Not A BRHG Event
Taking a Holiday - a film about war resistance in South Bristol during World War 1. The amazing story of the secret beneath a Bedminster bike shop. A tale of struggle in wartime – full of intrigue, escapes, comradeship…and bikes. What does it mean to be a refugee and on the run in your own country? Who will give you a bed for the night, a job… or a means of escape? Puppetry, documentary material and songs combine in a narrative based on the true stories of ordinary Bristol people during 1914/17, […]
This memoir written by Bristol trade union activist, Andy Danford, provides a rich account of the actions of rank-and-file trade unionists to improve the pay, conditions and job security of the British Aerospace workers in Bristol, culminating in a notable industrial and political struggle to convert the Filton arms factory to the production of socially useful products. Alas, this final campaign failed, and in his account, Danford reveals the complexities and political difficulties of achieving […]
Not A BRHG Event
BRHG is pleased to support the latest Bristol Radical Bookfair on Saturday 10th December, co-ordinated by Active Distro, and hosted at the Exchange, on Old Market, BS2 0EJ. All are welcome at this free event. As Active Distro state in the FB event and Headfirst Bristol listings: We're under attack from all sides, and we need radical ideas and community more than ever. At the bookfair, you'll find new and second hand titles, kids books, novels, calendars and more from radical publishers, zine […]
7.00pm, Tues 13th December, Bishopsworth Library, Bishopsworth Rd, Bristol BS13 7LN In November 2014 the Bishop of Bristol, preaching to school students, claimed that ‘speculation’ about the ‘business roots’ of the city’s philanthropic icon, Edward Colston, was merely ‘speculation’. These incendiary words inspired new historical research into Colston’s slave-trading activities and the origins of his role as a ‘City Father.’ They also led to the formation of the campaign group Countering Colston […]
Not A BRHG Event
Bristol Central Library - Lunchtime talks - Foyer - Book Here The book explores the stories of women whose lives were inextricably linked to the sea. These include the women of sailortowns, like Bristol, who were struggling to keep out of the dreaded workhouse and resisting the prowling press gangs. Also, the courageous and skilful cross-dressing women sailors, some from Bristol, who went to extraordinary lengths to hide their gender. The stories of these women challenge our stereotypes of women […]
7.00pm, Weds 7th December, Bishopsworth Library, Bishopsworth Rd, Bristol BS13 7LN In October 2000, Bristol City Council announced that it was considering shutting Gay Elms and Whitehouse primary schools, because in its view there were too many surplus school places in the Withywood and Hartcliffe areas. Sally Miewa, acting head of Whitehouse primary and Jackie Ball, chair of Gay Elms’ Parents Teachers Association expressed shock and anger on hearing the news and immediately began to organise […]
7.00pm, Wednesday 30 November, Hartcliffe Community Centre, Hareclive Rd, Bristol BS13 0JW The talk will cover the conflicts around the building of Hartcliffe on the outskirts of Bristol. The promise of the original plans and the comparison with what was finally built. The talk will draw upon council documents, media reports and comments of local residents at the time. Paul Smith grew up and lived in Hartcliffe for over 30 years. He represented the area as a councillor from 1988-1999 and […]
7.00pm, Tuesday 29th November, Filwood Library, Filwood Broadway, Bristol BS4 1JN During the 1930’s militant antifascism against Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts was ingrained and established amongst the Bristolian working-class. Discontented by their many defeats in the inner-city, industrial working-class districts of Bristol the British Union of Fascists (BUF) turned their attention to the new garden suburbs springing up on the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately for the BUF, working-class […]
7.00pm, Tuesday 22nd November, Filwood Library, Filwood Broadway, Bristol BS4 1JN The garden-city movement has had a significant impact on the development of Bristol as we know it. It aimed to create new neighbourhoods based on high-quality planning and housing design. This would transform the prospects for their residents by combining the best features of urban and rural life. BRHG member Steve Hunt will survey the influence of garden-suburb style planning upon Bristol’s spatial geography, from […]
I enjoyed this book as it is an easy read and Sylvia Mason painted a graphic picture of the times - Mary Frost's shop and home, the 1839 Chartist uprising in Newport, the family, the rallies and the spies. "Were any of the injured men bandaged and fed by the Frost women and helped to get home"? Initially I was a little irritated by the questions Sylvia Mason posed as there was no 'real' evidence, however, I soon appreciated it as a way of telling Mary's story which set the scene of the times as, […]
