Oldham

Eagle-eyed residents spot Olympic hero in Oldham Council’s Christmas advert

The animation shows a local family exploring the high streets of Oldham for the perfect Christmas gift.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 9th December 2021

Olympian Matt Walls has been spotted by eagle-eyed residents in Oldham Council’s new animated Christmas advert.

With the adorable animation – which is aptly-titled ‘Christmas in Oldham’, and was released at the start of December – Oldham Council is giving retail giants a run for their money by encouraging visitors to the borough’s town centre to “shop local” over the festive season.

Following a turbulent 18 months for Oldham’s high streets and markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council say the new animation is intended to promote the Christmas season in the town and urge locals to support independent businesses when shopping for presents for their loved ones.

The animation shows a local family exploring the high streets of Oldham for the perfect Christmas gift, and ends with Santa and his reindeer flying high over Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre.

And, to make the film even more “authentically Oldham”, the clip also features the iconic Oldham Lights, reference to the wonderful outdoor markets of Royton and Shaw, and Delph Brass Band – who along with conductor Phil Goodwin provide the music for the clip.

Oldham Council has worked with Jo and Paul Perry from Delph-based award-winning animation production company, Periscope Studios, to create the festive film.

But that’s not all.

Eagle-eyed Oldhamers also noticed that 23-year-old Olympian Matt Walls – who was born and raised in the Greater Manchester borough, and won both a gold and silver medal for track cycling events at Tokyo 2020 – made an appearance in the animation.

He was shown with a beaming smile outside the town’s cycle shop.

Matt’s appearance in the animation may be obvious in one scene, but he’s actually hidden in there a few more times than initially meets the eye too, which is why the Council is soon to launch the ‘Where’s Walls?‘ competition – its own take on Where’s Wally – and those who enter can win one of five £50 Love to Shop vouchers by simply watching the video and commenting under the Facebook post how many times they spot Matt in the background of the animation.

Winners will be notified on Friday 17 December.

Oldham-born Olympian Matt Walls made an appearance in the animation outside the town’s cycle shop / Credit: Oldham Council

Speaking on the launch of the new Christmas animation, Cllr Arooj Shah – Leader of Oldham Council – said: “Christmas is an important time for us all, and a chance for us to spend time with loved ones [so] we wanted to reflect this when creating our Christmas animation, which was commissioned to promote the boroughs retail business offer. 

“We’re incredibly proud of our markets and retailers – independent and high street alike [as] they’ve worked tirelessly to adapt against ever mounting odds to keep residents safe.”

The animation shows a local family exploring the high streets of Oldham for the perfect Christmas gift / Credit: Oldham Council

She continued: “People say that it’s a shame that the high street is dying, but if people are sat at home buying online, that is unfortunately what could happen. If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift, why not visit your local Oldham high street first?  

“The heart-warming message of the animation is something that we can all relate to after the restrictions on seeing loved ones last Christmas.”

Head over to Oldham Council’s I Love Oldham Facebook page here for more details on the competition.

Featured Image – Oldham Council

Oldham

You can sleep in a luxury train carriage at an old railway station in Greater Manchester

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

There’s an Airbnb listing in Delph where you can stay in a classic converted train carriage, and it’s even situated in an old train station, so someone buy my ticket ASAP.

Get ready to have the best train experience of your life, as the only cancellation you have to worry about is booking the day off work.

The Carriage at The Old Station is a two-person character property in Delph, Saddleworth that offers you the chance to live out your vintage fantasy by stepping back in time on a luxury static train coach.

It may be situated at an old station, but the interior is refreshing and light with mint blue beams, fuchsia cushions and a royal red carpet and curtains.

As well as a majestic interior, this carriage has an equally impressive amount of amenities, including a Bluetooth sound system, board games and its own indoor fireplace.

This Airbnb is fairly new too, with only 44 reviews to its name – the first only dating back to September of last year; don’t say we don’t find you some absolute gems.

Inside the airbnb that's an old converted train carriage.
Inside the Airbnb that’s an old converted train carriage.
The interior of this Airbnb listing is bold and impressive.
The interior of this Airbnb listing is bold and impressive.

One user even stated, “We regularly stay in five-star locations and this surpassed five-star easily! We highly recommend a stay here.”

While another opened her review with three simple adjectives that we also feel perfectly sum up this train carriage property perfectly: “Opulent, indulgent, extravagant”.

