A corner of Failsworth is quietly ticking away as one of the best shopping locations in Greater Manchester – and now its status as the city’s Antique Quarter has been cemented with an official brown tourist sign.
While many hear ‘second-hand shopping’ and immediately think of the Northern Quarter’s trendy vintage shops, when it comes to homeware, nowhere comes close.
Out here on the edges of Manchester and Oldham, there are enormous warehouses filled to the brim with antique furniture and second-hand decor.
This cluster of specialists sell just about everything you can think of – sofas, paintings, crockery, clothing, chairs, vinyls, lighting, art, ornaments, trinkets, merry-go-round horses and giant Santas driving miniature cars.
Whatever you’re shopping for, you’re almost guaranteed to find it – even if you do have to navigate teetering towers of furniture and crooked aisles of cabinets to get to it.
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There are several antiques shops to explore here, just a few tram stops out of Manchester city centre.
Each one is an Aladdin’s cave for pre-loved and collectible items, whether you’re after props for a one-off event or a keepsake to carry with you for the rest of your life.
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The largest of all these treasure troves is Empire House Antiques, a building so big and so full of delights that we genuinely got lost in the labyrinth and couldn’t get out.
Empire House Antiques in Failsworth, Greater ManchesterThe stacks of Chesterfield sofas in Greater Manchester’s antiques quarterYou can browse furniture and even cars inside
After you cross the small work yard and pass the wall of safes at the entrance (this sounds like the start of a really crap fairy tale) you’ll find yourself in an enormous room packed to the ceiling with wonders.
There are leather Chesterfield sofas carefully mounted one on top of the other, towers of beautiful wooden cabinets, and even cars – yes, cars – on display to buy.
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Upstairs is a clumsy person’s nightmare, with aisle after aisle of delicate glassware and ornaments.
There’s a secret corridor lined with books that takes you through to a second set of staircases, and a few small workshops specialising in everything from vintage fashion to grandfather clocks.
The giant Carex soap bottleHow many treasures can you spot in the Failsworth Antiques Quarter in Greater Manchester?
You can even find an eight-foot-tall Carex soap prop…
We stayed for ages and still kept finding new rooms – clear the afternoon before you come browsing here.
Immediately across the road is Antique World Manchester, which looks fairly innocuous from street level – just a navy blue sign above a warehouse door.
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Go past the vending machine and the field of Santas (some so old their suits have faded to pink), head up the stairs, and brace yourself for a tardis full of antiques.
There are several traders operating out of here with loads of stands to explore, and you’ll usually find plenty of characters who can assist you with your rummaging.
Casual vinyl record spotted at Antique World ManchesterStacks of antique trunks in Greater Manchester’s antique quarterA retro tomato soup mug
What are you after? Is it a Rugby Songs vinyl where the men are totally naked on the cover? A traditional copper kettle? A vintage pink trunk? A set of crystal jars? A fur coat? A framed football shirt? They’ve got it!
All that along with beautiful wooden furniture, delicate glassware, and taxidermy animals of varying quality…
Next door is Cornerhouse Antiques, a smaller but significantly less jumbled shop, which also rents items out as props for film and TV.
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A sign officially marks the Failsworth Antiques Quarter. Credit: The Manc GroupChairs on chairsAn Aladdin’s cave of treasures just outside Manchester city centreWhat an eclectic mix
And just down the road is Second Time Around Antiques, a showroom so full its items spill out onto the street outside.
These businesses attract all sorts of shoppers – collectors rummaging through cabinets looking for coins, young couples buying a matching set of Ercol chairs for their new home, set dressers trying to create a scene from yesteryear.
Just recently, a brown road sign – used to direct people to tourist attractions in the UK – has been placed on Oldham Road.
So that’s it, it’s official… Failsworth Antiques Quarter is on the map as Greater Manchester’s second-hand heaven.
Oldham man jailed for ‘non-contact’ child sex offences after pretending to be 15-year-old boy online
Emily Sergeant
A man from Oldham has been sentenced to time behind bars for what police have described as ‘non-contact’ child sex offences.
Ryan Greenhow appeared at Manchester Crown Square Court yesterday (Tuesday 24 February 2026) to be sentenced, after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to 22 counts of non-contact child sex offences – including child sexual exploitation, sharing images or film to cause alarm, causing or inciting a child aged under 16 to engage in sexual activity, and malicious communications.
