Permanent Worktown exhibition launches at Museum conference

Detail of a photograph taken at Burnden Park football ground by Humphrey Spender

---

To find out more

Visit the Spender's Worktown site  to view  more of these fascinating images of Bolton

History Centre vistors can also access the Mass Observation online archive for free

The images were taken in Bolton 70 years ago by the photographer, Humphrey Spender, as part of the Mass Observation movement which was set up in 1937 to observe and document all aspects of working class life. Exhibitions in this new Worktown gallery will be changed every 5 to 6 months.

The first exhibition will be on the theme of leisure.  It will include photographs by Humphrey Sender. 

The photographs are from Bolton Museum’s collection of more than 900 images and negatives and show scenes of real lives, offering an insight into the experiences of 1930s Boltonians at work, rest, play, politics and worship. The collection includes photographs by Humphrey Spender and paintings by Jullian Trevelyan and Humphrey Jennings. 

Importance of the Collection

Dr Bob Snape, University of Bolton Reader in Leisure and Sport, is enthusiastic about the collection and its importance to chroniclers of working class history worldwide.

He commented: ‘The collection is of immense value; as a social history of leisure and family in the twentieth century and as a dispassionate, objective recording of real people in all aspects of their lives. In these images of Worktown – the name that was used to refer to Bolton in the Mass Obesrvation reports – we can see people in the pub, going to the match at Burnden Park, then the home of Bolton Wanderers; we see them on a holiday or day off in Blackpool; off to Church and at work.

‘For people in Bolton this new permanent display gallery is a superb opportunity to see this archive - their archive, at close quarters. Older residents will recognise buildings and streets now vastly altered or disappeared. They may even recognise members of their own family. The exhibition will bring additional visitors from the UK and abroad to the museum, to Bolton and the university and we look forward to playing a full part in this new chapter in the history of the Mass Observation movement.’

Conference

The conference, which is to be held at Bolton Museum is open to academics, writers, archivists and amateur historians – anyone with an interest in social history and photography as documentation.

Keynote speakers include:

• John Walton, Professor of Social History in the Institute for Northern Studies, Leeds Metropolitan University
•  Mike Huggins, Reader in Cultural History, University of Cumbria
• Matthew Constantine, Senior Manager, Museums and Archives Collections, Bolton Museum