Here in Oldham we have lost a great many beautiful old buildings, replaced by horrendous 1960s concrete blocks; fortunately our old Town Hall is now being regenerated into a new cinema complex. It's a shame that it couldn't be kept in its original format but any form of preservation is better than demolition, as is the case with the majority of our old cotton mills.
The town hall was built in 1841 and is the site of Winston Churchill's first speech as an MP, so regardless of any political point of view it is a building worth preserving. The council had a public consultation in the halls Egyptian Room, a lot of the room was boarded over but there were still some fixtures and fittings in place, although not always in an easy position to photograph. Fortunately the Egyptian Room is going to be recreated as part of the finished complex.
There are some really exciting things happening at the moment here in Oldham, together with the cinema complex there is also a new 'independent quarter' and 'cultural quarter' with the old Library also being worked on due to Lottery funding. If only the council would bring the market back to its former glory, my mother remembers coach trips coming to Oldham just to visit the 'famous Tommyfield Market', those days are long gone; our outdoor market is just a dim memory and although the indoor market is fairly busy it has no soul. Hopefully the council will soon take action to restore the market in keeping with the rest of the town.
Here are some links to the work that is going on, and a fabulous 360 degree view of the Egyptian Room that the council have put online:
These are some photos I managed to take inside the Egyptian Room during the public consultation.
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