Julia
Bolton Observed
To commemorate Bolton as the Greater Manchester Town of Culture, Live from Worktown revisited ideas from our Mass Observation work last year to produce an illustrated anthology of writing and photography, compiled from submissions from local people. Bolton Observed – an open call to the Bolton public for contemporary observations of everyday life in the
A Roma Rehearsal
On the 12th May, I was pleased to be invited to meet a Roma group who get together every Sunday at Bolton’s Socialist Club, thanks to a collaboration between the club and a charity called KaskoSan. I’d been promoting a Live from Worktown project for National Diary Day so was keen to meet with a
Shooting Bolton Creatives
I recently organised a photo-shoot, starting with a call-out to Bolton creatives, in order to produce a promotional shot for a project led by local art and heritage group, Live from Worktown. The project, to reinvigorate Bolton’s participation in the 12th May Mass Observation (MO) Day, has its roots in a ground-breaking 1930s ethnographic research
LfW New Brand Image
Stretching myself outside of my comfort zone somewhat, I’ve spent the last few weeks creating a new web-site for Live from Worktown, a community interest group that I’m a part of. For various reasons we’ve had the need to urgently create a new web-site, so I tentatively put my hand up to do this. Although
The Bury Knife Angel
In conjunction with Live from Worktown, fellow director, Peter Firth, and I were delighted to be invited by the Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre to create an audio visual record of local resident’s thoughts and reflections on the Knife Angel during its residency in the town in March 2024. What is the Knife Angel?
A Year on the Hill
Inspired by the way in which people came together to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Mass Trespass walk up to Winter Hill, Live from Worktown’s poet-in-residence Dave Morgan, penned his own tribute to the hill – a poem that spans the seasons and explores the essence of what this ever-present beacon in the West
Parched
I’m sure many other people here, like me, feel deeply affected by the August 2022 heatwave – we have a lot of reservoirs in the West Pennine Moors and I’m shocked at just how low the water levels are at the moment. So, I decided to take a tour of the ones local to me
Bolton’s Whitman on Walls
On May 28th 2022, the classic art deco lecture hall in Bolton’s Library hosted a unique event based on a collaboration between American and local academics, poets, historians and musicians, all brought together to celebrate their shared passion for the great American poet, Walt Whitman. Having heard about the Bolton Whitmanites and the annual walk
Love from Worktown
This year’s anthology of poems from Live from Worktown is on the theme of love and is appropriately being launched on Valentine’s Day. I was asked if I had any suitable photographs that would work in the book, so I’m pleased to say that this shot of a new, unfurling fern in the shape of
West Pennines Calendar 2022
Following on from the Lakeland charity calendar I produced last year, I’ve decided to create one for 2022 too. As our successive lockdowns have meant I’ve stayed closer to home in the last couple of years, I feel I’ve got to know almost every inch of my local moors, so this calendar features some of
