This page contains links to those that have been involved or helped inspire radical history events.
Page Index:
Avon Local History and Archaeology
Promoting local history in the Avon region and bringing together all those with an interest in it ALHA was founded in 1976 as an offshoot of a committee of the new County of Avon. Avon County has long since been abolished, but ALHA still flourishes as an independent organisation owing nothing to local or national government. ALHA flourishes because, whether politicians choose to incorporate it or not, the Avon region is an economic and social and historical entity, not so much separate from as special within the grand historic counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire.
http://www.jonathanalha.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
Living Easton: Local History
Good site with interesting information about the Bristol community of Easton's history. See their excellent list of slave revolts in the Atlantic and prepare to be astounded!
http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~rstephen/livingeaston/
The Long John Silver Trust
The Long John Silver Trust was formed in 2003 after Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel "Treasure Island" was chosen for Britain's first "Great Reading Adventure". Initially the idea was to erect a statue of Bristol's own Long John Silver, but it developed into the creation of the Treasure Island Trail - a unique series of dockside sculptures and images that tell the whole book's story.
http://www.longjohnsilvertrust.co.uk/default.htm
South London Radical History Group/Past Tense
This is a very active history group with a publishing fraction called Past Tense. Titles include The Mayor of Garratt - mock elections in 18th century South London, Down with the Fences! - battles for the commons in South London and Nine Things That Aren't There: a manoeuvre around the Elephant and Castle.
Bristol Central Reference Library
Before t'internet there were libraries. This is the best place for local history research. Dawn Dyer and Jane Bradley are also the best people to help you with your research.
refinfo@bristol.gov.uk
Radical History Network of North East London
Putting on events and publishing pamphlets.
PO Box 45155 , London , N 15 4WR
Smuggler's Britain
Richard Platt's excellent website has lost of information about smuggling in Britain and helped to inside the smuggler's events in Bristol Radical History Week 2007.
In no particular order.
The Surfin' Turnips
Piratepunkband. Sea shanties and cider drinking songs. These desperados have become Bristol Radical History's house band, providing the sound track for many of our events.
http://www.myspace.com/surfinturnips
The Red Hot Frilly Kickers
Cancan dancers, bringing a scary touch of glamour to history. Among other events they took part in the now legendary James Nayler commemoration. See the film here.
Who's Afear'd
Dorset's finest tribute band. A tribute to who? Dorset of course.
http://www.myspace.com/whosafeard
The Bridport Daggers
Not so much a pirate reenactment group as actual pirates. Aaaaaarrrrr. But do you know what a Bridport Dagger is?
The Cube Orchestra
An improvisational and avant garde orchestra based at The Cube Microplex.
http://www.orchestra.cubecinema.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl
Leon Rosselson
Singer/songwriter.
Robb Johnson
Singer/songwriter.
The Blew Regiment Of The Sealed Knot
Took part in the now legendary James Nayler commemoration. See the film here.
Gunners Mate
A sea shanty group from Falmouth. Including Harry the Hurdy Gurdy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ywZrMf7AQ
The Harry Browns
Sea shanty group.
http://www.harrybrowns.org.uk/4613.html
Available Light
A Bristol film production house that have made many programmes on local history.
Red Notes Choir
Red Notes Choir is a Bristol-based socialist choir which campaigns for peace, justice, freedom and internationalism. We use the streets of Bristol and further afield to spread our message of fighting for the rights of working people, those who are oppressed, and those seeking the right to self-determination.
http://www.rednoteschoir.org.uk/
Jasper Johns
An artist and shaper of metals, Jasper Johns recreated the Arcram hammers for Bristol Radical History Week 2006. See the hammer film here.
Alphabetically.
Dave Backwith:
Researcher of Bristol working class history in the inter war years particularly 1919 and the unemployed workers movement in the 1930's.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Roger Ball
Easton Cowboy and West Ham United fan. Has bored his fellow Cowboys with rants about history for years. The formation of Bristol Radical History Group has made their lives a lot easier.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006 & Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Trevor Bark
Troublemaker and academic from the North East, Trevor is on the editorial board of Capital and Class. He is an expert on the social history of crime and author of papers such as 'Crime becomes Custom, Custom becomes Crime'.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Jonathan Barry:
Head of School and Senior Lecturers in History at the University of Exeter on provincial society and culture in England from 1500 to 1840, on towns, and on religious and medical history, including the history of witchcraft with particular emphasis on Bristol and the South West.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006 & Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Ian Bone:
Editor of The Bristolian and once called the most dangerous man in Britain. His eagerly awaited memoirs will be published in October 2006.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Chris Brian:
Local historian working on West Country slavery (700-1150).
