Plans move forward to restore Daisy Nook Country Park

‘Ambitious’ plans to restore a major wildlife area next to the M60 are about to take another step forward. The attraction, which ‘no one talks about’ locally, is already bringing in people from across the country.

Daisy Nook Country Park is a 40 hectare site in the River Medlock valley which sits in both Oldham and Tameside boroughs. Daisy Nook’s history stretches back over 200 years where the canals there acted as a key supplier of coal that powered Manchester’s industrial revolution and was the site of illegal raves attended by thousands in 2020.

The area is known for its beautiful scenery, wildlife, and waterways and is popular with photographers. Later this month, the Friends of Daisy Nook Country Park are set to formally sign an agreement on September 11 to help move an ‘ambitious’ community led programme forward.

Working with the Hollinwood Canal Society, this will look to restore and regenerate the park. £120,000 of funds is set to be spent over the coming months which will help restore sections of the historic canal and a former boat pond.

This is on top of work undertaken since 2024 to improve paths, create community spaces, tackle invasive species like Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam, improve accessibility, and carry out repairs.

Mark Buchan Jones, chair of the Friends group, said: “That transformation is part of what makes Daisy Nook so special. We aren’t recreating the past – we’re giving Daisy Nook a future.”

He told the LDRS: “There is a lot of things we can do and there is a lot of work to be done but we realised we had to get some external funding”, adding there was a ‘huge amount of history in this area’ and the ‘jewel in Oldham’s crown that wasn’t getting any attention’.

With the nature that has been spotted in the park including kingfishers, he said: “We had people coming from Birmingham, from all over the place to see but there are people who only live a few hundred yards away from the place who have never been.

“The amount of history is significant. Everyone talks about the industrial revolution wherever you are in the world. You have got this history on the doorstep and no one talks about it.”

Despite the works that will take place to improve the area for people, Paul Carroll, a wildlife enthusiast, said protecting and improve wildlife habitats was key too, telling the LDRS: “We need to try and make sure it remains a wild place,” adding: “It shows how everything returns to nature in the end.

“At the moment certain parts of the park are neglected so much, if we do not look after the canal, it will disappear and fill with reeds and trees.”

Andrew Brooks, a Reform UK councillor for Failsworth East, has been involved with the group for years. He became involved when revisiting the park for the first time since his childhood to find it had ‘gone to rack and ruin’.

He said they would be looking to open up the park as much as they possibly could, including educating people on its history, adding: “We are trying to get it fit for the future so it will be there for 100 years before anyone else has to worry about it.

“We will never turn it back into a canal but it’s keeping as much of that history for future people to see it, understanding where Oldham came from and also making use of the wildlife side of it.

Taking lessons from what they have achieved in Daisy Nook, he said Reform were looking at helping establish community groups across Oldham to help improve other areas. Once the Friends agreement has been signed, he said this will allow the Daisy Nook community group to bid for larger government grants allowing them to carry out further improvements across the park.