Revisiting the mid-point of British communities: a study of affect, affordance and connectivity in Glossop

This project seeks to undertake an in-depth study of community life in the town of Glossop. This town formed the focus of a study published in the late 1950s which subsequently became used to mark a mid-point in a synthesis of the how rural and urban communities might be seen to relate to, and differ from, each other. The town was portrayed as retaining considerable autonomy and independence, and has having a well-integrated community. However, the town has experienced considerable change since this study was conducted, become the location for Manchester over-spill and commuter housing developments, as well as experiencing de-industrialisation and a loss of retail and welfare services. It has been argued that towns such of Glossop that are located on the fringes of major cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield, may have become settlements inhabited by people who either have little engagement with, or attachment to, their place of residence, or else have an 'elective sense' of belonging which is based primarily on comparisons with people and places elsewhere. The present project seeks to undertake historical and contemporary research within Glossop, both to explore whether the suspected changes to the town have actually occurred and to consider how the study of communities has itself changed over the period since the publication of the initial study of Glossop.

The project, which involves an interdisciplinary team of researchers drawn from the arts, humanities and social sciences, focuses particular attention of people's emotional and sensory engagement with ideas of community, both within present day Glossop and in the past. It also seeks to document the activity paths routinely enacted by people living within the town, in order to assess the degree to which they are embedded within the town or revolve around places well beyond its bounds. Attention is also drawn to the influence of the historical development of Glossop, which grew from a series of quite distinct settlements, and the topography and landscape settings of the settlement, both of which may be seen to have encouraged, or afforded, the development of a series of quite autonomous communities within the town.

The project will make use of developments in digital and Web 2.0 technologies to both examine and represent contemporary and past forms of community life within the town of Glossop, as well as involve members of the town in the generation and presentation of research findings. Methods used will include in-depth interviews, focus groups, oral histories, archival research and participatory art. The projects outputs will include an interactive website where people can add commentary to materials derived from the project, an interactive mapping system whereby people can explore what particular places in Glossop might mean to the residents of the town, a temporary exhibit of material from the project and heritage trails leaflets which will include QR (or quick-respinse) codes which will allow people to obtain information contained in the project's website and in other on-line locations.

The project is being undertaken in collaboration with a series of local groups and organisations, with residents in the town being invited to become involved as researchers in the project as well as participating through the provision of information and commentaries within questionnaires, interviews and focus groups.

It is expected that the following groups or organisations would accrue benefits from this research:

Academic community: see Academic Beneficiaries section.

Local community groups and residents.

The research aims to engage with a range of community groups within the town of Glossop, including: High Peaks Community Arts; Glossop and District Heritage Trust; Glossop Volunteer Centre; Glossop Age Concern; the Jericho Café; the Glossop Furniture Project; Gamesley Residents Association; and a range of sport and faith based clubs and groups. The aim of this engagement is not simply to incorporate a range of different groups and perspectives into the study, although this is clearly important, but also to develop collaborative research partnerships in which people come to actively participate in the design, execution and interpretation of the research. This will be achieved through a community advisory panel, which will be convened on a roughly bi-monthly schedule through the course of the project, and the use of residents of Glossop in the execution of a questionnaire survey, oral history interviews and participatory art projects.

The project also seeks to provide a legacy to groups and organisations that it is collaborating with. This is seen very clearly in relation to the Glossop and District Heritage Trust where the project will seek to assist its attempts to create a virtual archive following the demise of funding for its physical Heritage Centre. The project will not only seek to contribute to the digitisation of material contained within the archive, taking high resolution photographs of documents consulted as part of the research, but will also demonstrate to members of the Trust how Quick Response (QR) codes might be employed to create an on-line catalogue which links material objects in the collection with online descriptions and digitised imagery. Members of the Trust can see clear benefits of this collaboration, as is demonstrated in their letter of support for the project.

The project website, which will have an on-line GIS embedded within it, will also prove valuable to local community groups and residents. This project seeks to draw upon and develop the experience of conducting research in communities utilising web 2.0 technologies and practices obtained from the earlier scoping project undertaken by Dr Speed and Dr Phillips. This highlighted the value of software architectures that allow 're-write' as opposed to just 'read only' channels of communication. The online GIS will be designed to allow people to add comments to images and texts that have embedded into the GIS, and indeed to post additional material (albeit after moderation) into the GIS. Individuals and groups may hence make the on-line GIS a living documentation of the town of Glossop that will continue beyond the life of the project. The research team has committed to maintain the website for at least 3 years beyond the project end date, although it is hoped that a local organization or group might wish to take over managing it in the longer term.

The experience of this scoping study, and one undertaken by Dr Phillips and Professor Walkerdine, also revealed that many people are extremely pleased to become involved in a project which addresses how they themselves feel about the community in which they live and involves them reflecting back on the places and people which give them a sense of community, or indeed might be reason why they don't feel they belong to a community. The use of psycho-social interviews, focus groups and participatory art within the current project should heighten such benefits.

Planners and policy makers
The project has the support of the local district authority, who as outlined in their letter of support are able to provide material support to the project. It is envisaged that the project would be of benefit to the Council particularly in relation its Vision Glossop and Design/Place Making strategies.