News Feed - Bristol Radical History Group

An Industrial Red Cross

Labour women’s support for the locked-out miners in 1926

“The Labour woman cared for humanity” A crucial element in sustaining lengthy industrial disputes is the support available for the families of striking workers. The miners’ strike of 1984/85 saw support originated and coordinated by women’s groups in the coalfield communities, often led by wives of striking miners. In the 1926 miners’ lock-out too, women provided major support with fund-raising by groups such as the Labour Party’s National Women’s Committee and the Cooperative Women’s Guild. An […]

Conflicts of Interest

Co-operators, trade unionists and the events of May 1926 in Bristol

By Chris Bowkett

Creating a new society within the confines of the old. From Robert Owen onwards, groups of radicals have attempted to build progressive alternatives to capitalism from within its heart. One of the biggest most successful of these has been the co-operative movement. However, it has encountered contradictions in its attempt to square its principles with those of the dominant culture and economy. A stark instance of this was during the General Strike when co-op workers—members of a union closed […]

Class or Company Loyalty?

The printing industry and the events of May 1926 in Bristol

By Mike Richardson

“Our courage was percolating through our fingertips”. Class or Company Loyalty? explores the experiences of unionised workers employed in two companies, one large, one small, operating in Bristol’s printing industry before, during and immediately after the General Strike. Mike Richardson traces the history of the changing power dynamics between capital and labour at the two workplaces and considers what impact the strike had on industrial relations at these companies. The common theme running […]

Truth, Lies and Strikebreakers

Propaganda and the state response to the 1926 General Strike

By Colin Thomas, Rob Whitfield

The battle for hearts and minds was as vital as that on any picket line during the 1926 General Strike. Both the Trades Union Congress and the Government fought the propaganda to make their case to their supporters and the general public. With the strike shutting down much of the press, both sides put out their own newspapers in an attempt to shape the narrative. Even Winston Churchill got involved, setting himself up as editor of the strikebreaking British Gazette. In Truth, Lies and […]

Striking Women: from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet

An exhibition telling the story of South Asian women workers' struggles in two industrial disputes. The fiftieth anniversary of the two year dispute at the Grunwick film processing laboratories in northwest London and the 2005 Gate Gourmet strike at Heathrow. The exhibition explores themes of migration, women and work and the industrial movement more widely. You can find out more at the Striking Women website. .

Bristol and the 1926 General Strike

Exhibition

The exhibition will be launched on Saturday 16 May.

The Future in our Past

Book launches, poetry and exhibition opening

Callum Cant and Matthew Lee will talk about their new book The Future in our Past: The General Strike, 1926/2026 published by Verso. Richard Devereux will read poems from his newly published collection Coal and Fire (Culture Matters). Authors of two of the new BRHG General Strike Centenary Series will launch their new pamphlets: Mike Richardson’s Class or Company Loyalty? The printing industry and events of May 1926 in Bristol. And Chris Bowkett’s Conflicts of Interest: Co-operators, trade […]

Opening Up the Archives

Bristol and the General Strike in 1926

Join the archivists and our historians in the Education Room to view original documents from the special collections. This year we will be focusing on Bristol and the General Strike in 1926.

Patriots, volunteers and scabs Postponed

The 1926 General Strike in Bristol

*** This walk has been postponed because it clashes with the Great Bristol Run.*** 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 two-hour walk from Kingsley Hall on Old Market Street via the centre ending […]

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 two-hour walk from Kingsley Hall on Old Market Street via the centre ending at the St James Barton – Bear Pit. Start point: Hydra Books, opposite Kingsley […]