I also remember the Oldham Tinkers at the Colin Campbell, and earlier at the Waterloo on Union Street. They were always packed and we had some great nights there. I seem to remember they moved to another pub further up Glodwick road before the Oldham Hotel, but I can't remember the name.

In those days we always had difficulty in running a Folk Club in Oldham, where we could charge admission and pay guest singers. There was some obscure bylaw that banned charging admission to a room in a pub, and the police used to enforce it rigorously (you'd think they would have had better things to do!). I started a club at the Nelson on Union Street in about 1967, and we were raided by the police in about the second or third week. We couldn't guarantee to raise enough to pay guests from voluntary contributions that the police suggested, so we had to close down.

To get round it, some of us moved out of town - I started a club at the Swan Inn (Top House) in Dobcross, Saddleworth, and the Hometowners went to the Railway in Hollinwood. The Tinkers stayed in Oldham as they never charged admission anyway.

I think the bylaw probably fell into disuse after local government reorganisation in 1974, or perhaps the police found other ways to occupy their time than hounding a few folkies. Happy days!