Hi all

So I left Bristol a few weeks ago to start a new life in France. I’m currently staying with friends who live in a large farmhouse close to the beautiful village of Montrésor, near the market town of Loches in Central France.

Eventually I, and my partner, Sandra, will be buying a property in the department (37) – hopefully it will have enough land on which visitors will be able to camp when visiting ~ ideally we want to set up a few yurts and hold a number of small annual events. These would include History weekends, Middle Eastern Dance, Storytelling, Yoga, etc. But it’s still early days for these ideas.

We’re still working in the UK so should be able to make the occasional BRHG gig!

On the French history side of things I’ll shortly be starting to research the history of the French Resistance in the immediate area and make my findings available in English (on the web and in booklets). There are a number of locally available publications in French which touch on the subject – though what their political slant is I’m not sure. Where I am living the events of the 2nd World War, the role of the resistance and the role of those who supported the Vichy Government are still contentious.

As well as being an historian I’m also a storyteller and while I’ve been here I created a couple of stories based in the local region – I’m going to tell them this summer at the Trowbridge and the Whytchwood (Cheltenham) Festivals. Perhaps I’ll see one or two of my BRHG friend there and we can have a jar or two.

Should anyone have information they’d like to share on any of the above do get in touch.

Save Stokes Croft

The clubs, pubs, cafés, squatted centres and artists’ studios of Stokes Croft have been the core of Bristol’s underground music and art scene for decades. This is the area that brought us Banksy, Roni Size, The Wild Bunch, Massive Attack, the famous Bristol club, free party and punk scene and all the other things that have made Bristol an exciting place to live since the 1960s.

Now all this is under threat as Bristol City Council and property developers such as ‘Urban Creation’ are joining together to culturally cleanse the area in the pursuit of profit. They say we really need housing. They say they want to improve the area with offices and shops. Bollocks. They’re not doing it for our benefit, they’re not even doing it for the stupid bastards who are going to buy their over priced yuppie boxes. They are doing it because the property prices are high and they can make a load of money out of it. (more…)

To publicize the 125^th anniversary of the publication of Treasure Island the Long John Silver Trust have commissioned a wicker statue of Long John. This statue had its unveiling at Waterstones book shop in Bristol’s Galleries on Thursday 6^th March (which happened to be World Book Day).

The sculpture, by Stephen Froom of Wicked Willow, was unveiled by the Mayor of Bristol, some Waterstones’ pirates, Dumpling The Parrot (from JungleTalk) and yours truly. Helping us were pupils from Hanah More School.

Below are some pictures of the event. Click then to see larger versions.

To learn more about the what the Long John Silver Trust does visit our website.

Dear Bristol Friends,

The evening that I shared a platform with Richard Hart and spoke at one of your meetings last year was a high point of several weeks I spent in Britain. To see so many people interested in–and knowledgeable about–radical history was a thrill. I know of no equivalent to the BRHG in any city in the United States–not even in San Francisco, where I live, which has long had the reputation of being one of the strongest labor union towns in the country.

Good luck in your many activities and congratulations on your splendid website. I hope to visit you again sometime.

Fraternally,

Adam Hochschild

Read Adam Hochschild’s article English Abolition: The Movie in the BRHG Archive.

This is the BRHG blog. A number of people who have been involved with our events have been asked to contribute to our blog. Hopefully this will build into an interesting collection of articles, musings and rants about history and current affairs.