Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout - Episode 26
Tue 24th January 2017 | General | By Stewart Taylor
Episode 25 found us at Chadderton FC.
The photo shows part of the front of the clubhouse building painted in the club colours.
The quick link was a reflection on the relatively modern day trend of stadium naming. We asked what links this club to the ZenOffice Stand at the SportsDirect.com Park?
Many of us will know the home of Oldham Athletic FC as Boundary Park but these days the stadium is known as the SportsDirect.com Park and the ZenOffice stand within the ground is better known to many of us as the Chaddy End.
“Be afraid, be very afraid” is the tag line from the 1986 horror film The Fly written by David Cronenberg and that could be a perfect introduction to our destination this week.
We travel over hill and down dale to a valley where strange things happen, so the recommendation this week is to always Be Prepared. Many may recognise this reference to the Boy Scout movement and it is worth quoting just a part of the scout motto so that those making this journey cannot say that they weren’t ready.
“Be Prepared in Mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it.
Be Prepared in Body by making yourself strong and active and able to do the right thing at the right moment, and do it”.
OK, all suitably prepared, then we are ready to go.
As we have seen with a number of our towns, pubs play an important part both in the development and social fabric of a town. But there is one where you might like to think twice before entering. The Flowers Inn was a popular bikers pub (keg only I’m afraid) which is currently up for sale. It has been up for sale for quite a while and we may know at least one reason why that should be.
The pub is said to be the home of the ghost of Molly, a spirit who has manifested along the corridor leading to the toilets. Several other entities have also been detected in the pub including an old man with a limp and a girl who died of scarlet fever. This building could be on the market for quite some time yet and I’ll refrain from the obvious reference here to a 1984 comedy film partly written by and starring Dan Aykroyd.
If pubs are not quite your scene then how about a night at the theatre? The Royal Court Theatre in this town goes back to the latter days of the Victorian era. These days it is a popular venue for a range of entertainments including various comedy shows and music events but are you brave enough to go there?
Recent activity (and I choose my words carefully) has revealed numerous entities throughout the building including a woman named Kitty and a man named Jackson up by the Circles seating area. Also the presence of a doctor-like figure in reception. One hesitates to suggest that the next production at the theatre should be a stage version of the 1981 film Ghost Story but there we are, I’ve done it now.
Close to this town is a village which also has a claim to paranormal activity and relevant to us in that it refers to football. The legend is that Old Nick once popped up and started playing football on the Sabbath with a group of local lads - with his first kick of the ball it turned into a burning sphere, causing all the other players to flee!
All together now “Old Nick’s on fire, the whole town is terrified”.
And the real point of travelling this sometimes long and winding, but definitely scary, road is to reach our final destination but, no matter what we do, the spirits will not leave us alone. The club was established in 1879 and started to play at their current location in 1889. Another club who were founder members of the NWCFL in 1982, this club had not seen the name changes which many of our other member clubs have – until recently. In 2013 the name of the club was expanded to include the area in which the town is located.
However, this didn’t last long as the reputation of the area came back to haunt the club. Following a poor run of form and some strange goings on such as a light bulb shooting out of its socket and the club phone ringing a random number, paranormal investigators were called in to the club. It was concluded that there were demons out there since the name of the club had been changed, so the ground was blessed and cleansed with the officials of the club changing the name back to the original name for the start of the following season.
The effectiveness of this action in terms of the influence on results on the pitch is for others to comment on.
Quick link - What links the town this club is located in with an amalgam of Copper, Barium and Phosphorus?
Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout - Episode 26
Tue 24th January 2017 | General
By Stewart Taylor
Episode 25 found us at Chadderton FC.
The photo shows part of the front of the clubhouse building painted in the club colours.
The quick link was a reflection on the relatively modern day trend of stadium naming. We asked what links this club to the ZenOffice Stand at the SportsDirect.com Park?
Many of us will know the home of Oldham Athletic FC as Boundary Park but these days the stadium is known as the SportsDirect.com Park and the ZenOffice stand within the ground is better known to many of us as the Chaddy End.
“Be afraid, be very afraid” is the tag line from the 1986 horror film The Fly written by David Cronenberg and that could be a perfect introduction to our destination this week.
We travel over hill and down dale to a valley where strange things happen, so the recommendation this week is to always Be Prepared. Many may recognise this reference to the Boy Scout movement and it is worth quoting just a part of the scout motto so that those making this journey cannot say that they weren’t ready.
“Be Prepared in Mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it.
Be Prepared in Body by making yourself strong and active and able to do the right thing at the right moment, and do it”.
OK, all suitably prepared, then we are ready to go.
As we have seen with a number of our towns, pubs play an important part both in the development and social fabric of a town. But there is one where you might like to think twice before entering. The Flowers Inn was a popular bikers pub (keg only I’m afraid) which is currently up for sale. It has been up for sale for quite a while and we may know at least one reason why that should be.
The pub is said to be the home of the ghost of Molly, a spirit who has manifested along the corridor leading to the toilets. Several other entities have also been detected in the pub including an old man with a limp and a girl who died of scarlet fever. This building could be on the market for quite some time yet and I’ll refrain from the obvious reference here to a 1984 comedy film partly written by and starring Dan Aykroyd.
If pubs are not quite your scene then how about a night at the theatre? The Royal Court Theatre in this town goes back to the latter days of the Victorian era. These days it is a popular venue for a range of entertainments including various comedy shows and music events but are you brave enough to go there?
Recent activity (and I choose my words carefully) has revealed numerous entities throughout the building including a woman named Kitty and a man named Jackson up by the Circles seating area. Also the presence of a doctor-like figure in reception. One hesitates to suggest that the next production at the theatre should be a stage version of the 1981 film Ghost Story but there we are, I’ve done it now.
Close to this town is a village which also has a claim to paranormal activity and relevant to us in that it refers to football. The legend is that Old Nick once popped up and started playing football on the Sabbath with a group of local lads - with his first kick of the ball it turned into a burning sphere, causing all the other players to flee!
All together now “Old Nick’s on fire, the whole town is terrified”.
And the real point of travelling this sometimes long and winding, but definitely scary, road is to reach our final destination but, no matter what we do, the spirits will not leave us alone. The club was established in 1879 and started to play at their current location in 1889. Another club who were founder members of the NWCFL in 1982, this club had not seen the name changes which many of our other member clubs have – until recently. In 2013 the name of the club was expanded to include the area in which the town is located.
However, this didn’t last long as the reputation of the area came back to haunt the club. Following a poor run of form and some strange goings on such as a light bulb shooting out of its socket and the club phone ringing a random number, paranormal investigators were called in to the club. It was concluded that there were demons out there since the name of the club had been changed, so the ground was blessed and cleansed with the officials of the club changing the name back to the original name for the start of the following season.
The effectiveness of this action in terms of the influence on results on the pitch is for others to comment on.
Quick link - What links the town this club is located in with an amalgam of Copper, Barium and Phosphorus?
