oldham history

  • Debbie Remorozo, a 26 year old Filipino nurse, is murdered in her home in Summervale House

    The Guardian

    oldham history

  • My ex partner’s grandfather used to live in the building, I remember her telling me once, she was really upset — she said “oh, do you know Grandad Tom, Tommy”, she said “well the same building that he lives, just above him, one of his neighbours, A Filipino lady who worked for the NHS was killed”, so that was one of my memories from the building. It’s not a really good memory but I used to remember it, you know when I drive past, I used to remember her words in my head, that someone had passed away.

    Jia

    towers

  • When you were between the two flats, it caused a wind tunnel. They built a concierge between the two flats because unfortunately, a nurse got murdered in the flats. And they put CCTV, and they had security staff, 24 hours in there. The only people that could get in were the people that have keys, if you didn’t have a key, you didn’t get in. [It was actually] fantastic because it took away that wind that sort of circulated between the two flats.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • That was one of our stipulations if we were going to get a residents association together, this is what we demanded and we went to the council and we asked the council to come to our meetings, which they did do. And the police, we always asked them and they always came. And once a month we used to do Neighbourhood Watch. We felt safer having a neighbourhood watch.

    Patricia

    surrounding estate

  • BNP vote share crashes at the 2005 election, dropping from a 16.4% share in 2001.

    surrounding estate

  • I actually did deliveries for a Chinese chippy, Kingdo House on Abbey Hills Road, and there used to be a regular customer that always ordered. And I remember the first time I went to deliver the food, I was so scared to go into the towers. I remember standing there, like ringing the buzzer, thinking there’s not a chance I’m going to in here by myself, it was. But I did. I went in, I went up like four flights of stairs and delivered the food, they tipped me £3, which was a massive amount at 17 with the car. And then I delivered to him like every week from there, so I did visit regularly for a couple of years whilst I did Chinese food deliveries, and then a couple of years after when I was in the party stage of my life.

    Tanisha

    surrounding estate

  • Hard-working is the phrase most often used to describe the character of the people in the borough. There is a sense of Oldhamers not being afraid to get their hands dirty – to be willing to roll up their sleeves and get on with things – that by instinct they want to improve their lot by being ‘canny’ and enterprising about what they do. Oldham people are also seen as friendly and good-humoured, although there was a feeling that Oldham people have had to put up with disappointments and hard times.

    Hemisphere Design and Marketing Consultants, Rebranding Oldham (2008)

    oldham history

  • Oldham is frustratingly self-deprecating – it’s got so much to offer and so much talent but always believes that good things are somehow beyond Oldham, that it’s all ‘cloud cuckoo land'.

    Hemisphere Design and Marketing Consultants, Rebranding Oldham (2008)

    oldham history

  • Yeah, so the two towers, I I have actually been there a few times myself. Nobody in my family lives there, however, I did have friends which had a few parties in there when I was in my teen years. Definitely fun.

    Tanisha

    surrounding estate

2010

  • Conservatives gain power

    UK news

  • I’ve been here 12 years and [the towers] were always a big part of what First Choice Homes did, they were always on the conversations. What should we do for them? Should we change them into studios? Apartments? There was lots of conversations always surrounding them, and I think it was the area. And I just think although it’s sad to see them go, with what’s coming up, I just think that the area is going to get what it deserves in some of the plans that are going forward.

    Matthew

    towers

  • About 10 years ago, when I took on managing the [towers cleaning] team I think we had about thirty six cleaners and we had a team building day because there was myself, and another manager, Helen. And we didn’t really know the team. Some of them have been there for many years and we wanted to see the standards of cleaning. So what we did was across two days for a team building event, we took all the caretakers and we split them up into their normal working teams and we asked them clean the floor each of the towers. They were like mazes. We were running up and down the stairs and the lifts. It was just a crazy two days. It was good from a work perspective because we got to meet some residents and we got to talk to them about how they felt about living in the blocks at the time.

    Emma

    towers

  • It was a really, really interesting couple of days. And I think for me, probably having never really been in a tower block before, all the front doors might look the same and all the corridors were the same material. But it made me think having never worked in housing before what the lives actually were behind the doors, we helped some elderly, vulnerable people and we signposted people to services where maybe they needed support with the benefits. So actually, we’d gone in there to clean for two days, but actually we felt like we were part of the community.

