News Feed - Bristol Radical History Group

Copper, Coal and Colonizers: The Welsh in the West Country and their impact on Bristol’s past

Exploring the Welsh people and places that helped shape the city’s history, from colonists to Chartists, enslavers to abolitionists – with the odd pirate and colonial governor thrown in for good measure. A two hour walk from M Shed to the Colston stump via Welsh Back and the Llandoger Trow. Meet outside the front of M Shed.

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

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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 […]

Red Notes Choir

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Catch Bristol’s wonderful Red Notes Choir, who will support the Bristol Radical History Festival by performing at 11:20am. They’ll be singing in the Ground Floor Foyer by the M Shed main entrance. The Red Notes Choir is a Bristol-based socialist choir. They have a repertoire of songs from around the world on historical, union, peace, green and human rights themes. We use the streets of Bristol and further afield to spread our message of fighting for the rights of working people, those who are […]

War on Democracy: Loyalist Propaganda in Britain after the French Revolution

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When groups advocating democratic reform in Britain grew and prospered after revolution in France in the 1790s, William Pitt’s government responded with a ruthless programme of repression. Centred on prosecutions for seditious language and High Treason, the loyalist offensive was nourished throughout by anti-gallican, anti-republican propaganda. Tom Paine was burnt in effigy the length and breadth of the country, reformers beaten up by gangs of loyalist thugs, conservative tracts widely […]

The Renaissance in the Upside-Down “Archives” World

The war on Gaza has unfolded in real time across social media, where civilians have become primary producers of historical record. Yet these platforms operate through opaque systems of moderation, algorithmic filtering, and AI governance that shape what survives and what disappears. Archivist and Librarian at the Palestine Land Studies Centre at the American University of Beirut, Ghada Dimashk will examines what happens when the traditional logic of the archive is inverted—when evidence […]

Putting Welsh history on TV

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This talk with video extracts, will look at attempts to turn the complexities of Welsh history into accessible television. It will include clips from Horrible Histories, Huw Edwards’s The Story of Wales and the ground-breaking and much-loved series, The Dragon Has Two Tongues in which Wynford Vaughan Thomas and Professor Gwyn Alf Williams offered two very different versions of Welsh history. The latter series, produced and directed by Colin Thomas in 1985, was recently described by […]

The General Strike in Gloucester and Swindon

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Gloucester Docks, Sugar and Strife - Tony Conder As an industrial city Gloucester's industries were hit by the strike in 1926. The dock workers and boatmen of Gloucester played a key role in taking action and suffering in the aftermath. The business of the docks pitted powerful conservative forces who made no attempt to recognise the emergency against an almost cheeky gallantry by their striking workforce. A Railway Town and the General Strike: Nine Days in Swindon in May 1926 - Stuart Butler […]

‘Bread or Blood’ – The Merthyr Rising of 1831

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The talk will cover the explosive social, economic and political reasons behind the Merthyr Rising of 1831. The Merthyr Rising in 1831, was a rising not a riot, as viewed by the status quo. It was the most ferocious and bloody event in the history of Industrial Britain. It will conclude by looking at the main legacy of May 1831 and the reasons why we commemorate the events today.

The General Strike in Bristol: an introduction

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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.

‘An industrial Red Cross’: Labour women’s support for the miners’ lockout in the south west.

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This talk will describe the setting up of the Women’s Committee for the Relief of Miners Wives and Children in London by the Labour Party Chief Woman Officer, Marion Phillips. It will then focus on the efforts of Labour women to raise funds and to organise relief in the southwest and the support they gave to relief committees in Bristol and in Radstock. It will suggest that the Lockout gave them the opportunity to demonstrate that they had the necessary skills to organise relief on a national […]