Radical Bristol Archives - Page 20 of 28 Bristol Radical History Group

Bristol Radical Film Festival

By Randell Brantley

Bristol Radical Film Festival 2014 starts tonight with Cambodia’s Killing Fields: Enemies of the People at The Cube. The full programme for 2014 can be found on their website.

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.

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.

The Cock Road Gang

By Steve Mills

Cock Road was, in the 18th Century, a tiny hamlet on the outskirts of Bristol, within the lawless Kingswood Forest. Though a small area, the exploits of the inhabitants brought it to the attention of the authorities of Bristol, Gloucestershire and Somerset. It was claimed that a criminal gang, unmatched in notoriety, came from Cock Road. In reality, anyone committing a criminal act who lived in the forest was tarnished as a member of the gang. They were engaged in horse stealing, burglary, […]

New Unionism, New Women and Black Friday

The Bristol Strike Waves of 1889-1893

Meet at Gardiner Haskins Car Park (near Old Market), New Thomas Street, BS2 0JP As a belated launch for three new pamphlets released by BRHG in 2012-13 (The Bristol Strike Wave of 1889-1890 Socialists, New Unionists and New Women - Part 1: Days of Hope, Part 2: Days of Doubt and The Origins and an Account of Black Friday - 23rd December 1892) authors Mike Richardson and Roger Ball will navigate us through one of the most intense periods of class struggle in Bristol in the late 19th Century. In […]

The Origins and an Account of Black Friday – 23rd December 1892

By Roger Ball

Autumn 1892 in Bristol saw a violent class war between employers, strike-breaking labour and police on one side and strikers and their mass of working-class supporters on the other; picketing, mass marches and public meetings of thousands of ‘new’ industrial unionists were common. The strike-wave culminated in the use of military and police by the local state to break up a pre-Christmas parade which had been organised to collect money for strikers and their families. This event, which popularly […]

Bye-Laws, Rules, & Orderes – 1853

Bye-Laws, Rules, & Orderes, for the Conduct, Management, & Government of all Pilots and Others Employed in any Pilot Boats or Other Vessels or Boats within the Port Of Bristol and within the Bristol Channel to the Eastward of Lundy Island, and or fixing and ascertaining the Rates and Taxes to be received and taken by such pilots and other persons, and for Repealing All Former Bye-Laws, Rules and Orders, Relating To Such Pilots &c Bristol: Printed at the Mirror Office By John Taylor […]

Wrecks On The River Avon

Pill Pilots