Mark Steeds

Former draughtsman and current publican of some 30 years standing, Mark is interested in all aspects of Bristol’s history, but especially the city’s literary and maritime past. Reflecting this he co-authored a book with Ken Griffiths entitled Pirates and Privateers out of Bristol in 2010.

After joining Bristol Radical History Group in 2006, he and colleagues have campaigned hard to balance Bristol’s memorial landscape, still dominated by Colston, Cabot and Brunel. To this end he wrote BRHGs first pamphlet, Cry Freedom, Cry Seven Stars in 2007 and co-authored From Wulfstan to Colston with Roger Ball in 2020, published on the very weekend that Colston’s statue got dumped in the docks.

The Cry Freedom pamphlet was part of the huge fund-raising efforts to make Mike Baker’s Clarkson plaque a reality; this included poetry slams, gigs from the Surfin’ Turnips, talks from Paul Stephenson and Richard Hart and a host of other events to celebrate the role the Seven Stars played in the history of abolition.

To rectify old wrongs in the city, Mark would like to see a long overdue memorial to the victims of enslavement and an ‘Abolition Shed’ interpretation centre. He’s noted for his irreverent and chippy walks and talks, sometimes in conjunction with ‘Radical Rog’.”