It should come as no surprise that this place is beautiful inside and out, as in the description, host of the property Nigel states he’s a retired designer.

The train carriage stay is also close to a proper country pub, The Old Bell Inn, as well as the Diggle canal walk if you fancy a stroll and a pint before tucking into bed in your old train carriage for the night.

Even the bathroom has pops of colour throughout.
Even the bathroom has pops of colour throughout.
You could stay in this train carriage at an old train station.
You could stay in this train carriage at an old train station.

Looking for an equally interesting Oldham-based, transportation-themed overnight stay, well, how about renting out a beautifully restored VW camper?

If you’re after boarding The Carriage at The Old Station and having a fabulous overnight stay or mini holiday of your own, you can find the Airbnb listing and everything you need to know HERE.

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Featured Images — Supplied via Airbnb

Oldham

Oldham Athletic’s hero owner Frank Rothwell showered with praise after promotion back to EFL

Danny Jones Danny Jones

It was a weekend Oldham Athletic fans will always remember as the Greater Manchester club officially climbed out of the National League and back into the EFL, and among the many heroes at Wembley this year, one was showered with more praise than most: Frank Rothwell.

The newly-annointed League Two club owner is the man responsible for saving Oldham from complete collapse just a couple of short years ago; a local businessman who gave them the crucial backing that kept them afloat and who, without whom, Sunday evening may never have happened.

Rothwell went viral before the game with his passionate speech ahead of the all-important playoff tie, but the scenes following the momentous victory for his hometown have proved even more wholesome.

You need only listen to what he had to say after the game to recognise how much it meant not only to him but everyone across the borough.

Credit must obviously go to the players, manager Micky Mellon – who helped steer them this far in what was his sixth promotion – and to Southend United also, who made it a truly thrilling contest and advert for non-league football, not to mention garnering a National League record crowd of 52,115 fans.

Nothing short of incredible support.

In fact, there could have been even more in the stands for both sides were it not for the ticketing and rail maintenance fiasco that meant thousands of fans were simply unable to make it to the match, with each club’s allocation being capped at 21,500 a piece.

As for those who didn’t tune in to watch the thrilling fixture: firstly, more fool you and, secondly, the extra time comeback by the Latics was nothing short of inspiring and you couldn’t help but pray for the camera to pan up to Frank jumping up and down in his seat.

From being handed a big crate of Budweiser by the players to enjoy his first beer since Christmas (again, never one to shy away from a challenge), to take a victory lap around the iconic pitch after the final whistle, it was just as much his day as it was theirs.

It may have been a calm first-half penalty from Joe Garner, an expertly taken equaliser by James Norwood, and Kian Harrat’s fortunately stray ball into the box that got them over the line, but none of them would even be there without Frank Rothwell.

Writing a lengthy post on social media, famed football journalist Henry Winter said: “There’s such a fighting spirit to Oldham Athletic. So close to going out of existence in 21/22. But great fans and good people like Frank Rothwell and Darren Royle refused to let their club die. They fought and survived.

“They were so close to losing the National League play-off, but they fought and recovered and won. Resilience on and off the pitch. You have to feel for Southend United, who’ve also been through the mill in recent years, winding-up threat, transfer embargo, points deduction, prolonged takeover.

“Fighting spirit kept them alive. Amazing tifo at Wembley said it all: never give up. Southend gave everything and contributed fully to an epic playoff.

The quality shown by both sides and the depth of support […] is another reminder of the legitimacy of the campaign to have #3UP from the National League.”

As you can see, he’s not just a club legend already, but he’s even further cemented himself as a local hero throughout the town of Oldham.

He’d already endeared himself to fans, home and away, with various scenes over the past couple of years. Even before rescuing the old Lancashire outfit, he’s raised more than £1.1 million for Alzheimer’s Research and awareness with his epic solo row across the Atlantic.

Basically, he’s done some truly heroic things both within and outside of football, and the 74-year-old’s same indefatigable attitude is the kind of energy that has helped spur them over the past few seasons.

He never gave up his club or his town, and everyone reaped the rewards. Congratulations to the Latics, and we look forward to seeing them back where they belong.

PS — Get yourself an owner like Frank Rothwell.

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Featured Images — Diego Sideburns (via Flickr)/@harryp29311/Oldham Athletic (screenshots via X)

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