Moorside, Greater Manchester facts for kids

Moorside is a friendly neighborhood located in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England. It sits in the northeast part of Oldham, right next to the beautiful countryside of Saddleworth. It's also connected to another area called Sholver to its west.

Moorside is mostly made up of suburban houses, which are homes often found in quiet areas outside big cities. You'll find local shops and businesses, like a Co-op store, in the center of Moorside on Ripponden Road. The largest church in the area is Saint Thomas'.

Discovering Moorside's Past

How Moorside Grew: The Industrial Revolution

Moorside started to grow a lot in the mid-1800s. This was a time when many towns in England were expanding because of the Industrial Revolution. Factories and mills were being built, and people moved to these areas for work.

A big reason for Moorside's growth was a businessman named Thomas Mellodew. His family, the Mellodews of Moorside, were textile manufacturers. This means they made fabrics, especially velvet, in their mills located right in the Moorside area.

Thomas Mellodew's Influence

Thomas Mellodew's business was very successful. He started buying land and building houses. Soon, he owned most of Moorside village! He had between 200 and 300 houses in his possession.

His business interests weren't just in textiles. He also ran a quarry at the bottom of Besom Hill. A quarry is a place where stone is dug out of the ground. This quarry also had a brickworks, which made bricks for building. He ran this business with a partner until 1882.

Moorside Today: A Modern Neighborhood

In the mid-1960s, even more homes were built in Moorside. New housing estates, which are groups of houses built together, started appearing in areas like Haven Lane, Counthill, Parkfield, and Turf Pit Lane.

This huge increase in homes and people changed Moorside a lot. It transformed from a small group of houses nestled under a hill into a much larger suburban area. The people who used to live in the older, more rural part of the hill were joined by a new, growing community of suburban families.