    Emma

    towers

  • The community room was very, very old fashioned. It was probably a flat at one time, a tiny bathroom that always smelt no matter how much it was cleaned. And then one long community room, there were bookcases so people could come and do a book swap. And then we literally just fund tea and toast. And they really felt they created their own mini community from behind the doors of the flat, and it was the same people every week. Interestingly, we used the community rooms when we consulted all the residents in the two tower blocks about moving out prior to the demolition that’s just occurred. So actually, it’s had some really probably nice times and some challenging times in that community room.

    Emma

    towers

  • I do remember Crossbank had a community room and we had a group that used the community centre when I became the stronger communities manager and we called them the tea and toast brigade. Lovely group of people always came together on a Wednesday.

    Emma

    towers

  • Brexit referendum

    UK news

  • Going back to the caretaking and cleaning. You see these corridors and the material, the fabrics, the same, the door colours the same, and it’s about understanding what’s behind those doors.

    Emma

    towers

  • I think as someone who previously lived in Failsworth, and travelled into Oldham regularly the towers was kind of the first sight that you saw before you went into the town centre. I think for a lot of people, that will be something that kind of distinguished how far away they was on the journey.

    Danny

    towers

  • They’ve got a new estate, well it’s not new now, it’s been up ages, the council houses. I have to look up the streets and think, oh I just lived round the corner there, but it was a totally different layout, but I still see it when I go past sometimes when I go past in the car and I think I used to do this and used to do that and still see where I was born.

    Jean

    surrounding estate
  • A photo looking down a corridor, which is dimply lit. There are panels running down each side of the corridor, painted a light yellow with an olive green stripe. The floor is a grey tile. Everything in the image is visibly dirty, with marks all over the floor and walls.

    Plans are announced to demolish the towers

    Manchester Evening News

    towers

  • People are renting the properties out now. So they just have in anybody, willy nilly. Willy nilly. Like the next door neighbour to my mum they must’ve had about 10 families in, in what I know off, you know, because it’s rented.

    Paula

    surrounding estate

2020

  • A colour aerial photo of the two towers, which are at the centre of the frame. You can see the space between the towers, with a structure connecting them on the ground floor. There are terraced houses to the right of the towers, and roads all around and behind them.

  • In 2018 we started to let customers know about plans for the blocks and did a lot to reassure them about the process. We knew some people would find it really frightening to get a notice to say, we’ve got plans for this area. We do need you to move out of your home. Some people have lived there for years and years.

    Emma

    towers

  • UK leaves EU

    UK news
  • A colour photo of the two towers, with some industrial buildings and a road in the foreground.

  • I did security for [the towers] just before they got knocked down for Oldham Council. So I spent like 9 or 10 months up and down them buildings just before they got knocked down

    Jia

    towers

  • [We] had a handful of people left in the building, who couldn’t get rehoused. We were watching it as they had youths getting in, using it as a party den down at the garage down at the bottom. So we were securing it making sure no one else could get in or out whilst there was residents still in there. Obviously because of safety issues.

    All of a sudden you would hear de de de de de, so we would go down and they’ve got their little boom boxes and their little alcohol bottles and we would go right guys, you’re gonna have to go and we would escort them out and they would be back the next weekend. There used to be loads of them about 15-20, 30 at some times. All local lads from around the area. There was all sorts of people, all young people, just teenagers really. It was illuminated, the lights were still working, the electrics were still working, it was like a big enclosed space for them to chill out in, it was like a party house like when we used to go raving back in the day, but under the towers!

    Jia

    towers

  • Working in [the towers], you get all sort of incidents, they weren’t very good memories as we had to throw loads of partying youths out. There would be teenagers inside on the bottom floor getting drunk, they would creep in somehow. Because it was a massive place they could get in and out easy without being spotted. We could hear kids messing about in the basement. Then you could see them all partying, then we would have to escort them out and they would be back a couple of days later. That’s how our time passed most of the time.

    Jia

    towers
  • An image of a corner of a hallway area. In the foreground is a large plastic map showing the layout of the tower. Also visible is a ‘push to exit’ button, and the side of a red door with a window in, showing daylight outside.

