During the 19th century the circus was a popular entertainment in Oldham ; Pablo Fanque 's circus was a regular visitor , filling a 3 @,@ 000 @-@ seat amphitheatre on Tommyfield in 1869 . Criticised for its lack of a cinema , there are plans to develop an " Oldham West End " . Oldham have a thriving bar and night club culture , attracting a significant number of young people into the town centre . Oldham 's " hard binge drinking culture " have been criticised however for conveying a negative regional image of the town .