News Feed - Bristol Radical History Group

Make More Noise! Suffragettes in Silent Film

By Randell Brantley

The West of England and South Wales Women's History Network is pleased to present a free showing of Make More Noise! Suffragettes in Silent Film. Make More Noise is a selection of silent films from the British Film Institute National Archive exploring the representation of suffragettes in the early 20th century. From footage of suffrage demonstrations to anarchic women's comedy, the collection was brought out to complement the release of Suffragette. The film will be shown at the Salt Café Deli, […]

Walter Ayles

Join the Rad’s Army Radical History Zone on 30th April!

By Randell Brantley

Radical History Zone 2016 PosterRadical History Zone 2016 Poster

We are celebrating two anniversaries this year! 2016 marks the 10th birthday of the Bristol Radical History Group. This year we have also organised the 5th Radical History Zone (RHZ). The RHZ is an autonomous space for ideas about radical history that takes place alongside the annual Bristol Anarchist Bookfair. As ever there will be an eclectic mix of topics taking a critical approach to hidden history, with perspectives and themes rarely explored in conventional histories or the mainstream […]

Slaughter No Remedy

The life and times of Walter Ayles, Bristol Conscientious Objector

By Colin Thomas

Walter Ayles was a fighter – but a fighter who didn’t believe in killing. He fought against unemployment and ruthless employers but also against the pro-war fever that led to the First World War. A Bristol councillor before the War, he was sent to prison for his opposition to it. Soon after his release, he was elected the MP for Bristol North. This pamphlet outlines the life and times of a man who fought for socialism and peace.

The Life and Death of Hannah Wiltshire

A Case Study of Bedminster Union Workhouse and Victorian Social Attitudes on Epilepsy

By Rosemary L Caldicott

During the year of 1855 rumours of murder and cover up were circulating in the small north Somerset village of Walton-in-Gordano. An epileptic destitute country girl had died in the local institution known as the Bedminster Union Workhouse. Her death caused public outrage after letters were written to the local newspapers. The Board of Guardians were suspected of concealing the true magnitude of neglect at the workhouse, leading to accusations of medical negligence. In this pamphlet, Victorian […]

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

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]