The offences occurred between November 2024 and March 2025, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed.
It involved Greenhow contacting six victims via different social media platforms including WhatsApp, TikTok, and Snapchat.
The 37-year-old then blackmailed the victims into sending him indecent images.
Pretending to be a teenage boy, he would send the victims – who police say were aged between 12-15 years old at the time – an indecent image, making claims that the image depicted them when it was actually a picture of a naked woman obtained from the internet, and the proceeded to threaten to send the image to their friends and family if the victims did not do exactly as he said.
This led to Greenhow making demands for indecent images from victims across the country, in areas like Greater Manchester and Lancashire, and even further afield in Buckinghamshire.
He would go on to send numerous text messages threatening his victims, including saying: “This is your last chance, everyone will know this is you” and “I have seen your nudes, add me”. On some occasions, police say the victims would respond that she did not know what they were talking about, but kept receiving messages telling them that it was their “last chance”.
Some of the victims did send Greenhow images, and reported his activity to their parents, carers, and school teachers.
At his sentencing this week, Greenhow was jailed for seven years and four months, and will also be made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Speaking following Greenhow’s sentencing, Detective Constable Adair, of GMP’s City of Manchester Division, said: “Greenhow used several different social media platforms pretending to be a 15-year-old boy and followed the same method with each of his victims – sending them random images obtained from the internet, falsely attributing them to the victim, then threatening to share the image with the victim’s friends and family in exchange for an indecent image of the victim.
“Once our investigation was underway, detailed phone analysis led to us identifying further victims. Officers worked to safeguard these victims from any further harm.
“This sentencing is part of our wider work to tackle child sexual exploitation and we’re committed to protecting victims and bringing offenders to justice.”
Featured Image – GMP
Oldham
Two brothers from Oldham are beating out the likes of Taylor Swift in the iTunes charts
Danny Jones
A pair of brothers from Oldham who simply go by Two Connors are now holding on to the top spot in one of the biggest iTunes charts, and they’re beating the likes of Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Bad Bunny and many more.
Stuff your global music stars, we’ll back a duo from Greater Manchester all day long.
Danny and Callum Connor, a couple of blokes from Oldham in their mid-30s, are currently number one in the iTunes singles charts with their latest song, ‘Familiar Faces’, but this isn’t the first time they’ve gone big with a release online.
Carving out their own little corner not only in the old Lancashire borough but a small pocket in the UK’s wider grime, drill, rap and hip-hop scene, they’ve only gotten bigger over the last 18 months or so.
After releasing their first two tracks back in 2024, Callum and Danny have been on a very gradual rise, but they quickly gained a cult local following in and around Oldham.
Writing about life and around the area, with high personal and anecdotal lyrics that feel like niche references and in-jokes specifically for‘Roughyed’ residents – it’s not just music by them but FOR them.
In addition to recording their own unique cover of ‘Bad Habits’ by Ed Sheeran, they also went fairly viral for releasing a music video featuring crowds of local children.
Putting their own chant-based chorus slant on ‘Hi Ho, Hi Ho, “It’s off to Work We Go”‘, written by Mitch Miller and The Sandpipers (yes, as in the main theme from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), it was a fairly radio-friendly tune that was easy for kids and more to sing along with.
With various other natives getting involved in the music video, joining them on the town centre streets and lip-syncing the lyrics, it was circulated online all over Britain and beyond.
You can watch it in full down below.
Fast forward to February 2026, and not only have they grown their following across the region, but even further afield now, as it turns out; currently sitting ahead of ‘Opalite’ from worldwide smash-hit album, The Life of a Showgirl, who needs big label backing, eh?
Bringing smiles to even more Greater Mancs by quite literally shining the spotlight on ‘Familiar Faces’ and punters from nearby pubs such as The Up Stepps Inn and former nightclub Sruples, it is a real tribute to their homeland.
Only time will tell how long they’ll cling to that iTunes top spot, but with nearly 73,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and counting, they might be one of the biggest music names to come out of OL in some time.
In other big news over in Oldham, on the sporting side of things, RLFC are staring down yet more uncertainty, with local hero Bill Quinn also wrapping up his time at the club.
Daisy Jackson -
2nd March 2024 
