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Revision as of 15:31, 30 September 2006
Royton is a small town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies within the traditional borders of Lancashire and is one of the seven areas which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. Royton is situated between the industrial towns of Oldham and Rochdale, running along the A671, it is bounded by Chadderton to the south and Shaw and Crompton to the north.
Once a thriving cotton spinning region with its own town hall and shopping centre, Royton has suffered something of a loss of identity since the demise of the cotton industry. Nevertheless, it is believed by many to be one of the more desirable areas around Oldham, the eastern parts of the area in particular having some attractive housing, framed by green belt countryside. Royton is conveniently placed for the M62 motorway and, in Tandle Hill Park, has one of the area's finest country parks.
Royton's library was donated by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 and is still a fine building and excellent resource.
Adjacent to the library and undoubtedly the focus of Royton is the town hall, with its fine clock tower, topped by a copper cupola. The tower has an unusual feature in that the clock on the North facing is noticeably smaller than the other three. The story goes that it was built this way to stop the citizens of Shaw enjoying Royton's civic time-piece, and to encourage them to build one of their own. This is an indication of a rivalry still felt between the neighbouring areas.
Royton boasts a swimming pool, an amateur cricket club, which plays in the Central Lancashire League, and Oldham Athletic Football Club's ground lies partly within Royton. In fact Boundary Park lies at the meeting point of Royton and Chadderton, hence the name. The local athletics club is Royton Harriers.
Local celebrities from the Royton area include glamour model Michelle Marsh.
Schools in Royton
Royton has two secondary schools; Our Lady's R.C. High School and Royton and Crompton School. Royton also has several primary schools. Including Thorp Primary School, situated on Thorp Estate.
Politics in Royton
Royton forms part of the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency and since 1997 is represented in the House of Commons by Labour MP Michael Meacher. Royton has two of the twenty wards of the wider Oldham Borough; Royton North and Royton South.
The political landscape of Royton has changed somewhat over the last few years. Since the riot of 2001 in Oldham, the far-right British National Party have received considerable support in the two wards of Royton North and Royton South. However, the BNP has consistently finished in second place behind the Labour Party in all the local council elections since 2002 beating the more established Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
In the 2005 general election, the constituency of Oldham West and Royton was held by the Labour candidate Michael Meacher MP receiving almost 50% of all votes. The Conservatives came second with 21.3% followed by the Liberal Democrats (20%), the British National Party (6.9%) and the United Kingdom Independence Party with 2.6% .
53°34′N 2°07′W / 53.567°N 2.117°W / 53.567; -2.117
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