Julia
Bolton’s New Normal
As I publish this blog, it’s almost six months since the country went into Lockdown and three months since my first blog on how Bolton is coping with these changes, Bolton under Lockdown. Following on from that we’ve had a tightening of the rules, then a relaxing of the rules and now Bolton has also
“Going back to Rockville” – another Wilton blog
R.E.M. tributes aside, you may remember that right at the start of lockdown, I started exploring paths accessible on foot from home, to make the most of my daily permitted exercise, and a route that quickly became my favourite was through the series of Wilton Quarries onto the moors. At this time the quarries were
Manchester Ghost Hunting
A good friend of mine, who works in a city centre hospital, suggested I visit Manchester during COVID-19 lockdown with my camera. She thought I’d love capturing shots of the city while it was so incredibly quiet – a “ghost town”, she called it. So, on a sunny 21st May, in just the first tentative stage
North Bolton VE Day Parties
I expect 2020’s remembrance of VE Day was intended to be quite a grand affair but the lockdown muted plans such that in the end, they were sadly far from the scale of the street parties of the Queen’s 1977 Silver Jubilee. Despite that, I’d heard word of one taking place near to me so
Chippie shot selected for National Archive
I was thrilled to find out a couple of weeks ago that one of my Bolton under Lockdown photos has been chosen to form a part of a national archive that Historic England are compiling, to record the nation under these unprecedented times. One of the shots I submitted is of the Olympus Fish and
Bolton News selects images of Locktown
I feel very lucky to have had some of my photographs selected by The Bolton News as the basis for a feature today, the 30th May. It about the town during lockdown and it appears both in print and online. In total, five shots (in the slider below), taken during my walk into the town
Live from Worktown Photo Competition
I was lucky enough to be invited by Live from Worktown to help organise and judge a recent photo competition, along with LfW member and local historian, Dave Burnham. With a general theme of “Life under Lockdown”, people were encouraged to submit photos taken with either a camera or smart phone, in the categories of PPE, Out
Locktown Working
At the height of lockdown, under the most restrictive social measures we’ve ever seen in our lifetimes, I’m keen to understand what impact this is having on Bolton’s town centre. Dubbed “Worktown” due to its central role in the Mass Observation of 1937, should we now be referring to Bolton as “Locktown”? On the 25th April
Interchange Exchanges
Recently opened in 2017, the Interchange in Bolton still feels like a brand-new building. Replacing the tatty-looking bus station on Moor Street, it brings rail, bus, cycles and taxis together, creating a convenient transport hub for the town. Apparently, it’s sustainably designed, with a light airy architecture that includes a pretty impressive sky bridge linking
Route 666
Deciding to head into Bolton on Saturday 25th April, to see how the town centre was faring under lockdown, I commenced my urban trek at 8:30am from the Blackburn Road stretch of the A666 with 2 miles ahead of me into town. Well if you ever plan to motor west Just take my way that’s the
