Talk:Alexandra Park, Oldham

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Within the last few minutes I've removed the following text as its source is unclear and reads as if it is a copyright violation of this entry:

ALEXANDRA PARK - A BRIEF HISTORY

The struggle for the abolition of slavery in North America, and the ensuing Civil War in the mid nineteenth century brought about the creation of the park. Cotton exports from America dried up, and the mill towns of the North-West began to die.

Thousands of mill workers from the mill towns, Oldham, Bury, Bolton, Rochdale, walked to a meeting at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, and voted overwhelmingly to support the abolitionists, although this meant no work, and probable starvation for them and their families. The people of Oldham were later praised for their fortitude - riots broke out in many other north-west towns.

Many of the mill workers were self-employed small manufacturers, who rented or jointly owned parts of the mills, and worked there themselves. There was little cash in reserve, and by the summer of 1862 the Spinners' Union funds were exhausted, and the Central Relief Fund was begun.

Colonists who had emigrated from Oldham to Queensland subscribed £1,000, some of which was used to aid more emigration. John Platt, MP at the time, encouraged families not to emigrate to Australia after hearing of hardship and lack of employment. Manayunk in Philadelphia had a flourishing colony of Oldhamers, who donated 100 barrels of flour to the Central Relief Fund. Parts of America were still celebrating Oldham Wakes towards the end of the C 19th.

Robert Ascroft, one of the wealthiest mill owners in Oldham, coerced many of this friends into helping start a job creation scheme to keep the town alive. A Park Committee was formed, and 72 acres of land at Swine Clough, a boggy area which had once housed the town's pig population, were bought from the rev. John Cocker, and work began. The first sod was cut in 1863 by Mayor John Riley.

The land was cleared, and the resulting fuel from trees and shrubs given to the workers. Men working on the park earned the right to a free hot meal each day for their entire families, plus a bread ration and milk for infants. The Working Men's Hall was opened as a soup kitchen, and more soon followed. It has been reported that meals were porridge three times a day, but there is no foundation for this, and other sources report vegetable and occasional meat soups and stews being provided.

Allotments close by provided vegetables which were used by and traded between growers, and given to the communal kitchens to provide food for the whole community. The old and sick were provided for, and the town not only survived, but gained a valuable community asset, which was designated a Conservation Area in 1976, as a`typical late nineteenth century park in the industrial North'.

On Wakes Monday, 28th August 1865, in typical Oldham Wakes weather, Mayor Josiah Radcliffe unlocked the gate, allowing thousands their first walk round the park they had created.

Please paraphrase this material. -- Jza84 · (talk) 13:30, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Greater Manchester County Council Arms.png

Image:Greater Manchester County Council Arms.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 06:51, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Greater Manchester County Council Arms.png

Image:Greater Manchester County Council Arms.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 06:27, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Original Author of this and the MEN page

I wrote both the original Wiki article and the MEN page; the MEN reporters being too idle to learn about Oldham or the cotton trade, I lived near the park and it was a part of my education to learn about the history of the town.

I have the original document and lots of photos of the area but can't be bothered with loading info on wiki or other sites unless I find it a0 absent; b) grossly inaccurate.

regards —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexfreddy (talk • contribs) 16:30, 28 June 2009 (UTC)