Roy Bailey & Eirlys Rhiannon

An English folk legend, Roy Bailey is one of this country’s best-regarded political songwriters and has been described by his friend and collaborator Tony Benn as ‘the greatest socialist folk singer of his generation’. Roy was recently awarded an MBE, which he promptly returned in protest at the British government’s foreign policy. In other words, he’s right up our street. Supported by local singer-songwriter Eirlys Rhiannon.  

Opening The Archives

View original source material from the Reference Library's archives in the Bristol Room. Hosted by Dawn Dyer and Jane Bradley. (More details to follow.) Since there is limited space in the Bristol Room we are offering two 1 hour slots; 2pm - 3pm & 3pm - 4pm.

Merry Hell

A singular conflagration of live music and moving pictures to launch Bristol Radical History Week into fair winds. The Cube Orchestra will accompany exceptional films with improvised scores. Pirates created an upside down world of anarchist organisation and festival, with violence and death ever present. Through the satanic imagery of their flags, skulls, skeletons, grim reapers and hourglasses, they expressed their defiance of death itself. Pirates shunned Christian myths of paradise and […]

Bristol Central Library Exhibition

For the whole week there was a display of historic radical journals from Bristol such as Coleridge's Journal The Watchman and the original Bristolian. There was also be a special viewing, conducted by Jane Bradley the Local Studies Librarian, of the Bristol Room which contains among other things Judge Jeffreys' (the 'Hanging Judge') chair - 2pm on Monday 30th October. The Bristol Room is designed as a memorial to the old library in King Street. It contains the original bookcases and fireplace […]