Within the boundaries of the
historic county of
Lancashire, and with little
early history to speak of, Oldham rose to prominence in the 19th century as an international centre of
textile manufacture. It was a
boomtown of the
Industrial Revolution, and among the first ever
industrialised towns, rapidly becoming "one of the most important centres of cotton and textile industries in England." At its zenith, it was the most productive
cotton spinningmill town in the world, producing more cotton than France and Germany combined. Oldham's textile industry fell into decline in the mid-20th century; the town's last mill closed in 1998.
The demise of textile processing in Oldham depressed and heavily affected the local economy. The town centre is the focus of a project that aims to transform Oldham into a centre for
further education and the
performing arts. It is, however, still distinguished architecturally by the surviving
cotton mills and other buildings associated with that industry. (Full article...)
Oasis are an
Englishrock band, formed in
Manchester in 1991, led by lead guitarist and primary songwriter
Noel Gallagher and his younger brother, lead vocalist and songwriter
Liam Gallagher. Oasis are arguably the most successful group to emerge during the
Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. In 2005, The Guinness Book Of Hit Singles And Albums declared Oasis the "Most Successful Act of the Last Decade in the UK." Oasis have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and have had eight UK number one singles. Liam and Noel Gallagher are the only original band members. The present lineup is completed by songwriters rhythm/lead guitarist
Gem Archer and bass guitarist
Andy Bell, rounded by as-yet unofficial drummer
Zak Starkey, son of former Beatle Ringo Starr.
With the success of their
Mercury Prize-nominated debut album, Definitely Maybe (1994), and its even more successful follow-up, the 19 million selling (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), coupled with a rivalry with their contemporary
Blur, Oasis attained fame in the mid-1990s, and became the leaders of the
Britpop movement. The Gallagher brothers were featured regularly in
tabloid newspaper stories, and cultivated a reputation as both bad boys and a band of the people.
Image 3Ineos ChlorVinyls at Runcorn in 2006; the
UK chemicals industry is worth £57bn, with 180,000 people in around 3,000 companies (from North West England)
Image 19Kelloggs in Manchester, looking north along the A5181 next to
GMFRS's Stretford Area Command HQ; the site is the largest producer of cereals in Europe (from North West England)
Image 22Former head office of the
Girobank in Bootle; it closed in 2003; it was taken over by
Alliance & Leicester in 1990; it was established in Bootle in the late 1960s with help from Hugh Baird; it was the first financial institution in Europe to be fully computerised from the start (from North West England)
Image 33Vauxhall's plant in Ellesmere Port exports 88% of its cars, although many of the components are imported, and has made over 5 million since 1962, also making the
Vectra from 1995 to 2008; it makes 686 a day (two a minute, 100,000 a year) and the latest model was designed by
Mark Adams and Malcolm Ward. Three million Astras have been sold in the UK since 1979, and featured on the
Top Gear test track until 2015; the production is split with the
Opel Manufacturing Poland site at
Gliwice in southern Poland; the
Corsa is made at
Opel Zaragoza in north-east Spain, with 3-door versions at
Opel Eisenach; the
Insignia is made at
Opel Rüsselsheim (from North West England)
Image 40A
Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2 (HS 801), built at Woodford (former Avro) and designed in Manchester in the mid-1960s, with XV148 (former Comet 4C) making its
first flight on 23 May 1967, flying from Chester (
Broughton, which had built many
de Havilland fighter jet aircraft) to Woodford; 49 Nimrods were made for the RAF, entering service with
201 Sqn on 6 November 1970, serving until March 2010 with
38 Sqn (from North West England)
Image 48Old meets new at the
Stockport Viaduct; designed by
George W. Buck, it is the largest free-standing brick structure in the UK, built in 1840 when it was the largest viaduct in the world; it features in many
L. S. Lowry paintings. (from North West England)