I read Teds (HandLamp) record of the Oldham Loop, and I would like to record some of the small businesses that were around Milnrow and Newhey when Ted served as Station Master there.

In Newhey just over the station bridge heading down Huddersfield Rd on the left hand side was Edie Bamford's (no relation) who ran a Herbalist health shop. You could buy allsorts of herbal remedies from her. As a young boy I remember calling in a couple of times a week for a glass of her herb beer. It tasted like Ginger Beer, but there was a lot more than Ginger in it.

Then there was Fieldings coal merchants which could be accessed from the Rochdale bound platform. Their Garage was housed in the corner of Broom st, which was on the right hand side of Huddersfield Road.

At the bottom of Huddersfield Rd was Williams  Deacons Bank. I cant remember who took them over, but a strong banking tradition went with them.

There were off course the mills. Haugh Spinning, Coral Mill, Ellenroad and Garfield Mills, Jubilee Mill, Milnrow Spinning at Dale Mill. (Which burned down in the seventies and is now a retail outlet of sorts). Another big employer of course was Holroyds on Harbor Lane. In Newhey there was also Henry Kirks who produced jute products. Next door was Redifusion, they made TVs for the cable network (yes there was cable network in the 50s). Tomlinsons (Now sadly gone Drying and Raising Machinery) were on the left hand side of Dales St.

Just as you entered milnrow at the top of Dale St there was Gregories opticians at the bottom of Bradley (thats the lane that used to run up to St Thomas' church in Newhey. This lane is now partially blocked by the M62 bridge on Newhey Rd, though you can still pick it up by going into the park. When Ted was there Cliff House and cottages were still standing. Cliff house was demolished in the early fifties when the war memorial was set up in its place.

Keeping on Dale St on the right hand side was Jack Greenwoods, a bicycle repair shop where you could get any part for any bicycle. People travelled from all around the borough to get parts from him. I seem to recall that he had a strange pricing policy, in that he always charged you what you had in your pocket, and as a young boy that didnt used to be much. That shop is now a fish and chip shop. (or it was last time I was there in 99).

Ted would probably remember Prowses the token Electrical appliance distributor further down Dale St. Incidentally Fletchers ( My dads Uncle) transport was on the left hand side behind the old Co-Op building.

The tripe shop Ted refers to was on the right hand side of Dale St (long since gone).

At the bottom of Kiln Lane was Jacksons Silencers.

Pubs

Newhey

The Wheatsheaf, Top Bird, (Bird Ith Hand), Bottom Bird (Bird In Hand), Waggon and Horses, Free Trade Tavern,

Milnrow

Kings Arms (Butterworth Hall), Commercial (on Dale St opposite Tomlinsons). This pub was used for Tomlinson's union meetings in the sixties and seventies. The Woolpack, The Tim Bobbin, The Ladybarn on Harbor Lane (opposite Milnrow Railway station and now called the Poachers Pocket), and of course the Hare and Hounds (sometimes called the gallows) at the top of kiln lane.