News Feed - Bristol Radical History Group

Wiltshire Radical History Day

By Randell Brantley

White Horse (Wiltshire) Trades Union Council Wiltshire Radical History Day Saturday 29th March 2014 10am-4pm The Cause 42 The Causeway, Chippenham SN15 3DD Free entry Bar and buffet lunch Speakers throughout the day include: Jeremy Corbyn MP from Wiltshire to Westminster Professor Steve Poole from the University of the West of England on The gallows, the gibbet and the rural poor Melissa Barnett, Curator of Chippenham Museum on Dame Florence Hancock Nigel Costley, South West TUC Regional […]

A Map of the Parish of Bitton 1842

This is a map of the Parish of Bitton from 1842. Cock Road can be see just to the right of Hanham. Note that the original is marked 1842 however, the map shows the Midland Branch Line (now the Bristol-Bath cycle track) which was not opened until 1869. See the Avon Valley Railway website for more details. A full version of The History of The Parish of Bitton in the County of Glousceter. by Rev. H. T. Ellacombe can be found on Archive.org.

Troubles

By J.G. Farrell

Set in 1919-21, years of conflict when the struggle for Irish independence raged, Troubles is the first in J.G. Farrell’s 1970’s trilogy of historical novels dealing with the decline of empire. Troubles follows the fortunes of Major Brendan Archer who, traumaticised and lacking purpose after serving in the First World War, crosses the Irish Sea to the fictional town of Kilnalough to meet with his fiancé, Angela Spencer, to whom he’d almost unwittingly become engaged following a brief, scarcely […]

Map of kingswood and the Parish of Bitton 1750

This map from 1750 is of the 'Liberties' around Kingswood and the parish of Bitton. The dotted line running out through Warmly is the London Road (now the A420). The Cock Road, not marked, is just above where “Gee Moor” is written in “Mr Bond’s Liberty”. The houses are labelled with many of the family names that are associated with the Cock Road Gang. It contains many of the family names which are associated with the Cock Road Gang such as (with various spellings) Britton, Wilmot, Ilses, Bryant, […]

Map of Kingswood 1610

Home to the notorious Kingswood Miners and infamous Cock Road Gang this is what Kingswood, North of Bristol, looked like in 1610. 'London Waye' is now the A420 and Bath Waye is the A431. A full version of The History of The Parish of Bitton in the County of Glousceter. by Rev. H. T. Ellacombe can be found on Archive.org.

Radical History Network

The Radical History Network of North East London, hereafter RaHN, was formed in February 2006 and has generally met monthly ever since. It has participated in events like the Anarchist Bookfair every year and is related to others groups like that of South London . Essentially the group covers subjects that are “ local, topical or of special interest “. It is broadly libertarian socialist in outlook. Its slogan is “celebrate our hisory, avoid repeating our mistakes”, with an obvious meaning. […]

Partisanas

Women in the Armed Resistance to Fascism and German Occupation (1936–1945)

By Ingrid Strobl

This book examines the parts played by women in the struggle against fascism across Europe. Strobl acknowledges the importance of so-called “passive” resistance such as hiding people, distributing leaflets and listening for information on radio Moscow and the BBC, which is perceived as the traditional role of women in the resistance. However this book looks as the women who broke away from this traditional role and took part in the armed struggle against fascism. As someone who didn’t know very […]

Bristol and the Labour Unrest 1910-14

Speaker: Mike Richardson, UWE. This seminar will focus on Bristol’s experience of labour unrest between 1910 and the outbreak of the First World War. Rather than focus solely on Bristol’s famous union leaders, Ben Tillett and Earnest Bevin, this seminar will examine the events from the union rank-and-file perspective. 1910 witnessed a renewed outbreak of industrial strife in Britain, as significant sections of the trade union rank-and-file began to express their frustration at the lack of […]

Bliss Mill Strike 1913-1914

This blog is an attempt to document the Bliss Mill strike of 1913-14 in real time. Discussion is welcomed via the comment feature. I would be particularly interested to hear of any family memories of the strike, or new information that can be added. I will aim for historical accuracy as far as possible. Where what I have to say is speculation and cannot be backed up by recorded facts I will do my best to indicate that.

Black Presence

The Black Presence website was formerly the Black Presence in Britain, a history site about black British history. The Black Presence in Britain website was set up in 1998 due to a lack of information about the contribution of Black people to British history to be found on the Internet.