Northern Roots

20/03/2026

Spring is officially here!🌷

Across the 160-acre Northern Roots site the trees are budding, birds are singing, and wildlife is beginning to be more active after a long, wet winter.

Northern Roots is a unique and very beautiful urban green space. A short walk from the centre of Oldham, surrounded by diverse local communities, the site looks out onto the foothills of the Peak District, and is bordered by the River Medlock at its southern end.

Historically, the site has housed two coal mines, two cotton mills, an industrial railway, a large, combined sewage outlet tank, and the council rubbish tip. Around a third of the site is former landfill.

Now, the site is home to a wide variety of bats, insects, aquatic life, native and migratory birds, and mammals – like this beautiful fox we caught on one of our wildlife cameras this week.

Over the last five years, as part of our commitment to conservation and biodiversity, we have planted trees and hedgerows, managed woodland, built new ponds and restored existing ponds, and put up bird and bat boxes across the site.

We have also trained and paid local people like Tom, to become Rangers, enabling them to develop conservation skills and work with us to gather data that will inform how we manage the site for years to come - https://northern-roots.uk/our-nr/stories/tom-pollitt-citizen-ranger/

Visit our website to learn how we’ve preserving and enhancing the site for both wildlife and local people - https://northern-roots.uk/visit-us/the-site/regenerative-land-practices/

20/03/2026

It's Friday and that means Friday night football with Mental Health Football ⚽️ 🙌 ⚽️

It's MHF Friday! 💚⚽

Fancy a game of football tonight with no pressure or expectations? Play, or watch and have a chat with a great group of friendly, welcoming people.

7pm - 8pm on the outdoor 3G at The Hathershaw College. Newcomers welcome.

20/03/2026

Eid Mubarak to all who celebrate! Wishing you a happy day from all of us at Northern Roots 😊

19/03/2026

As we celebrate English Tourism Week, we're proud to share that Northern Roots has been named a 2026 Airbnb Best of British Fund winner!

👉https://news.airbnb.com/en-uk/bestofbritishwinners/

Northern Roots is transforming 160-acres of neglected urban greenspace in the heart of , Greater Manchester, into what will be the UK’s largest urban farm and eco-park - a unique community hub and visitor destination.

Our charity is creating inspirational spaces and opportunities for people to connect around food, growing, nature, learning, creativity, sport, work and play.

In autumn 2026, Northern Roots will open the doors to a beautiful new Welcome Building, Forestry Skills Centre and four more acres of urban farm – a milestone moment in a long-term, evolving project.

Thanks to this generous £50,000 award from AirBnB, we’ll be able to enhance our visitor offer, combining the expertise of our urban farm growers with award-winning chefs to create food festivals and unique ‘farm to fork’ dining experiences.

Visit our ‘Plans’ page to learn about our development 🌱 https://northern-roots.uk/about-us/plans/

I love Oldham Visit Manchester Love GREAT Britain

18/03/2026

‘’This work is important because local stories are often not told, and the voices and experiences of older generations deserve to be heard.’’ Gemma, Heritage Champion

Our Heritage Champions are local people working to uncover the industrial, social and natural of the Northern Roots site and surrounding areas, on a paid, part-time basis.

With support from Northern Roots, Gemma has developed research skills, explored archives, attended talks and helped deliver events that share local heritage with the community.

Visit Gemma’s webpage to read her inspiring journey, hear fascinating stories and find resources to explore your own heritage👉 https://northern-roots.uk/heritage-champion-gemma/

Made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund

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16/03/2026

Last week, you may have seen us coppicing trees along Tip Road at Northern Roots, , with our volunteers 🌳

Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management that’s been used for thousands of years. It involves cutting certain varieties of trees to a stump, which ultimately supports healthy regrowth of the tree and surrounding plants, and provides new habitats for wildlife.

What we harvest will be used as support canes for growing climbing beans and other veg in our urban farm. Eventually, once we can’t use them as canes any longer, we’ll either compost them or return to the woodland to maintaining a closed timber cycle.

