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Our next in-person event is the historical and personal background to a novel set in working class Bolton in the 1930s from the writer.Bill Hodson is a York based author, originally from Bolton. Bill’s family worked in cotton mills from the 1780s to the end of the Second World War.
His second novel, Worktown, is a fictionalised account of the Mass Observation ‘expedition’ to Bolton in 1937/38. Mass Observation was founded by three former Cambridge students who wanted to assemble information about everyday life in Britain to gain a deeper and richer understanding of society.
One of the founder members, Tom Harrisson, an anthropologist, decided to set up a field study in Bolton to chronicle the detail of working-class living and working conditions. Part of his motivation was to spur the government into action to improve the quality of life in the industrial heartlands. He gave Bolton the name ‘Worktown’ and recruited volunteers to chronicle what they saw and heard dispassionately, as if they were observing a remote tribe from a foreign land.
Although an overwhelming mountain of data was collected, the opinions of local people about the Worktown project were never sought. In his book, Bill gives voice to those opinions through fictional characters and in particular through the character of Molly, a young weaver who begins to fall in love with one of the other recruits, Edward, a former Cambridge student. Through his love for Molly he hopes to find some purpose to his life while, through him, she glimpses another life away from the drudgery of the mill. But can their love bridge the gap between them?
In his talk Bill will talk about the historical background to his book and his family connections to the story.
Admission is free and nibbles will be served!
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Event Venue
The Red Shed, 18 Vicarage Street South, Wakefield, WF1 1, United Kingdom
Tickets
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