“All railways stopped, no papers published and trade union men … ordered to stop work”
Bristol’s trade unionists were ill-prepared for a General Strike when the call came from the Trade Union Congress to support the locked-out miners. The government, however, had made extensive preparations with warships sent to the docks, troops to the electricity power station and special police constables on the streets.
Nevertheless, workers pulled together with impressive resolve and energy as detailed in this pamphlet by Rob Whitfield. The Spirit There Is Magnificent tells the story of Bristol in those tumultuous nine days and, indeed, the days that followed.

