We all know that the Christmas period is the busiest time of year - especially for those working in pubs, restaurants and bars. But for one Rochdale family, the idea to put on their own Christmas Markets, full of local traders and seasonal food and drink, was a no-brainer. The Oxford is a family pub at the foot of the Pennines, know for its hearty food offer, fines wines and real ales., has been operating for ten years and has always been keen to differentiate itself.
"I guess you would call it a community pub really, we're food-led, just outside of town and it's one of those pub that if you sat down and wrote out what you want from a dream pub - a nice beer garden for summer, ample parking, fireplaces for winter and a big bar for people to sit around - it hits most of the marks," says Tom McNeeney, a chef who runs the pub alongside his mum Alison, dad Phil, and his younger sister Ella.
"We've always been running pubs, for about forty years now and we're known in this area our food - I mean that's the only way pubs really survive anymore. We are a community here and we have a lot of people supporting us coming over from Bacup and Middleton, and some others putting in some hefty journeys to come out for lunch, but the core of what we have is people that live around here, so we wanted to give something back."
