Ashton Market Hall caught fire on the 25th May 2004 completely devastating the interior and displacing the businesses within. With the outside structure intact work commenced to bring the market hall back from the ashes. After being housed in the temporary Phoenix Market Hall on Old Cross Street car park Ashton Market Hall re-opened in 2008.
The M60 is the only orbital motorway in Britain (the M25 is part dual carriageway at Dartford Bridge and tunnel). It began with the construction of the Western Stretford Eccles bypass in 1958 and took over forty years to complete the circle with Denton West in 1989 until the opening of the Middleton-Denton Eastern finished the section in 2000.
In February 2018, Denton Councillor Brenda Warrington became the first woman Executive Leader of Tameside Council following the untimely death of her predecessor Councillor Kieran Quinn in December 2017. She remained as council leader until May 2022 steering the council through the challenges of completing the Tameside One project and the Covid Pandemic.
John Schlesinger’s film Yanks starring Richard Gere was filmed in Tameside in 1978 using familiar landmarks including Stalybridge town centre, Stamford Golf Club and St Paul’s Church, as well as Hyde Town Hall.
Leigh Drennan has made history a couple of times in Tameside, he was elected aged just 20 in 2012, and also became the youngest councillor to serve as the borough’s Mayor in 2019-20.In taking on the role, he also became Tameside’s first openly-LGBT+ civic mayor, with partner Cory James by his side as consort.
Tameside has had a strong relationship with television drama over the years featuring in programmes like Coronation Street, Jossy’s Giants, Making Out and Band Of Gold. More recently we have had programmes like Scott & Bailey, Cobra, Ridley Road, Stay Close, The Full Monty, Brassic and detective drama Ridley.
In February 2013 the Manchester to Droylsden to Metrolink line opened and in October that year the Ashton section of the Metrolink opened completing the Ashton route to the Manchester town centre after years of work.
Councillor Roy Oldham, who passed away in 2010, was the longest serving Executive Leader of Tameside Councillor from 1980 until 2010. He was a founder member of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, following the dissolution of the Greater Manchester county council in 1986, and went on to chair the board of Manchester international airport, which is owned by the 10 Greater Manchester authorities. He also chaired and led the Greater Manchester pension fund for 23 years.
The name ‘Tameside’ was chosen because of the River Tame which helped power the industrial revoloution two centuries ago.
Following the demolition of TAC (Tameside Administtive Centre) which had been the hub of council offices since 1980, the new Tameside One complex featuring council facilities, new library and Tameside College opened in March 2019.
Mossley Councillor Tafheen Sharif is the first Muslim and ethnic minority person to be appointed civic mayor of Tameside since the borough was created on April 1, 1974.