The more we care for nature, the more it will nurture us in return.
Stretching from Alexandra Park, past Park Bridge and the River Medlock to Daisy Nook Country Park and the border of Tameside, the 160-acre Northern Roots site is now an important wildlife corridor. However, a century ago this space was a hive of industry. Home to two mills, two coal mines and an industrial railway, the entire site was clear cut. After the mills and mines were closed and demolished, around 60 acres at the heart of the site served as the local Tip and was landfilled for 30 years. From the 1990s the site has largely been left untouched and nature has begun to recover. Northern Roots is working to strengthen and accelerate this recovery.
The Eco Park is always open for walking, cycling, horse riding and connecting with nature. There is a network of paths and some waymarked routes. We run regular guided nature and heritage walks from the Welcome Building.
Explore the Eco Park today and you could see everything from lapwings to buzzards, bats to roe deer. Because even in the most neglected green spaces, nature can recover, it just needs a little help.
As we manage congested woodland, plant hedges, and dig new ponds, wildlife returns. By harnessing regenerative land practices like this we not only aid nature recovery and boost biodiversity but help capture carbon, improve soil health and air quality, and reduce flood risk through the Medlock Valley.
Northern Roots is a natural valley, channeling water from Oldham town centre down to the River Medlock. Habitats range from mixed deciduous and plantation forest to regionally important heathland, diverse grassland, wetland and freshwater. Two thirds of our Eco Park is forested. The southern part of the Eco Park, along the banks of the River Medlock, includes Bankfield Clough, which is a Site of Biological Importance due to its acidic birch-oak woodland and its grasslands.
We farm the wider landscape to harvest sustainable forest products like timber and charcoal. We grow hazel and willow for basket weaving and hedging. We collect natural clay.