Events Archive - Page 31 of 56 - Bristol Radical History Group

Slaughter No Remedy

“I cannot and will not kill”

A re-enactment of Walter Ayles' Militry Tribunal Bristol Register Office, Corn Street, BS1 1JG. Walter Ayles was Bristol’s most prominent opponent of World War 1. He was a member of the Independent Labour Party and city councillor for Easton from 1912. When war was declared in 1914 he was the only councillor to vote against a motion offering “whole hearted support” for the war. He became a national executive member of the No-Conscription Fellowship. In April 1916, when conscription was […]

Discovering British 1914-1918 War Resisters

Hoped-for outcomes and challenging surprises

Cyril Pearce is Britain's foremost researcher into World War 1 conscientious objectors (COs) and war resisters. His book 'Comrades in Conscience' looked at the anti-war movement in Huddersfield. Since then, Cyril has extended his work to look for other ‘Huddersfields’ and has created a database of British COs - the Pearce Register of British Conscientious Objectors The database currently contains details of almost 20000 men who refused to fight in the war and is an invaluable tool for any local […]

Captain Jack White DSO

from Imperialism to Anarchism

Captain Jack White DSO attracted adjectives like jam does wasps - flamboyant, gallant, romantic, handsome, idiosyncratic, incorrigible - and every one of them was appropriate. He was a Presbyterian from the northern part of Ireland who fought in the Boer War, became the first commander of the Irish Citizen Army in the 1913 Dublin Lockout, was arrested for sedition during WW1, fell foul of all the police/paramilitary/governmental authorities in Ireland between 1913 and 1936, and participated in […]

The Red Dagger

Wat Tyler, John Ball, Joanna Ferrour, the 1381 Peasant's Revolt and the City of London's weapons of mass destruction

Live performance of poem by Heathcote Williams The Red Dagger: the symbol of the City of London's treachery and oppression, paraded about in plain sight for 700 years; but who noticed? A live performance of Heathcote Williams' epic poem depicting the origin of the infamous blade and detailing the depredations of the City of London over the last 650 years. Watch this performance

The Real Conspiracy

The Shrewsbury 24 Campaign’s Fight for Justice

It is 44 years since the first-ever national building workers strike in Britain. Five months after the strike ended, 24 pickets were picked up and charged with over 200 offences, including unlawful assembly, intimidation and affray. Six of the pickets were also charged with ‘conspiracy to intimidate’. None of the pickets had been cautioned or arrested during the strike. There were no police complaints laid against the pickets at the time. At the first Shrewsbury trial, beginning in October 1973, […]

Walk the Line

Re-imagining the way we travel after the Beeching Axe

Just over 50 years ago the first Beeching Report – The Re-shaping of the British Railways – changed the face of British transport forever. In this short talk we'll discuss the world the railways built – through engineering, craftsmanship, aesthetics, and the democratizing of travel. This is not an uncritical look at the railway age. The cost of building the railways was large in terms of loss of life, corrupt business dealings, and the irreparable impact on communities, often moved against their […]

Dave Wise and Stuart Wise

Veteran Situationists behind King Mob and ‘Revolt Against Plenty’ in a panel discussion with members of the Bristol Radical History Group

Dave and Stuart Wise were the unrepentant core of 1960’s revolutionary group King Mob, part of the English section of the Situationist International (an ephemeral affiliation; the notoriously fractious SI expelled them). This will be a rare opportunity to hear them in conversation with members of the Bristol Radical History Group (and whoever wants to chip in!). In a kind of open mic radical history session, we seek to revisit the (anti-)work of his majesty King Mob where it belongs; unmediated, […]

James Acland and The Bristolian

Keeping it Spikey since 1827

The Bristolian local broadsheet is well known in this city for exposing corruption, lies and duplicity amongst Bristol’s ‘high and mighty’ of all shades of political persuasion. What is less well known is that the paper was originally founded by James Acland, a radical agitator, who first wrote, financed and published a daily version in 1827. Its pages contained scathing attacks on the Corporation, Magistracy and wealthy Merchants who made up the oligarchy that controlled the city. Acland […]

The Maltreated and the Malcontents

Working in the Great Western Cotton Factory 1838-1914

The history of Bristol’s Great Western Cotton Works in Barton Hill, which opened in 1838, is little known. The story of its workforce — mainly low-paid women and children — has never been told. From the 1830s to the early twentieth century, Barton Hill workers endured long working hours, high rates of industrial accidents and ill-health from the cotton dust and humidity. Moreover, they were subjected to wage cuts and fines by a series of unrelenting managers. Divided along age and gender lines […]

Unveiling of a Blue Plaque to Walter Ayles

Venue: 12 Station Road, Ashley Down, Bristol, BS7 9LA A blue plaque for Walter Ayles will be unveiled on Sunday April 17th – the centenary of the date that Ayles was first arrested. Please put this date in your diary. The unveiling will take place from 3.30pm at the house where lived with his wife Bertha in Station Road, Ashley Down. Generous donations have enabled us to raise over £600 to pay for the plaque. Full details will be circulated nearer the date. Come along and help us honour all […]