This transcription is taken from an old postcard. The Oddfellows Call was a pub on Lees Road, Oldham at Salem and was a small, low building that was demolished circa 1970's. The Oddfellows in question were an insurance mutual which collected premiums through reps who called at households. The whereabouts of this roll of honour is unknown currently but if anybody could enlighten us we would be grateful. Note: The old county structure before 1974 is being used here so although now part of Greater Manchester, Oldham has been listed under Lancashire. ODDFELLOWS CALL SALEM PATRIOTIC FUND     COMMITTEE       T HEYWOOD S POLLITT J KERSHAW E DYSON     J ILLING S MEARNS H PEMBERTON J SHAW   EUROPEAN WAR. ROLL OF HONOUR 1914 TO MANCHTR RGT † A. WOOLLMAN W. PLATT † W. MELLOR † J. CLARKSON F. GREENWOOD J.W. LOCKWOOD AD. WOOLLMAN † J. KIMPTON A. WRIGHT J. TAYLOR S.J. MEARNS J.H. BUCKLEY T. LORD W.R. CROSSLAND E. POLLITT W. BRADLEY † H. PEMBERTON W. FITTON F. SHAW W. HETT MANCHTR RGT D. DEAN E. HOWARTH LANC. FUSRS J. POLLITT J.G. KERSHAW H. OGDEN D. OF W.W.R. RGT T. CROSSLAND T. CROMPTON † J. TAYLOR K.O.R.L † J. DYSON C. MERANS J. ASHTON † R. JACKSON M.G.C. L. COCKER J. SCHOFIELD T. CARTER H. SCHOFIELD KING'S LPL RGT W. KENYON F. ASHTON † H. BUCKLEY W. COLLIER G.S. BRADLEY W. WALKER † F.N. COLLIER E DUNKERLEY K.S.L.I J. GILL K.S.L.I A. SCHOFIELD K'S R. RIFLES † F. BUTTERWORTH R.A.F. F. ILLING J. LEE F. DYSON A. MEARNS S.GREENHALGH R.F.A. A. ILLING W. STOREY H. WHITEHEAD J. WHITEHEAD A. BUCKLEY F. HEYWOOD L.N.L. A. BRADLEY S. BAILEY Y. & L. REGT † F. KERSHAW R.G.A. J. TAYLOR † N. GRUNDY J. STOREY R.A.M.C. J.T. CLEGG F. WHITEHEAD A. CLEWES H. SCHOFIELD A.S.C H. PICKFORD G. HARRISON H. BUCKLEY J. OGDEN J.H. ROMPTON K.O.S.B. F. CADDICK L.N.L. J. CADDICK CHESH. RGT J. COLLIER MANCHTR RGT † H. HETT † T. TAYLOR K.R.R. † M. PLATT K.O.R.L. J. CROSSLAND KING'S LPL RGT C. COOPER R.G.A. J. DUNKERLEY W. VINCE ROYAL NAVY W. CLEGG A. SITH THIS TABLET WAS UNVEILED BY COUNCILLOR WM. LEES, SEPT 14, 1918 † DENOTES KILLED           * DENOTES DISCHARGED

Background Information kindly supplied by Neil Scholefield The Oddfellows Call Public House and its Landlord Elisha Dixon, who was instrumental, along with several of his customers, in getting the ornate memorial tablet commissioned in 1918. The Oddfellows Call would have been at the heart of the community during WWI and the landlord and his wife, Elisha & Sarah Dyson were well known in the area, having run the pub since 1896. Sadly in July 1917 their eldest son, 20 year old Josiah Dyson, was killed fighting in France and that event may have been the catalyst for the creation of this Roll of Honour . Josiah appears on the memorial and his father Elisha is prominently displayed as one of the committee members who oversaw the Patriotic Fund. It is unlikely that all the 86 men named on the Roll of Honour were regular drinkers at The Oddfellows’ Call, though some undoubtedly were; the thing that united them was the Salem locality. I recognise the surnames Caddick, Clegg, Clewes, Collier, Dyson, Gill, Greenwood, Heywood, Illing, Kershaw, Pemberton, Pollitt and Taylor from families who were still living in the Salem area when I was growing up there in the 1950's. The Patriotic Fund mentioned had in all likelihood been raised by the local community, including customers at the Oddfellows Call; Oldham Brewery who owned the pub may also have contributed to the fund. The money raised was for the benefit of dependents of local men who had been killed or badly wounded in the Great War and for ex servicemen who had fallen on hard times. The Dyson family ran the Oddfellows Call from 1896 - 1963; Elisha held the licence from 1896 – 1931, his wife Sarah took over 1931 - 1935 and their youngest son Harry Dyson carried it on from 1935 - 1963. It may have been after this date that the memorial tablet went missing, although looking closely at the tablet's photograph it appears to be up against a white outside wall with plant stems growing round it, bottom right. So it may have never been displayed in the pub itself as a wooden version and is more likely to have been made from marble or stone and installed outside in a garden of remembrance or a churchyard . The pub survived for another 15 years under the stewardship of new landlord John Martin and his wife Egeria - but in 1980 it was served with a compulsory purchase order by Oldham council and it closed its doors for the last time on 26th April 1981. It was demolished the following year. THE ODDFELLOWS CALL was an Oldham beerhouse on the corner of Gibraltar Street & Lees Road at Salem; almost facing The Friendship Inn on the other side of the main road. It first opened in 1835 and was created out of three cottages in a row of terraced shops & houses fronting onto Lees Road. It remained a beerhouse until 1951 when a permit to sell wine was added to the licence, however it never received a full licence to sell spirits.