  • All of a sudden you would hear de de de de de, so we would go down and they’ve got their little boom boxes and their little alcohol bottles and we would go right guys, you’re gonna have to go and we would escort them out and they would be back the next weekend. There used to be loads of them about 15-20, 30 at some times. All local community lads, Bangladeshi lads, Pakistani lads from around the area. There was All sorts of people all young people just teenagers really. Just …. Boys and girls. It was illuminated, the lights were still working, the electrics were still working, it was like a big enclosed space for them to chill out in, it was like a party house like when we used to go raving back in the day, but under the towers!

    Jia

    towers

  • There was two of us on duty all the time, in the first building we would go up to the top, get the lift to the top, and we would walk down the stairs down all the way round and it used to take us 25 minutes, 35 minutes. From the top of one building to the bottom and then get in the other one, and do the same again, it would take us an hour to check both buildings, then we would have half an hour rest and then we were back out again. It kept us fit that’s all I can say to you! We had step counters on see how many we would do in a day. Sometimes we would go over 10,000 steps just in there.

    Jia

    towers

  • Sometimes when it was really windy, we had to walk upstairs and it seemed like the building was shaking, and it we were like right, time to hurry up downstairs mate.

    Jia

    towers

  • There was an eastern European family and a lady, an elderly lady and we would give her a hand taking her stuff up. Sometimes she brings her shopping. Just do our bits and bats, we had 12 hour shifts in there to kill mate, so you know, we did what we could to kill some time and help out.

    towers
  • A large plastic engraved map showing the interior layouts of a few floors of Sumervale house, shown nailed to a slightly grubby/damaged lilac painted wall. The map has some graffiti scratched into it.

  • We were used to a lot of people and then when people started moving out there were like handfuls, one on each floor maybe. It was very very odd when we did our rounds you. We knew all the buildings. And then you could hear on one floor or you could smell curries, cooking people playing music or watching tv and you thought its not totally dead theres still some life left in the building. It made us feel good when we knew someone was there.

    Jia

    towers

  • I’m born and bred in Oldham and especially round that area it was a landmark for us, its sad to see it go but if its for the best then why not. I will miss [the towers].

    Jia

    towers

  • It’s a diverse community, and my Mum gets on great with her neighbours. Some even refer to her as Grandma and Granny. Some provide my mum with food; she really likes it. Her house is just a little bit big for her now because it’s a three-bedroom house, but they bought it, it’s been paid for years. She wants to move then she doesn’t. She said ’no I won’t get good neighbours like this’. She’s quite happy there.

    Paula

    surrounding estate
  • An aerial colour photo of the towers, with multiple machines working on demolishing them. The tower to the left of the image has been partially demolished, with only its left side still standing.

    Summervale House and Crossbank House demolished

    towers

  • If I could’ve put my house on wheels and pushed it away to where I live now I would have done. They’re pulling them down now, if they’re not already down. I passed last week and it was my friend’s turn to drive the car, so I could look, you know? And I just burst out crying. We had so many friends in the flats. There were six people that worked at Ferranti, which was a local firm where I worked at. And the views from them flats were amazing, especially the top floors. Oh, they were phenomenal, you could see Manchester Airport. And you could see Jodrell Bank.

    Patricia

    towers
  • A colour photo of the towers during demolition. In the foreground, there is industrial fencing and a red net being lifted to control debris, with demolition in progress on the tower in the background. Only one of the towers is in frame, and over half of it is rubble.
  • An aerial photo of the site during demolition. The road and surrounding landscape is clearly visible behind the site, as less than a quarter of one of the towers is all that remains standing.

  • I mean, it’s not like it was anymore, I mean it’s gone really downhill round there now, well it’s awful at the moment. But can’t take your memories away, can you really.

    Paula

    surrounding estate

  • They were ugly. I think we all used it as a landmark as we were coming into Oldham, and they are they’re ugly concrete blocks aren’t they? You can’t dress them up. And I think the plans for the 88 homes are really exciting, really modern and obviously will bring more families into the area and modernise it.

    Emma

    towers
  • An aerial photo showing two mounds of rubble in the foreground, on the site of the towers. The landscape is clearly visible, and unobscured.