Blackpool, Lancashire
Simon Hill HonFRPS for The North Revisited
Background
When The Sunday Times Magazine commissioned photojournalist John Bulmer to document life in the industrial centres of the north of England, it was a time when northern society and culture was undergoing a vast transformation. Traditional industries - coal, steel, textiles, engineering - had been the wealth creators of the Industrial Revolution but were now in a rapid and relentless decline. The hard times etched on the faces of Bulmer’s subjects told of a life of struggle framed against an often bleak industrial background. These were people forgotten as the ‘Swinging Sixties’ changed the cultural landscape of Britain.
On 28 March 1965 the magazine published a Special Issue devoted to ‘The North’ and it was Bulmer’s photographs that appeared on the cover and across 13 pages. Bulmer later reflected on the significance of this Special Issue, “I was very used to working in colour, but also very aware that no serious professional had photographed the industrial North in colour before.”
The Sunday Times Magazine
Special Issue: The North
28 March 1965
The North
by John Bulmer FRPS
Bluecoat Press, 2012
Revisited
Marking the sixtieth anniversary of The Sunday Times Magazine 1965 Special Issue on 'The North', Arts Council England is providing the major funding for a year-long project which builds on the work of John Bulmer, whose evocative images of the north of England became a cornerstone of British documentary photography.
Simon Hill has been commissioned to undertake a year-long project to revisit those communities visited by Bulmer, and twenty additional northern communities, to capture the evolving identity of ‘The North’. As a homage to Bulmer’s pioneering colour work, The North Revisited will be mainly shot on Phoenix 200, a new colour film designed and manufactured in the north of England by Harman Technology. This 'quirky' colour film provides an analogue aesthetic that simultaneously harmonises with Bulmer's 1960 colour photographs while affording a unique character to this modern interpretation of what has become an iconic photographic legacy.
On completion, The North Revisited will be exhibited in four venues across the North of England and the book of the project will be published by Image & Reality as a companion volume to Bulmer's 'The North'.
Simon Hill working on The North Revisited Top Preston Bottom Nelson Photographs by R E Hanson ARPS
Photographs
Below are a selection of photographs from The North Revisited project. During the progress of the project, new images will be added to this section of the page.
Locations shown in CAPITALS were visited by John Bulmer in the 1960s and are now revisited by Simon Hill. Other locations are those included in the Arts Council England funded project commission and those shown with an asterisk (*) are additional to the project. Locations are arranged in alphabetical order.
Appleby *
Appleby Horse Fair, one of the oldest and most iconic gatherings of Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities in Europe, offers a vivid expression of living tradition and cultural resilience, making it a powerful subject within The North Revisited project. Held annually in the Cumbrian town of Appleby-in-Westmorland, the fair has evolved over the past 60 years from a relatively low-profile, community-focused event into a major public spectacle attracting thousands of visitors, media scrutiny, and at times controversy. Yet at its heart, it remains a celebration of identity, heritage, and continuity amidst social change. Documenting the fair through contemporary photography aligns with the project’s ambition to look beyond surface impressions and engage with the complex, often overlooked realities of northern life, where tradition and transformation exist side by side.
Appletreewick *
Appletreewick, a small village nestled in the Yorkshire Dales, hosts the quirky and much-loved events of ferret racing and terrier racing that capture the eccentric charm and deep-rooted communal spirit of rural northern life; qualities central to the ambition of The North Revisited project. These events, organised by The Craven Arms public house, are more than light-hearted entertainment; they reflect traditions passed down through generations, a sense of humour and resilience, and a collective identity shaped by place and pride. By photographing such intimate, grassroots celebrations, the project aims to highlight the rich textures of northern culture that persist outside the spotlight; authentic, characterful, and defiantly local in a fast-changing world.
Blackpool
Blackpool, with its dazzling lights, amusement arcades, and iconic seafront attractions, remains a symbol of traditional British seaside tourism; yet its glitzy façade masks a deeper narrative of economic decline and social hardship. Once a booming holiday destination for working-class northerners, the town now grapples with some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country, a contrast that underscores the layered complexity of life in the North. The North Revisited seeks to capture this tension, revealing how places like Blackpool embody both the enduring appeal of popular culture and the harsh realities of post-industrial change. By documenting this coexistence of spectacle and struggle, the project aims to offer a more honest, empathetic, and multidimensional portrait of the region.
Locations
Over the duration of this year-long project, Simon Hill will visit all of John Bulmer’s 15 northern towns and cities (shown below in CAPITALS) plus an additional 20 that will provide a more complete picture of the North as its exists today:
Northumberland Ashington
Tyne & Wear NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Durham Durham, HARTLEPOOL, Peterlee / Horden, DAWDON / WALDRIDGE
Cumbria WHITEHAVEN, Barrow in Furness
Lancashire Blackpool, Blackburn, Burnley, NELSON, Preston, WARRINGTON
West Yorkshire BRADFORD, LEEDS, HALIFAX, HUDDERSFIELD, Wakefield
North Yorkshire Middlesborough, Scarborough, Whitby
South Yorkshire BARNSLEY, Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield
East Riding of Yorkshire Hull (Kingston upon Hull)
Greater Manchester Bolton, MANCHESTER, OLDHAM, Rochdale, SALFORD, Stockport, Wigan
Merseyside LIVERPOOL
The North Revisited is being shot on Contax G2 cameras (using Carl Zeiss lenses) and
Nikon F6 cameras (using Nikkor lenses), mainly using Harman Phoenix 200 colour film.
Sponsors
