Blind Joe's Pedestal
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Blind Joe's Pedestal by David Dixon as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Blind Joe's Pedestal
Image: © David Dixon Taken: 3 Mar 2013
The pedestal of Image The statue of Joseph Howard "Old Blind Joe", in Alexandra Park, was erected in 1868. Joe was blind from birth but had an amazing memory. It is said that he could recite chapters from the Bible once they had been read to him. He was elected as the town’s bellman (Town Cryer) in 1820; a role he carried out conscientiously until 1860. One of his jobs was to ring his bell to open and close Tommyfield Market where he also had a pie and muffin stall. For many years he was also a Wesleyan lay preacher. It was stated that the Statue was not erected to commemorate his services as a bellman but to honour his services to religion. He died in 1862. The inscription reads: JOSEPH HOWARTH UPWARDS OF 40 YEARS THE WELL KNOWN BLIND BELLMAN OF OLDHAM ERECTED BY VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTIONS PRESENTED TO THE PARK MAY 9TH 1868 _________________________________ HE DIED ON THE 17th DAY OF MAY 1862 IN THE 76th YEAR OF HIS AGE
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Image Location
Latitude
53.532249
Longitude
-2.104964