Modern History (Post World War II) Archives - Page 2 of 18 Bristol Radical History Group

Wapping – the workers’ story

70 mins – 2020 (Dir. Christopher Reeves) Introduced and Q&A with Ann Field (SOGAT official during the strike). A film about the momentous year-long industrial dispute which began in 1986 when Rupert Murdoch plotted to move production of his papers overnight from central London’s Fleet Street to a secretly equipped and heavily guarded plant at Wapping, a docklands district in east London. 5,500 men and women lost their jobs and centuries of tradition in one of London’s last manufacturing […]

From the Wild Bunch to Banksy

A short history of Bristol Counter Culture

In this audio/visual talk Richard Jones makes the case for Bristol Counter Culture of the 1980s thriving on neglect and follows a thread from the St Paul’s uprisings to the Wild Bunch, the Dug Out club, punk, the Battle of the Beanfield, street art in Barton Hill to the emergence of Banksy.

Short Sharp Shock

Youth detention centres in the 1980s

In 1979 the new Tory government led by by Margaret Thatcher and Home Secretary, Willie Whitelaw, abolished borstals for young offenders and introduced a new system of 'youth detention centres' employing harsh, quasi-military discipline. They proudly claimed in their party manifesto that they were going to "experiment with a tougher regime as a short, sharp shock for young criminals". Using a series of fascinating images taken inside two such institutions in the mid 1980s, Glenochil and […]

The Counterculture and the LGBT Press – Bristol and Beyond

Reviewing the relationship between the Counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s and the LGBT movement, this talk concentrates on the origins of LGBT periodicals as part of the alternative press of the period. It will cover such topics as the underground culture of gay men when male homosexuality was illegal, the repercussions of the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in 1967 and the campaign of legal discrimination to which both the early LGBT press and the alternative press were subjected in […]

Radical Alternatives to Prison (RAP)

Radical Alternatives to Prison (RAP) was set up in 1970 in London by a group of ex-prisoners and people connected with the prison service. We are very pleased to have Ros Kane speaking, one of the co-founders of RAP, along with the late Sandra Roskowski. Ros practiced as a psychiatric social worker at Wormwood Scrubs Prison Hospital before helping found the organisation. Also we have Gail Coles who worked in the organisation for several years. Ros and Gail's talk will cover why RAP was set up, […]

Film showing: Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story

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From Curzon Cinema website.... We’re thrilled to be joined by Pauline Black, in-person, for a Q&A after the film screening with Dr. Peter Webb. Pauline Black, lead singer of 2-Tone hit band The Selecter, tells her extraordinary life story in the same frank manner that helped shape her as an iconic, era-defining female musician. Pauline had a difficult upbringing and joining the 2-Tone music movement in 1979 was the perfect catalyst; enabling her to explore and express all sides of herself. […]

Pamphlet launch: Parent Power

The fight against school closures in south Bristol, 2000–2001

At the beginning of this century, residents of Hartcliffe and Withywood in Bristol were shocked to hear that the city council planned to close two of their local primary schools. Children, parents and teachers, including Mike Richardson, the author of this pamphlet, mobilised to oppose these closures. The ensuing campaign organised public meetings, wrote petitions and held demonstrations in the city centre, as well as adopting some less orthodox direct action in their bitter determination to […]

Book launch: Hartcliffe Betrayed

The long awaited launch of Paul Smith's book Hartcliffe Betrayed: The fading of a poast-war dream, or how a garden city became a housing estate, 1943-1963. A salutary lesson for current planners can be drawn from this detailed examination of the failure of an ambitious project in the immediate post-war environment to live up to its expectations. Houses were desperately needed: What principles should underpin a new ‘settlement’? Where should the houses go? Who were they for? And what provision […]

Bristol History Podcast

Bristol History Podcast is dedicated to exploring various aspects of Bristol’s history. Produced in partnership with the Bristol Cable since April 2018. Episodes include Tom Brothwell’s interviews and conversations with Bristol Radical History Group members and many others.

The boldest experiment in civil government

Labour in Power 1974-1979

With the likely victory of the Labour Party in the upcoming election it seems apt to remind ourselves of what previous Labour governments actually did. Memories of 'New Labour' under Blair and Brown (1997-2010) have been popularly tarnished by the lies surrounding the disastrous invasion of Iraq and the subsequent banking collapse of 2008-09. However, other policy decisions by 'New Labour' such as the increasing privatisation of the state sector particularly in health care and education, the […]