darksilenceinsuburbia: John Bulmer This photograph, of townsfolk savouring the past in a Dudley pub
darksilenceinsuburbia: John Bulmer This photograph, of townsfolk savouring the past in a Dudley pub at a time when cinema and television had taken over popular culture, appeared with the article ‘England’s Hard Centre’ in Town magazine, March 1961 As the mills closed, many of Nelson’s young people moved away, leaving large numbers of middle-aged unemployed people. A woman, still wearing her traditional wooden mill clogs while cleaning a gate post, captures the pride that many older residents still had in the town, 1960 This photograph shows unemployed labourer and father of seven William Lowery surrounded by his family. Their weekly household income in that year was less than 30 shillings each (£1.50), 1961 Men return home after collecting coal washed up on the local coastline. After the closure of its steel works in 1961, Hartlepool had the nation’s highest number of unemployed people Women, such as these in Leeds, attempt to add character and colour to the dreary exteriors of their houses by sandstoning the doorsteps and wax-polishing the window sills. ’“She keeps a lovely front” is the accolade for a houseproud woman’ – the Sunday Times magazine, March 1965 Keeping up appearances: northern factory girls, like these mill girls in Elland, are rarely self-conscious about wearing rollers; it helps to keep their hair firmly beneath their scarves and out of reach of the mill machines For Bulmer’s last assignment in the north of England, Geo magazine wanted images that showed a new, vibrant Manchester. This series of photographs was not well received at the time, but is regarded today an important social documentary, 1977 This photograph was taken a year after Harold Wilson’s resignation. After serving two terms as prime minister at a time of economic crisis, he had come to be regarded as a champion of the working classes. But his handling of an official strike by the Seamen’s Union, together with his economic measures, changed the opinion of many, 1977 -- source link