History Walk from St Werburghs City Farm to the centre of Bristol focusing on The New Model Army's relief of Bristol in 1645 Meet at 12noon at the St. Werburghs City Farm Cafe for breakfast (to cure hangovers from the Sea Shanty night at the Cube). Leaving at 1.00pm, Jim McNeill, local historian, storyteller and member of Living Easton, retraced the steps of the New Model Army's relief of Bristol in 1645. We found out why Cromwell Hill is so named, why the Royalist Prince Rupert cared more about […]
Nanoplex brings you a workshop extraordinaire! Children (5+) are invited to interact with works of art and connect to historical events from Bristol's past. Using b/w copies of sketches by Bristol colourist W.J.Muller (1812-45) of the 1831 Bristol riots, the children will help bring to life segments that will be filmed/animated and put together to make up the original like a giant multicolored jigsaw.
Revolt of the Unemployed : Bread or Batons in Bristol c. 1932. As unemployment topped 3 million and the Labour government collapsed, benefit cuts and the means test sparked unrest across the country. In 1932 Bristol was briefly at the forefront of the protests which rocked the country. The mass demonstrations met brutal repression including police ambushes and the arrest of key activists. This will discuss the character of the movement, tracing its roots back to the ex-servicemen's protests of […]
Riots In 1980 St. Pauls in 1980 Southmead in 1980 The events of April 1980: Riot or uprising? How the St. Pauls riot was viewed by the media 1981 : Like a summer with a thousand July's Why is the Southmead riot forgotten?
Suggested areas of discussion…. The religious/political turmoil of the 17th century Non-conformism and women preachers Hazzard's early life, her beliefs and her non-conformism Hazzard, the English Civil war and the Royalist attack on Bristol Why was Hazzard forgotten and why she should be remembered
'Riot!' The Bristol Bridge Massacre of 1793. Mike Manson author of 'Riot!' The Bristol Bridge Massacre of 1793 talks about the riot and massacre that were a result of toll gates on the Bristol Bridge. Listen to this talk: Download this talk (7 Mb mp3 file)
Clarkson This film tells the story of an unsung hero in the fight to abolish slave trading and is set in Bristol in 1787. Although Wilberforce has won public acclaim for finally outlawing the trade, it was Thomas Clarkson who provided him with much of the data that he used to back up the cause. The film is one of contrast: between the pious young divinity student, straight out of University, and the bawdy taverns and rough slave port where he conducted his fact-finding. Clarkson 'grows up' as […]
The Watchman: Coleridge, Beddoes and the radical 1790s in Bristol - Mike Jay During 1795-6, Bristol's popular protests against Pitt's 'Reign of Terror' were led by two remarkable figures, both recent arrivals in the city: the radical doctor Thomas Beddoes and the young lecturer and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Together they campaigned against the government's crackdown on free speech and public assembly, and collaborated on The Watchman, a journal which risked prosecutions for sedition by […]
Celebrate the popular revolt that shocked the British ruling classes into democratic reform. Join the 'mob' waving flaming brands and listen to fiery speeches as we remember the hundreds of Bristol rebels who changed the course of history. Dress : Bawdy Attitude : Raucous
Britain in 1831… a tinder box? The Reform Act and suffrage The events of October in Bristol The trials and punishments Was it chaos, protest or class war? The wider political implications Why we should commemorate 1831 Listent to this talk: Downlaod to this talk (1.5 Mb mp3 file)
