The Nothing Town

There were two articles this week — Is Bolton in existential crisis?

Tessa Darbyshire
Aug 23, 2017 · 3 min read
Image Credit: http://www.bolton.org.uk/

Let me start by saying this is my home town. I was born in Bolton Royal Hospital on the 18th July 1994, to two people who didn’t know who I would be, but already loved me. I’ve spent a million afternoons in the town centre, bunking off school for milkshakes, sampling tasters at the food festival, and whirling around on the funfairs.

I, like Andy Walton who wrote Tuesday’s Guardian article, moved to London when the sinkhole effect of the capital captured me. My classmates were told, upon completing A-Levels in 2012, that 70% of graduate jobs were in London. I can’t tell you if that was true or not but it speaks to the self-perpetuated myth that you have to leave Bolton if you want to make something of your life, and that London is the pinnacle of that aspiration.

When you move here it is very easy to allow the city to skew your perception of home. It’s easy to stop saying pants, to stop asking if people mean drink tea or food tea, and to change your pronunciation of bath, grass and scone. Self-aggrandising is rife. People will tell you that you were brave to move here, and each time it’s a little extra puff of helium for your inflated ego. Yes, good job, good on you. But we didn’t start from the bottom, we came from a beautiful area facing a number of challenges.

I’d like to note that Mr Walton’s article is a comprehensive, engaging, and wittily written piece of prose, that provides a fascinating overview of the development of the town. Similarly, there is absolutely a case to be made for mismanagement of Bolton’s assets, Cllr. Morris has faced numerous objections on this front. What the piece doesn’t address is the wider heart of this unique place.

The decimation of the Market Hall was devastating, I particularly remember the Sarsaparilla man, flogging a sticky black drink beneath comical umbrellas. But it wasn’t the only place where sole traders thrive. Bolton market, just on the other side of town, is the only place I’ve ever seen someone selling wimberries, even if it is only for the 3 weeks that the season lasts. The new independent cinema, The Light, is a fantastic thing to rival Vue, Odeon and Cineworld.

I think the sentiment of both articles is accurate, in that problems are acknowledged, and there is hope for the future. I don’t agree with Mr Walton’s sweeping claim that “the commercial heart of one of the largest towns in the UK is in nothing less than an existential struggle”. I think to write such a thing in a national newspaper is nothing short of damaging, driving yet more people from Bolton.

Everybody should see something beyond the place they were born, because, as Pratchett has it, “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” That means that people from London should go to Bolton, as much as the other way around.

We need to focus on the the work that is being done, laying foundations for transformation, not condemning ‘northern towns’ to become objects of pity. Bolton is, at various points, reviving, coping, and thriving. Working (with varying degrees of success) to suit the needs of every member of a mammoth and complex community, and not pandering to the objective criticisms of those who do not live there. It is not a nothing town, it’s home.

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Tessa Darbyshire

Written by

Scirntific Editor @ Patterns (Cell Press Data Science) Fascinated by cross sector applications of DS.

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