Town Hall Tavern, Oldham

In its time this was probably an impressive pub, the Deco exterior and to some extent the interior are still impressive. It has been dragged down to drinking barn level attracting salt of the earth punters, I think I would prefer not to venture in during the weekend or evening. Bland flooring and separate chairs and tables don’t help, neither do silent unwatched sports screens and an air of a deprived community. High ceilings with architrave, Victorian wallpaper and some remaining dark wood amongst the grey don’t raise it. Two forlorn unused hand pumps sit there by the solos and T-bars of national brands. Up the still magnificent staircase are the non accessible toilets, another counter and four darts boards. Surely pubs are meant to be better than this?

Official site of Town Hall Tavern - proper-pubs.com

Official site of Town Hall Tavern - proper-pubs.com

There were a few old timers with pickled livers in here when I visited on a recent Thursday evening. I’m not sure why because the music was extremely loud and the disco lights bright. It felt like a late night venue that was gearing up for a wave of drunken teens at pub chucking out time. The interior is open plan with seating across the front windows and the bar, stocked with standard keg and Madri, is found mid-way up the left wall. At the rear is a small raised area with two dartboards. Upstairs was closed off, which included the gents toilet so I was directed to the disgrace that was the disabled toilet. I’ve uploaded a photo of what can only be described as a scene from Mo’s Tavern.