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Edson Burton:
Academic, writer and storyteller, Dr Burton has taught a range of Black History courses at university and has worked tirelessly to promote awareness of African Diaspora history and culture at a grass roots level.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
David Cullum:
Captain of record breaking Easton Cowboys 2nd XI cricket team, connoisseur of fine ciders and author of Society and Economy in West Cornwall c1588-1750 (Exeter University, PhD thesis, 1994).
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006 & Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Kevin Davis a.k.a. Quiffey
Easton Cowboy and refugee from Dorset, Kevin claims to have left his life of wrecking and smuggling behind in his hometown of Poole. But who knows?
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Phil Dickinson:
Local historian and expert on Dorothy Hazzard.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Madge Dresser:
Lecturer in History at the University of the West of England and 18th century expert. Currently researching a lottery funded project on one thousand and one years of ethnic minorities in Bristol and the legacies of slavery in London and Bristol. Author of Slavery Obscured: The Social History of the Slave Trade in an English Provincial Port c. 1698-c.1833 and The Diary of Sarah Fox.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Johnny Evans:
Eye witness to the 1980 St. Pauls riot.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Niklas Frykman:
Ph.D. student in the History Department at the University of Pittsburgh (USA). Currently researching a dissertation entitled The Wooden World Turned Upside Down: Naval Mutinies in the Age of Atlantic Revolution.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006 & Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Silvia Federici
Long time feminist activist and teacher, Silvia is co-founder of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa and the RPA (Radical Philosophy Association) Anti-Death Penalty Project. She teaches International Studies and Political Philosophy at Hofstra University. Federici's published work includes: Enduring Western Civilization: The Construction of the Concept of Western Civilization and its 'Others' (editor) and A Thousand Flowers: Social Struggles Against Structural Adjustment in African Universities and most recently the excellent Caliban and the Witch: Women the Body and Primitive Accumulation.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Jonathan Harlow:
PhD student and tutor at the University of West of England. Currently researching a thesis on the lifeand times of Thomas Speed, an early Bristol Quaker.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Richard Hart:
Key figure in the politics of the Caribbean of the 20th century. Trade Union and political activist in Jamaica, Guyana and Attorney General of Grenada; a post he held until the American invasion in 1983. As an academic, Richard Hart taught at Northwestern University, USA, and has also been a visiting lecturer at a number of Canadian and American universities, the University of Guyana, University of Havana, University of the West Indies in Jamaica and Trinidad and the University of Paris. He has continued to be a prolific author and speaker on Caribbean history, politics and economics.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006 & Slavery - The Hidden history
Adam Hochschild:
A multi-award winning author his first book, Half the Way Home: a Memoir of Father and Son, was published in 1986. It was followed by The Mirror at Midnight: a South African Journey, The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin, Finding the Trapdoor: Essays, Portraits, Travels, King Leopold's Ghost: a Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa and Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves. His books have won numerous awards.
Appeared at - Slavery - The Hidden History
Mike Jay:
Author of the recent history of the Despard conspiracy in The Unfortunate Colonel Despard and The Air Loom Gang: The Strange and True Story of James Tilly Matthews and His Visionary Madness. Currently researching radical Bristol in the 1790's.Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Peter Linebaugh:
Professor of History at the University of Toledo (USA) and the author of the seminal works The London Hanged:Crime and Civil Society in 18th Century England and The Many Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Mike Manson:
Writer and researcher. Author of Riot! - The Bristol Bridge Massacre of 1793. He also wrote the definitive history of South Bristol: Bristol Beyond the Bridge. He has just completed his first novel Where's My Money? set in a dole office in Bristol in the 1970s.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Jim McNeil:
Jim McNeill, local historian, storyteller and member of Living Easton.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006, Slavery - The Hidden History & Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Steve Mills:
Local historian and researcher of the Kingswood Colliers and the Cock Rd. Gang. He is a West Ham United fan and will therefore receive preferential treatment.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
David Olusoga
A leading BBC film producer David Olusoga has established his reputation with critical and insightful documentaries. He is a key figure in the BBC's new generation of film producers and is committed to using film as a way of opening up our thinking about slavery and the slave trade.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Brian Perry:
Local historian and expert on Quaker history especially James Naylor.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Steve Poole:
Lecturer in History at the University of West of England. Teaches the history of popular movements in Britain from the mid 18th to the mid 19th centuries and 'feels an irrational attachment to the Romantic enthusiasm of the English Jacobins'. His book The Politics of Regicide in England,1760-1850 has just been published.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006 & The Brandon Hill Summer Party
Marcus Rediker
Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) and the author of The Many Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea : Merchant Seamen, Pirates and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age and this year The Slave Ship: A Human History.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Mark Steeds:
Member of the Long John Silver Trust, local historian and purveyor of fine ales in Hawkesbury, Upton.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006, Slavery - The Hidden history & Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Ruth Symister:
Head of Year at Whitefield School, Bristol. Passionate advocate of the Atlantic seafaring novel as the clue to a hidden multi-racial past.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2006
Paul Tickell
LWT researcher and later producer/director on South of Watford, the London Programme, Network 7 and the South Bank Show, Paul Tickell later moved into his current freelance career, directing dramas and feature films as well as continuing to make documentaries. He is the director of the critically acclaimed works Christie Malry's Own Double Entry (2002), Crush Proof (1999) and Zinky Boys Go Underground (1995) which won the BAFTA best short film award.
