Former location of Royal Oak, Oldham Road, Newton Heath. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.
The Royal Oak in Newton Heath was a large Wilsons pub on Oldham Road on the corner of Fletcher Street, shown here in 1970. Royal Oak Park behind was named after the pub, established in 1864 as a 16 acre athletics ground and pleasure garden. The Manchester Guardian described it as "one of the most superior sporting arenas in England, if not the world." It held 20,000 people and also offered public showers to the people of Newton Heath (price 1 penny) [1]. The Royal Oak closed in 1991 [2] and has been knocked down and replaced by a Holiday Inn.
Royal Oak Park, Oldham Road. (c) Samantha-Jayne Oldfield & Dave Day [1].
1. Manchester's Sporting Past: Nineteenth Century Athletic Grounds, Samantha-Jayne Oldfield & Dave Day, Manchester Metropolitan University.
2. What's Doing, CAMRA, April 1991.
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