At Northern Roots, we aim to use natural materials in a sustainable way, that has long term benefits for the site. Though Peach just thinks we’re creating a yearlong supply of throwing sticks 🐶

Learn more about the benefits of coppicing here - https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/nature/trees-plants/what-is-coppicing

And how we’re responsibly managing our woodland and the wider 160-acre site here - https://northern-roots.uk/visit-us/the-site/regenerative-land-practices/

13/03/2026

We’re honoured to connect with Cliff Murphy, an artist with a personal connection to the Northern Roots site.

Having grown up nearby, Cliff shared fond childhood memories of exploring the landscape and the buildings that once stood here, experiences that inspired artworks such as Belgravia Mill.

Speaking with our 12 Community Champions, Cliff brought the past to life, sharing forgotten names and stories that shaped the landscape as he remembers it; from Sheepwashes Brook (now culverted) and the Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Victorian railway to the houses that once stood on Cherry Valley.

Cliff generously gifted us a print of Belgravia Mill and shared a beautiful custom map of the site, drawn from his own memories – thank you Cliff!

Make sure to check out Cliff’s artwork - https://www.thehawthorngallery.co.uk/HawthornGallery/Default/Translator.php?page=Main.html&subpage=/WebRetail/Pages/Shop/CreatorProducts.html?creator=1015&app=def&ref=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8=

This heritage research is made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

10/03/2026

Throwback to last week’s sunshine☀️

Our volunteers have played a key role in building the polytunnels, where we’ll be growing even more veg🥕

09/03/2026

Happy from Northern Roots!

This year’s theme is ‘Give to Gain’, so we’re celebrating the women of Oldham’s past who gave their time, knowledge, and livelihoods to making a better place.

Hear from Kiran and Roberta, local residents and Heritage Champions, as they bring the stories of these incredible women to life.

Our Heritage Champion roles are made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.


Images by kind permission of Gallery Oldham

06/03/2026

Alexandra Park, Oldham. Beautiful in every season, but especially in spring! 🌷🌞🌱

Alexandra Park opened in August 1865. It was constructed as a job creation scheme for unemployed cotton workers during the Lancashire Cotton Famine and is currently Grade 2 Listed.

Built by the people of for the people of Oldham. We are proud to call this stunning park our neighbour 💚

06/03/2026

📢 Be the first to see behind the scenes of Northern Roots brand new Welcome Building and Forestry Skills Centre through Willmott Dixon Open Door initiative!

06/03/2026

A huge thank you to Louise Sutherland of The National Lottery Heritage Fund for visiting Northern Roots. An opportunity to see our Welcome Building taking shape, meet our Heritage Champion team and talk about the power of to transform places and lives.

Northern Roots is developing a new model harnessing urban greenspace to economic and environmental regeneration, communal pride, entrepreneurship and wellbeing.

We are transforming 160-acres of neglected land in the heart of , Greater Manchester, into a unique hub and destination. In 2026, we open the doors to a beautiful new Welcome Building, Forestry Skills Centre and four more acres of urban farm – a milestone moment in a long-term, evolving project.

Historically, the Northern Roots site has housed two coal mines, two cotton mills, an industrial railway, a large, combined sewage outlet tank and the council rubbish tip. Around a third of the site is former landfill. From Roman roads and rubbish to vanished mills and the Beautiful Oldham Society, the soil and the landscape have stories to tell.

Funding from the Heritage Lottery has played a critical role in the development of Northern Roots. It has enabled us to develop and test our Natural Health Service, Learning and Events offers, and has supported key work on branding, marketing, interpretation, evaluation and co-creation.

Perhaps most importantly, we’ve been able to create paid, part-time roles like our Heritage Champion roles. These give people like the opportunity to explore aspects of the industrial, social and natural heritage of the Northern Roots site, and bring those to life for local communities and visitors.

https://northern-roots.uk/heritage-champion-gemma/

Historic images by kind permission of Gallery Oldham.

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