'My quest to find a "true" oven bottom muffin in its Greater Manchester heartland'

I am on the hunt for a traditional, Oldham-made, oven bottom muffin. And so, it seems, are many, many others.

This circle of doughy goodness with a dimple has sparked quite the debate in recent weeks, after one woman's quest for an "authentic" Oldham oven bottom muffin went viral on a Facebook post. Jacky Newsom announced that her mission in life is to save the "dying breed" and find the "last survivors" of the muffin species.

It sparked quite the reaction from the people of Oldham. Hundreds of them. All sharing what, to them, makes the "true" oven bottom muffin. And where to find it.

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Of all the random things that pop up on my Facebook, this quest for an authentic Oldham oven bottom muffin was a little unlikely. Again and again one woman's search for this "dying breed" kept popping up on my feed from the Oldham's Past page and it was clearly gripping the thousand or so who commented.

It made me intrigued to join this hunt that so many others appear to be on.

Jacky wrote in her original post: "The Oldham Oven Bottom Muffin is becoming extinct... My mission in life is to save this dying breed. We are now looking for the last survivers. Anybody know where they can be found please come forward.

"I live other than oldham now, but at times when I visit I try to track down the elusive muffin."

She listed places she had tried and failed to get the real thing, while hailing "Declercs are the species, but are now extinct".

And herein seems to lie the problem. For those who grew up munching oven bottom muffins, the first taste is what lingers on to this day.

Sadly, for all of those with memories of the famed Declerqs bakery of Oldham, it is now long gone and