IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Southgate, OLDHAM, OL3 5AJ

Public house in the centre of Dobcross village.

Three Greater Manchester police women on duty in the centre of Dobcross during the annual Whit Friday Brass Band Contest in June 2007. Often described as 'the greatest free show on Earth', the Saddleworth & District Whit Friday Brass Band Contests take place every year on the afternoon and evening of Whit Friday which fell on the 1st June in 2007. Over a hundred brass bands participated in some twenty different contests at venues scattered around the moorland villages and towns on the western edge of the Pennines. All of the contests are open-air, many in delightful surroundings. Contests typically start at about 4.30pm. Each contest offers prizes for the best band, best youth band, best soloists etc. At one of the busier venues, you could expect to hear over 50 bands, before the winners are announced shortly after close (10pm or 11pm, though the most popular contests can go on well into the early hours). It is possible to look in at several contests during the evening but with over 100 bus-loads of bandsmen about and many of the roads closed to traffic plus the inevitable parking problems, it pays not to be over-ambitious. For more information click on http://www.whitfriday.brassbands.saddleworth.org/ Image Image Image Image Image

Picture taken from across the valley Image

This is the centre of Dobcross the smallest village in Saddleworth. The pub in the picture is The Swan Inn situated in Dobcross Square. Dobcross was also one of the locations of the 1979 film 'Yanks' starring Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave. This event is celebrated in August every year with a three day Yanks event including the Famous Yanks Dance at the Civic Hall in nearby Uppermill followed on Sunday by The Yanks Convoy - The Biggest Military Vehicle convoy in the UK which passes through the Saddleworth villages of Uppermill, Delph, Diggle and Dobcross.

Re-enacting a memorable scene from the feature film 'Yanks' the convoy passes through the centre of Dobcross during the Yanks Event of 2007 http://www.yanksarebackinsaddleworth.co.uk/ Dobcross was one of the locations of the 1979 feature film 'Yanks' starring Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave. The event is celebrated in August every year with a three day Yanks event, including the Famous Yanks Dance at the Civic Hall in nearby Uppermill, followed on Sunday by The Yanks Convoy-The Biggest Military Vehicle convoy in the UK which passes through the Saddleworth villages of Uppermill,Delph,Diggle and Dobcross. In 2010 the event was renamed Yanks are back in Saddleworth http://www.yanksarebackinsaddleworth.co.uk/ Image Image Image Image

Looking down Sandy Lane, into The Square. The most notable feature is the drinking fountain erected in 1901. This is dedicated to Walter Henry Fox Ramsden, a local doctor. More details may be found at http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=75553 (Public Monuments and Sculpture Association)

The centre of Dobcross.

The centre of Dobcross seen here during the annual Saddleworth Rushcart Festival http://www.morrismen.saddleworth.org.uk/ Saddleworth Morris Men revived the Rushcart as an annual festival in 1975 to become the first of many in the area. The rushes are taken from the surrounding moors (with the blessing of the National Trust) and built onto a two-wheeled cart in a slightly conical shape thirteen feet high weighing about two tons (if it doesn't rain). 'Feathers' at each corner are formed from bolts or bundles of rushes each about four inches in diameter held in place by metal rods. The bulk of the cart is built from loose rushes; they are not tied on. When completed, the whole structure is trimmed to give a smooth appearance on each side. Two Rowan branches are fixed to the top and, on Saturday morning, the front is dressed with a decorated banner. A man chosen from the ranks of Saddleworth Morris Men sits astride the Rushcart for the day, supplied with ale in a copper kettle. The Rushcart is then pulled through the villages of Saddleworth by morris men invited from all over Britain and, sometimes, from overseas. 150 men pull on the "stangs" fixed to strong rope which, in turn, is fixed to the cart. Image Image Image Image