To raise the last few pounds needed to pay for the Seven Stars plaque we have organised a prize draw. Tickets are £1 each and available from the Seven Stars pub in Redcliffe, the Beaufort Arms in Hawkesbury Upton and from members of BRHG. If you would like to get hold of some tickets email brg@brh.org.uk.

The prize list keeps growing with each generous donation. At pressent the list is as follows:

• A reconditioned mountain bike from Tadman’s Cycles.
• A bottle of very good champagne
• A case of Shape’s Ale
• A t-shirt of your choice from Captain Grooviss
• A set of BRH pamphlets
• A signed Bath rugby shirt
• Assorted history books signed by the authors
• Some brew-a-bilia

The draw itself will take place at the Seven Stars pub on Saturday 18th April 2009 at about 9pm. This will be part of another storming Who’s Afear’d gig.

Find out more about the Seven Stars Plaque.

The new plaque for the Seven Stars is progressing well and is due to go to the foundry next Tuesday. Below is a photo of the plaque in Mike Baker’s workshop.

A day of festivities has been planned at the Seven Stars for Friday 1st May 2009 with the plaque being unveiled at 12:30pm and a ‘wet the plaques head’ party in the evening.

However, the plaque has not quite been paid for yet and funraising continues. If you would like to make a donation please email brh@brh.org.uk.

***Please note that the plaque is now fully paid for.

Bristol Radical History Group offers a quality blend of events for Spring 2009, covering both historical and contemporary issues. We begin with future utopian visions (Nowtopia), consider the hidden histories of seminal events of the 1980s (Hillsborough and The Miners’ Strike) and champion revolutionary thinkers who our rulers afear’d (Thomas Paine). To top it all we will be unveiling a plaque on the Seven Stars Pub to commemorate the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson and the Bristol sailors who blew the whistle on the slave trade. We look forward to sharing some history, some chat and a pint or two with you.

Anniversaries

20 years since Hillsborough
25 years since the Miners Strike
200 years since the death of Thomas Paine

Celebrations

The life and work of radical Poet John Gregory (1831 – 1922)
The unveiling of the new Seven Stars Plaque
The invention of a new future

• Fri. 3rd April – Nowtopia with Chris Carlsson on reinventing the future.
• Mon. 20th April – Hillsborough: What Really Happened? with Sheila Coleman of the Hillsborough Just Campaign, David Goldblatt author of the best book about football ever written and Daniel Bennett eye-witness and barrister.
• Fri. 1st May – Cry Freedom, Cry Seven Stars! The plaque in Celebration of Thomas Clarkson’s stay at this historic pub is finally unveiled.
• Fri. 1st May – Wet The Plaque’s Head. A party to celebrate the unveiling of the new plaque.
• Tue. 12th May – John Gregory, Radical Poet. An evening of readings from the works of Bristol’s Very own Victorian radical poet and cobbler.
• Mon. 1st June – ‘The Enemy Within’: The Miners’ Strike1984-85. A panel discusion ascessing the strike’s history 25 years on.
• Sun. 7th June – Welcome To A World Of Paine. A party to celebrate the life and ideas of Thomas Paine.
• Mon. 8th June. – Who The Hell Was Thomas Paine. A talk to mark the 200th aniversary of Thomas Paine’s death.
• Mon. 15th June – The Enemy Without: Coal, Class & Climate. A discussion considering the legacy of the miners’ strike 25 years ago.

Full details of these events can be found in the Spring 2009 Programme Page.

FA Cup Semi Final Day
Liverpool v Nottingham Forest
15 April 1989
At Hillsborough

This April is the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough football disaster which killed 96 Liverpool fans and injured hundreds more. 20 years on, few people know what actually happened and the (now admitted) lies told by the Police to the press at the time remain many people’s memory of events. The coroner and the inquiry narrowly restricted their investigations. Numerous Judges have thwarted attempts by the survivors, families and campaign groups to have the events investigated. Injunctions event prevent people from speaking about certain aspects of the day.

Bristol Radical History Group welcomes Sheila Coleman, David Goldblatt and Daniel Bennett to give witness evidence of what actually happened, to explore the football-political context in which it took place and the legal struggles which followed.

Sheila Coleman has been involved in researching the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster since 1989. As a member of the Hillsborough Project she monitored the legal proceedings arising from the disaster and co-authored the first critical analysis of the events. Sheila is an active member of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign.

David Goldblatt, best selling author of acclaimed The Ball is Round a global history of football, covers in his book the Home Office instructions to the Police to herd all football fans from the station to the stadium, where they should be held in pens.

Daniel Bennett, was a witness to the event from the stands. His witness statement is on the HJC website, which is hosted on a server in Holland due to an injunction preventing its publication in the UK.
Monday 20th April 2009, at The Cube From 7:30pm.