The secret study that sent observers into the streets of Bolton

A feature has revisited Mass Observation, the study that once sent researchers out into the streets of Bolton to record ordinary life in the northern industrial town. The study's leader, Harrison, spent time in a mill to immerse himself in Bolton life, while observers watched everything from terraced street scenes to a local funeral. The project was commissioned to produce four books, on politics, religion, Blackpool and pubs, but partly because of the outbreak of the Second World War only the one about pubs was ever published, at a time when there were 300 pubs in Bolton. Largely secret and at first mistaken for snooping, the study became famous only after the war, and a modern continuation called Worktown has found the same sense of community and pride in the town.

A study that once sent observers out into the streets of Bolton to record ordinary life has been brought back into focus, as a feature revisits Mass Observation and a modern continuation of it. The study's leader, Harrison, spent time in a mill, immersing himself in Bolton life so that the project could capture the town as it really was rather than from a distance.

The method was to send observers out into the streets to watch life in the town as it happened. They recorded everyday scenes and even observed a funeral, an image that shows what Bolton looked like at the time, with large numbers of people living in the terraced houses that lined the streets.

The choice of Bolton was deliberate. It was a northern industrial town, and the leaders of Mass Observation were all from London. One of their ideas was that people in Britain in the 1930s knew more about parts of their empire than they did about their own country, and the study set out to close that gap by looking closely at life at home.

Mass Observation was commissioned to produce four books, one about politics, one about religion, one about Blackpool and another about pubs. Partly because of the outbreak of the Second World War, only one of them was ever produced, the book about pubs. At the time there were 300 pubs in Bolton, making them a natural focus for a study of how people actually lived and socialised.

The work was largely a secret study, and that secrecy shaped how it was received. Some people thought the observers were snoopers, while others simply did not understand what it was all about. It was only really after the Second World War that the study became famous and its value began to be widely recognised.

One of the questions the project explored was what made people happy, answered in letters that people sent in. The responses pointed to a simple outlook on life, the idea that happiness was not about what you can buy or what you have or what the people next door have, but about being happy in yourself and helping others to be happy.

The feature also turned to the present day, with images taken two years ago for a project called Worktown, described as in many ways a continuation of Mass Observation. One of the things that came out of it was a sense of community and pride in Bolton, mirroring what can be found in the original Mass Observation archives, with people still valuing the town as a place to go out and socialise.

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