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The following are memories recalled by Mrs Vera Smith, as recorded by Hanover Housing Association in their book 'Tale of the Century' published in 1999.
I was 10 years old when I first started to work on the children's roundabout at Tommyfields Market, Oldham which belonged to my family. That was 1942, and in the 57 years since, I have met many interesting characters on the market.
Edith Ralphs ran the Lancashire towel stall. She was quite a wag and wrote Lancashire dialect poems that she often recited whilst selling her wares. Edith also used to play the piano in the cinema in the days of silent films.
There was a curtain stall known to locals as 'Kitty Curtains' where the best velvet curtains could be purchased. One customer asked Kitty for a piece of velvet to make a coat for her dog but she couldn't decide on the colour, so Kitty told her to bring her dog to the market and she would suit the colour to the dog, to which the customer replied, 'Oh I can't do that, the coat is to be a surprise!'
Nancy Slater, a very good friend of mine was always cracking jokes and making fun. One day I needed to go to the ladies and she offered to operate the roundabout for me whilst I was away. I came back to find a rather large crowd of children and parents standing round the roundabout. When I made my way through the crowd I found that Nancy had made the roundabout go backwards -- 'To give the kids a change', she explained.
Another friend of mine, Brenda Reid, had bought a goldfish for her grandson. When she arrived home she realised that she had lost the newly purchased fish somewhere on the market whilst shopping. Brenda telephoned the Market Office to see if it had been found and she was asked for a description of the lost fish!
Bobby Whitworth ran the hardware stall and he was very shrewd. Any nails or screws that he found, he picked up and sold on his stall.
Through all the good memories there was also sad times. On the 5th October 1974, the old Victorian Market Hall was raised to the ground by fire. The police asked me to remove the top tilt of the roundabout in case sparks from the fire set it alight. Everyone was devastated by the fire and stood watching helplessly, many in tears, as part of Oldham's history was destroyed.
Temporary halls were built but the old spirit seemed to die with the flames. Many didn't like the new Market Hall. With the passing of time, things settled down and trading went on as before.
One night in April 1989, two young lads set fire to my roundabout, which was burnt to a shell. People were very kind, offering chocolates and gifts, and schoolchildren offered money and wrote letters expressing their disgust at what had happened.
The boys were caught and when asked why they had done what they did, replied that they were bored and wanted to have a bit of fun! Their fun caused me a lot of heartache. But through the good times and bad I have survived and I shall continue to bring pleasure to the children of Oldham.
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