Worktown - Bill Hodson

1938.

With Britain in recession and another war looming, living conditions in the industrial heartlands are grim. A group of idealists travel to Lancashire to document working-class life, hoping to spur government action. Treating the locals like a remote tribe from a distant land, they rely on scouts and interpreters to understand the unfamiliar world they observe.

Edward, a Cambridge graduate, falls for Molly, a young cotton weaver. He believes she can give his life meaning; she sees in him a glimpse of escape. But can their love survive as the gulf between their worlds begins to threaten their bond? Worktown is a fictionalised account of the Mass Observation field study in Bolton, 1937–38, asking whether real change can come from passive observation—or whether true impact demands action.