Radical Bristol Archives - Bristol Radical History Group

Patriots, volunteers and scabs: The 1926 General Strike in Bristol

For nine days in 1926, the country ground to a halt as over four million workers downed tools in support of the miners. Mapping the flashpoints from the 1926 General Strike in Bristol, this behind-the-scenes walk around the city centre delves into the hidden histories from the strike, the use of propaganda and how the state fought back. A 2-hour walk from Kingsley Hall on Old Market Street via the centre ending at the St James Barton - Bear Pit....(and then to the Cube for a drink, samosas and […]

The General Strike in Bristol: an introduction

In May 2026 we mark the centenary of the General Strike. This talk will cover the events of those nine days in Bristol and put them in their national context. We will also look at the miners' lock-out which began before and lasted longer than the General Strike.

BBC rebels in the 1970s

The BBC is often portrayed by critical commentators as a monolith, inherently biased and strictly regulated from within. This characterisation both denies the agency of its workers, and deserves further investigation. This talk considers the BBC in the 1970s in Bristol and London, as government intervention in the Corporation increased, particularly over the representation of the conflict in Ireland. At the same time control over programme content was increased by the casualisation of programme […]

Utopian Bristol: Visions of Our City from the Middle Ages to the Far Future

Bristol has always been a city of dreamers and visionaries. From religious millenarians to social reformers, from science fiction writers to climate activists, people have continually reimagined what Bristol could become. This talk explores these varied and often conflicting visions of our city's future, examining how different people and communities have sought to build their ideal Bristol, and what we might learn from their successes and failures. The presentation traces four interconnected […]

Mass meeting on the Downs – 16 May 1926

By Richard Musgrove

On 16 May 1926, in the wake of the calling off of the General Strike four days earlier, a mass meeting was held in the evening on Durdham Down. A demonstration had been formed on Old Market which then marched the two and a half miles to the Downs for a rally with speeches in support of the still locked-out miners. Though details of the meeting are scarce, it must have been of considerable size, with the Western Daily Press reporting on the 17 May that there were 15 speakers spread across three […]

General Strike 100

By Rob Whitfield

May 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the nine day 'General Strike'. This solidarity action was an attempt by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to prevent wage reductions and increasingly bad working conditions for 1.2 million coal miners who had already been locked-out by their employers. Around 1.7 million workers, mainly in transport and heavy industry, responded and the country was confronted with explicit class war. Bristol Radical History Group are delighted to be a part of the General […]

Behind the Scenes at the Bristol Radical History Festival

By Rosie Wild

I don’t know about the other organisers but I always wake up with a big feeling of relief the Monday after the Bristol Radical History Festival. Now in its seventh year, the festival gets bigger and more ambitious each time. In the week before I always feel a gnawing worry of ‘are we really going to pull it off this year?’ Luckily for us, the answer so far has always been: yes we are! Loads of work by loads of people goes into organising the Bristol Radical History Festival. It’s all done […]

CND Demands a Continuing Supply of History

We have a selection of posters, photos and printed materials from the early 1980s when Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher agreed to siting US Cruise missiles in the UK at the same time as the Soviet Union was deploying its new SS20 missiles in Eastern Europe. There was anger and anxiety across Europe, rejuvenating the anti-nuclear movements and triggering huge protest demonstrations. The membership of CND in Bristol and across the UK expanded rapidly and the new energy and ideas transformed the […]

Beating the Blackshirts: Militant anti-fascism in south Bristol in the 1930s

During the 1930’s militant anti-fascist responses to Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts were established amongst the Bristolian working-class. Discouraged by their defeats in the inner-city districts of Bristol, the British Union of Fascists (BUF) turned their attention to south Bristol, Bedminster and the new garden suburbs springing up on the outskirts of the city. This illustrated talk traces the migration of pre WWII physical resistance to fascism in Bristol from the smoky and overcrowded slums to […]

Bristol (mini) Anarchist Bookfair

At The Exchange on Sunday 24th November

The Bristol Anarchist Bookfair Collective (BABC) has been reformed after a hiatus of several years. They return with this mini-Bookfair event at The Exchange, 72-73 Old Market Street, Bristol BS2 0EJ, from 10.30 to 3.30pm...and are promising a mega-Bookfair in 2025. BRHG's book stall will be out and about at The Exchange - so come by and say hello! From the FB Event, the Collective state: Inspired by Active Distro's Radical Bookfairs we're hosting an event at Exchange this winter. A chance to […]