New attraction opens beside Alexandra Park
Oldham’s long‑anticipated urban farm, Northern Roots, opens to the public today after months of work converting a cluster of cabins and small tunnels into a state‑of‑the‑art visitor hub and forestry skills centre. The site stretches about one and a half miles from the rear of Alexandra Park into Snipe Clough and is already producing a notable harvest.
Visitors on a pre‑opening tour reported thriving vegetable plots and a wide variety of fruit and specialist crops. Harvested produce seen on site included pumpkins, courgettes, cucumbers, wild garlic, flax, basil, clove and an unusual variety described as black tomatoes. Fruit grown at the farm includes raspberries, wine berries, apples and quince. The farm also hosts independent enterprises such as a linen maker and an on‑site apiarist selling local honey.
Community enterprises and learning at the heart of the project
Northern Roots is designed as more than a working market garden. The site already supports a range of small businesses and educational activities. Flax grown on the site is processed by a linen producer who cultivates dye plants for handcrafted goods. The farm shop stocks produce and goods made from materials grown or produced on site.
- Growers — established vegetable and fruit plots with regular harvests.
- Craftspeople — linen production using on‑site flax and dye plants.
- Beekeeper — an independent apiarist manages hives and sells honey.
- Blacksmithing — an on‑site forge offering demonstrations and sessions for schoolchildren.
One of the resident craftspeople is a blacksmith who runs Yggdrasil Forge. He built a forest forge with support from The King’s Trust and uses the facility to teach — and to remind people of the link between making and the materials around them. On the preview visit he explained the educational purpose of the forge, saying:
"I think we've become very detached from the things we use."
Education, skills and local economy
The project positions Northern Roots as a forestry skills centre as well as a visitor attraction. The blacksmith already offers educational sessions and has designed his forge to safely demonstrate the craft to schoolchildren. That combination of commercial, educational and community activity is central to the site’s mission.
A separate report connected to the development notes that construction on the Northern Roots Visitor Centre was estimated at £13m, underlining the scale of the investment in the site’s facilities. The development replaces a modest collection of cabins and tunnels with a purpose‑built hub intended to serve residents, local schools, community groups and visitors.
| Feature | What residents can expect |
|---|---|
| Location | Rear of Alexandra Park stretching into Snipe Clough (1.5 miles) |
| Offerings | Vegetable plots, fruit, flax, linen goods, honey, blacksmith demonstrations |
| Education | Forestry skills centre, school sessions, craft workshops |
Northern Roots represents a tangible addition to Oldham’s green infrastructure. For residents it means new local produce, hands‑on learning opportunities for children and adults, and a destination that brings together food, craft and conservation on a single site.
As the site opens to the public, questions for the future will centre on access, ongoing community involvement and how the centre balances enterprise with its educational aims. For now, the visible signs are of a project that has moved beyond concept: it is growing food, supporting small businesses and inviting Oldham residents to reconnect with how things are made and grown on their doorstep.
