Glimpse the past through old images of Oldham, in the Greater Manchester area of North West England.
Maytime Celebrations 1928
See Oldham’s Maytime celebrations in 1928, when the rose queen was crowned bedfore a long line of adults, children and horses processed through the streets.
Crowning the rose queen at Oldham, Lancashire (1928) – British Pathé on YouTube
Mill Nursery 1951
At a very early hour of the morning, even before the milkman arrives, 30 vans decorated with cartoons would go around the Oldham area picking up the toddlers of parents who worked in the mills.
The children had to be at least 6 months old to use this service, which was started after the mills had problems recruiting women with childcare needs.
Inside, the toddlers were strapped in with safety belts. The babies had built in cribs.
The entire van of toddlers and babies was supervised by one woman. Up front a man drove the van.
At the mill nursery, the staff are dressed in nurse uniforms.
Mill Nursery (1951) – British Pathé on YouTube