Queens of Blackpool: Life between the wars
LOOK back to the years between the wars.
Consider what life was like for people in the North West of England.
This subject is dear to the hearts of the ladies of Bolton Writing Group.
It was with great excitement that the ladies made their way to the Media Faculty of Bolton University on Friday, January 17 to record their thirtyminute audio play ‘Queens of Blackpool.’
It was the first time that the group had worked in a professional audio studio.
Starting last September, the group have been studying the archives kept at the
Bolton Public Library of the Worktown Project.
The project supervised by Oxford University was an effort to examine the lives of the working classes in all aspects.
It took place between the years of 1935 and 1942.
Professional and voluntary observers came to live in the community in order to achieve a body of work that would give a view of life at that time.
Think Victoria Wood’s production of Housewife 49 that was on television a couple of years ago.
The archive also contains some wonderful photographs by the late Humphrey Spender which are an amazing and fascinating insight into our social history and well worth the half hour bus journey to Bolton.
From this archive the ladies chose the subject of ‘The Cotton Queens’ as the main object of their deliberations.
The ‘queens’ were chosen not just for looks, they had the job of promoting industry during their year of office attending events across the country, at one time as far away as Russia.
There are many more pieces of work created by the ladies during the project.
They include poetry, crafts and the work of Seamus Kelly and Eileen Earnshaw both poets from Rochdale.
Seamus has also been charged with the production of publicity photographs.
There will be a full exhibition held in the main area of Bolton Library during March.
This Friday, the ladies along with a film crew and photographer will continue their work in Blackpool.
They will examine further Worktown records not usually made available for public scrutiny.
They will also be filmed creating some scenes on location both in the Tower and sea front, (weather permitting of course) from the play to be included in a documentary of the group and their work.
The play will be broadcast at a later date yet to be arranged.