Above: Roman Road circa 1960 - not all that long ago but changed so much

The building of the M60 motorway through Failsworth means that land is in demand by business and industry. One of the main areas, which will be changed dramatically, is the area on the border of Hollinwood at Roman Road. Its close proximity and large flat surface makes it an attractive plot for developers. In this edition I take a look at that area and in particularly how it has been used for transport links since 78AD with the building of the Manchester to York Roman Road to its present day Manchester Ring Road. We go back to 78AD when Manchester lay within the Celtic tribe known as the Brigantes, and started as a Roman Fort in the Castlefield area of Manchester. The Manchester Fort was established by Julius Agricola in 78AD and had a garrison of 500 men. The fort was an important settlement and trade supply routes were built, one of them was the Manchester to York road that passed through Failsworth.

The roman roads were built by using trees laid flat to stop it sinking into the marshy terrain.

One hundred and fifty bronze Roman coins, were found in Heron Street, Hollinwood, in 1887, and there have been more finds since.

The Hollinwood Branch of the Canal was opened in 1797 and cut through Roman Road behind what is now Massey Avenue all ran to Ashton. The canal was an essential transport route for coal from the collieries in Oldham and Ashton.

Until the early 1970’s all land past Westminster Road were fields and Roman Road was merely a dirt track. Resident Kath Lynch recalls, “it was all fields, it was almost like living in the countryside. It seems to have changed overnight.”

The canal was filled in the late 1970s when the road was resurfaced with modern tarmac, and now houses stand on the site. The old Streetbridge Inn shown in the photograph was demolished in 1984 to make way for the modern building we see today.

The small area around Roman has long been used as an important transport link and the building of the M60 is simply a modern version.

The one drawback of living in a popular town is that many want to live and work there, a price we all pay is that open space is taken up by new developments, both housing and industrial.