Appeared at - Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Click here to see a map with all the venues marked.
The Island at The Bridewell
Art space, Live Space are running the old police and fire stations at 'Bridewell Island' as an arts and community centre while the developers decide aht to do with them. For the next two years this site will be home to an eclectic mix of exhibitions, live performaces, artist's studios and anything else that people can suggest.
Website
http://www.artspacelifespace.com/Home.html
email
info@artspacelifespace.com
Entrance
On Silver Street.
Telephone
+44 (0)1179 420282 or 07846 086969
Cube Cinema
The Cube Microplex, for the past 9 years has played host to an astounding set of entertaining activities and is run by a crack group of voluntary artists-workers-enthusiasts. It once was a theatre, avant garde 70's art centre and second run family cinema. It now occupies a place of it own making.
The Cube Cinema, founded in 1998, at 4 Kings Square, Kingsdown, Bristol, England, was originally a hand built theatre and DIY amateur dramatics are its life blood still. It's run by a proper left field oddball crew, against the odds (and the bland), with a near continuous stream of films, events, activities and music pouring out of every nook and cranny. The Cube works hard at presenting cinema (35, 16, Super 8, Video and Digital), music (acoustic, electric and half amped), Burlesque in full 3D, discussions, secret and overt community groups and the full on ARTS.
Website
http://microplex.cubecinema.com/cubewebsite/
Email
cubeadmin@microplex.cubecinema.com
Postal Address
4 Princess Row
Kingsdown
Bristol
BS2 8NQ
Entrance
The entrance is on Dove Street South.
Telephone
+44 (0)117 907 4190
The Cube Microplex is a membership cinema with a licensed bar. If you are not a member you need to pay a £1 membership fee on your first visit. Remember to bring your card with you every time you come.
The Seven Stars Pub
This pub was an important site in the beginning of the anti-slavery movement in Bristol. Frequented by Thomas Clarkson, the pub acted as a meeting point for the sailors and activists who were the basis for the campaign against slavery.
We have put many booze fuelled nights on here.
Email
refinfo@bristol.gov.uk
Address
1 Thomas Lane
Redcliffe
Bristol
Avon
BS1 6JG
Telephone
+44 (0)117 987 2275
Bristol Central Reference Library
The best place to start your research and the place we have our archive events.
Email
refandinfo@bristol.gov.uk
Address
College Green,
Bristol,
BS1 5TL
Telephone
+44 (0)117 903 7202
The Spyglass - The Awning Project
Situated on the historic Welsh Back dockside that features in the book 'The Many Headed Hydra' by Linebaugh and Rediker. It also overlooks Bristol Bridge. The Spyglass has had a new heating system installed and should be a lot warmer that last year.
Website
http://www.awningproject.com/
Email
smith_to@blueyonder.co.uk
Address
Spyglass Barbecue & Grill
Welsh Back
Bristol
BS1 4SB
Telephone
+44 (0)117 902 4083
St Werburghs' Community Centre
The home of The Bristol Wireless Project.
Click here to view a map
Website
http://www.stwerburghs.org.uk
email
office@stwerburghs.org.uk
Postal Address
The St Werburghs Centre
Horley Road
St Werburghs
Bristol
BS2 9TJ
Entrance
On the corner of Horley Road and Merstham Road
Telephone
+44 (0)117 955 1351
The Broadmead Baptist Church
This venue is the site of the first Baptist church in Bristol and has close connections to the radical preacher Dorothy Hazzard. The Baptist church acted as the venue for the 2006 launch event and as a meeting place for the Dorothy Hazzard seminar.
Website
http://www.broadmeadbaptist.org.uk/
Be sure to take a look at their history section.
Email
minister@broadmeadbaptist.org.uk
Postal Address
1 Whippington Court
Bristol
BS1 3HY
Entrance
The entrance to the church is in Union Street, between Tesco Metro and Morgans.
Telephone
+44 (0)117 929 1387
Booty
Where our PO Box is.
Address
82 Colston Street
Bristol
BS1 5BB
Kuumba
Kuumba is a home to Afrikan Caribbean Arts and its related projects with a history that has spanned 30 years. Their activities include Afrikan Caribbean Arts, the Jumoke Day Nursery and the Sankore Library.
Website
http://www.kuumba.org.uk
Email
info@kuumba.org.uk
Postal Address
20-23 Hepburn Road
St. Paul's
Bristol
BS2 8UB
Telephone
+44 (0)117 942 1870
