![\"Daisy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/202691_193513.jpg\" "\\"Daisy")
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\n\t\t Reporter: Ed Barnes LDRS
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\n\t\t Date published: 01 September 2026
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Daisy Nook <\/p>\n
\u2018Ambitious\u2019 plans to restore a major wildlife area next to the M60 are about to take another step forward. The attraction,\u00a0which \u2018no one talks about\u2019 locally, is already bringing in people from across the country.<\/p>\n
Daisy Nook Country Park is a 40 hectare site in the River Medlock valley which sits in both Oldham and Tameside boroughs. Daisy Nook\u2019s history stretches back over 200 years where the canals there acted as a key supplier of coal that powered Manchester\u2019s industrial revolution and was the site of illegal raves attended by thousands in 2020.<\/p>\n
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 \u2018ambitious\u2019 community led programme forward.<\/p>\n
Working with the Hollinwood Canal Society, this will look to restore and regenerate the park. \u00a3120,000 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.<\/p>\n
This is on top of work since 2024 to improve paths, create community spaces, tackle invasive species like Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam, improve accessibility, and carry out repairs.<\/p>\n
Mark Buchan Jones, chair of the Friends group, said: \u201cThat transformation is part of what makes Daisy Nook so special. We aren\u2019t recreating the past, we\u2019re giving Daisy Nook a future.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told the LDRS: \u201cThere 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\u201d, adding there was a \u2018huge amount of history in this area\u2019 and the \u2018jewel in Oldham\u2019s crown that wasn\u2019t getting any attention\u2019.<\/p>\n
With the nature that has been spotted in the park including kingfishers, he said: \u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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: \u201cWe need to try and make sure it remains a wild place,\u201d adding: \u201cIt shows how everything returns to nature in the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u2018gone to rack and ruin\u2019.<\/p>\n
He said they would be looking to open up the park as much as they possibly could, including educating people on its history, adding: \u201cWe are trying to get it fit for the future so it will be there for 100 years before anyone else to worry about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will never turn it back into a canal but it\u2019s keeping as much of that history for future people to see it, understand where Oldham came from and also making use of the wildlife side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking lessons from what they have achieved in Daisy Nook, he said Reform were looking at helping establishing 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.<\/p>\n
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