The major events that defined Oldham in 2024
The article highlights key events in Oldham in 2024, including the closure of the Yodel distribution centre, the rescue of the Oldham Coliseum theatre, the launch of the Muse town centre regeneration project, the discovery of a mass grave in Royton, the pause on the Eton Star Academy school project, and the opening of a new food hall in the Old Town Hall.
Oldham’s 2024: From Mass Baby Grave Scandal to Saved Theatre
Oldham has endured a year of stark contrasts in 2024, with the borough making national headlines for both triumph and tragedy. While campaigners successfully saved the historic Coliseum theatre and a new food hall opened in the renovated Old Town Hall, the discovery of a mass grave containing hundreds of stillborn babies in Royton exposed a national scandal that stretched back decades.
The year began with economic hardship when Yodel’s distribution centre in Shaw closed in May, leaving 350 workers jobless. CEO Mike Hancox attributed the “difficult decision” to financial challenges following a strategic review, though staff claimed the announcement came suddenly. “I can’t find a job because I’m the wrong end of 50,” one former employee told the LDRS. “We knew it was coming but we were told it would be next year. They didn’t give us much time.”
Summer brought relief when the Save the Coliseum campaign, led by screenwriter Ian Kershaw and actor Julie Hesmondhalgh, secured a £10 million refurbishment for the Fairbottom Street theatre. The venue, which closed in 2023 after losing Arts Council England funding, is scheduled to reopen in time for pantomime season 2025. The same season saw the launch of the Muse project, a 15-year partnership promising 2,000 new homes across brownfield sites including the former leisure centre and Magistrates Court.
But the year’s most harrowing revelation emerged from Royton cemetery, where investigators uncovered a mass grave containing hundreds of stillborn babies and children. Between the 1950s and late 1980s, mothers had been told their stillborn babies would receive proper burials, only to discover they had been “disposed of” in unmarked, sometimes unconsecrated graves. An LBC investigation subsequently revealed 89,000 stillborn babies buried in communal graves nationwide. Oldham Council is now installing memorial plaques at every known communal grave site, while Royton councillors organized a candlelight vigil for affected families.
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