IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Union Street, OLDHAM, OL1 1DJ

Work on the Oldham town centre section of the Metrolink extension at Union Street.

This is just testing and crew training prior to the change to public service at the end of January. The building is the former Post Office of 1877 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1070058 , now the Oldham Borough Local Studies and Archives section. It is Listed Grade II.

Passing the bottom of Greaves Street

A view from the new Oldham Central tram stop on Union Street as Metrolink tram number 3034 approaches.

The Lyceum is a Grade II listed building opened in 1856 at a cost of £6,500 as a "mutual improvement" centre for the working men of Oldham. Facilities included a library, newsroom and a series of lectures on geology, geography and education, microscopy and chemistry, female education and botany. Instrumental music was introduced and there were soon 16 violinists and 3 'cellists. Eventually the building was extended to include a school of science and art. Music had always been important in the life of the Lyceum, and in 1892 a school of music was opened, with 39 students enrolled for the "theory and practice of music". The Lyceum continued throughout the 20th century as a centre for the arts in Oldham, and in 1986 the local authority was invited to accept the building as a gift. In 1989 the Oldham Metropolitan Borough Music Centre moved into the Lyceum building, which is now the home of the Oldham Lyceum School of Music. It's possible some of this information is out of date. A passer-by said it was a disused ballroom and currently up for sale! But lights were on upstairs and down, and there were blinds and curtains, so it appeared to be in use.

A striking modern extension to the grandeur of Victorian municipalism.

Oldham-born Annie Kenney https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Kenney was the only working class woman to hold a senior position in the Women's Social and Political Union. Kenney started work in a cotton mill in 1889 at the age of 10, remaining at the mill for 15 years and becoming involved in trade-union activities before joining the WSPU. She attracted the attention of the press and public in 1905 when she and Christabel Pankhurst were imprisoned for several days for assault and obstruction, after heckling Sir Edward Grey at a Liberal rally in Manchester. It was seen as a pivotal moment in the campaign for the vote when the suffragettes moved towards more radical, direct protest. Kenney was imprisoned 13 times and took part in hunger strikes. This striking, bronze relief portrait shows Annie dressed in her mill workers shawl with mills in the background. It is on display in the “Oldham Stories” section at Gallery Oldham Image], about 250 yards from her statue outside the town hall in Parliament Square (Image]).

This reconstruction of an Edwardian chemist's shop is in the "Oldham Stories" section of Gallery Oldham Image

Built in 19th century. Built as a place of study and culture. Built in 2 parts - spot the slight differences in style. Small theatre in basement.