North faces: John Bulmer's photographs of life in northern England

The Black Country (1960) 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 Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk The Black Country (1960) Another image used with the article ‘England’s Hard Centre’ – this one on the title page Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Nelson, Lancashire (1960) 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 Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Hartlepool (1961) 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) Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Hartlepool (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 Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Yorkshire (1965) 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 Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Yorkshire (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 Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Durham (1965) Pit ponies at Waldridge colliery at the start of their shift. In 1965 the Sunday Times magazine wrote: ‘The Coal Board, sensitive to criticism from animal lovers, ensures that the ponies are well cared for ... Conditions are so improved that the Pit Pony Protection Society now has little to do but urge the Coal Board to give every pony a surface holiday once a year and hurry its mechanisation to free the ponies completely’ Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Durham (1965) Miners at the end of their shift at Dawdon colliery. This was one of a series of photographs that Bulmer took for the Sunday Times magazine’s special issue on the north (March 1965) Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Manchester (1977) 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 Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Manchester (1977) Another image taken for Geo magazine Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Manchester (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 Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk Manchester (1977) This image of a hunched-up, elderly man resting in front of a clinic for sportsmen captures a poignant irony Photograph: John Bulmer Photograph: guardian.co.uk