Mayoral pride and loving memories

Raise a glass... Austerlands golden girl Joyce Thornton celebrates becoming the 13th mayor

A QUIRKY tradition ignited loving memories this week as the 13th Mayor of Austerlands was sworn in.

Joyce Thornton, a retired North West Water worker from Belmont Avenue in Springhead, is only the second woman to be bestowed with the title.

The quaint tradition, said to date back to the early 1950s when a labourer at Austerlands Mill carried the title, was reintroduced in 1998 after the clog iron was found behind a beer barrel in the Red Lion pub.

Raising a glass to the occasion, the ceremony brought back fond memories of Alan, Joyce’s late husband, who also served as the mayor in 2004.

Joyce, (75), said: “I was married to him for 53 years and he would love talking to people and spending time with others — I think he’d be proud.

“Everyone in the pub calls my friends and I the golden girls.

“It’s a quirky, fun thing to be involved in and everyone takes it in good part. It’s an honour.”

A keen sportswoman in her youth who represented Oldham at tennis, Joyce has been a member of the Saddleworth Pedestrians Walking Club for 20 years.

She will lead up the first band at The Scouthead and Austerlands Contest on Whit-Friday.

She takes over from Roger Fielding, who managed to raise £550 for Help for Heroes and Oldham Mountain Rescue.