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 Bristolians during 1914-1917, and the hidden history of resistance to the war machine. Following the screening the makers […]
This talk is based on a community oral history project, that in 2014, explored the lived history of local people who worked in the tobacco factories in Bedminster and Ashton. It offers an understanding of the social fabric of the Bedminster area, and the economic forces which have shaped our community. Helen will provide an overview of the manufacturing processes and how they changed over time; and an insight into what it was like for the workers: recruitment, working conditions, […]
Not In An Event Series
Otherstory will be presenting a first screening of our cinematic puppetry performance Taking a Holiday on Sunday 20th February at 7.30 pm. This online event will include a live post show talk by Professor Lois Bibbings (from the University of Bristol) on the historical context to the story told in the film. There will also be an opportunity to meet and put questions to the puppeteers. Taking a Holiday tells the amazing story of the secret beneath a Bristol bike shop. It is a story of […]
This is an eloquent and angry account of Professor Hazel Carby’s family history linked to the shameful history of the British Empire. She is painfully honest about the relationship of her own parents - her mother born in Wales, her father from Jamaica, their marriage soured by “the climate of virulent and violent British racism.” It was in Bristol where her mother had grown up and where “ambition took root and flourished, the city that nurtured and nourished her dreaming…the city’s architecture […]
Emma Byron and Trevor Houghton present the story of a network of neighbours, workmates, families and comrades who stood together and refused to take their part in the war machine. Steps Against War is an innovative micro-history of resistance to war in a working-class district of south Bristol. The book grew out of a community project to create a history walk with puppets, and the talk will be illustrated with short videos and images of puppetry, as well as pictures from Bedminster in the […]
In World War 1 there were at least 40 conscientious objectors in Bedminster, as well as others who resisted the war and conscription. Fred Berriman took an uncompromising stand and faced repeated prison sentences. Annie Chappell co-ordinated a network of support for objectors. William Livingston went on the run in Scotland with London anarchists. George Barker and Walter Told excavated a secret chamber beneath a bike shop to hide objectors and deserters. These individuals were part of a network […]
Not A BRHG Event
Earlier this year, a group of local people worked with Otherstory and Remembering the Real WW1 to discover untold stories of Bedminster people in the First World War. Together we created Steps Against War, a history walk with puppets to tell these stories: The 40 Bedminster men who refused to fight: who went to jail, or who took to the hills; the local detective always on their tracks; the women running networks of resistance - and the secret hideaway at the heart of Cannon Street... Come and […]
Not A BRHG Event
Bedminster Library, 4 Bedminster Parade, Bristol BS3 4AQ Earlier this year, a group of local people worked with Otherstory and Remembering the Real WW1 to discover untold stories of Bedminster people in the First World War. Together we created Steps Against War, a history walk with puppets to tell these stories: The 40 Bedminster men who refused to fight: who went to jail, or who took to the hills; the local detective always on their tracks; the women running networks of resistance - and the […]
Not A BRHG Event
As part of their History Week, Bedminster Library (Bedminster Parade, Bedminster, Bristol BS3 4AQ) have a talk by Rosemary Caldicott, author of The Life and Death of Hannah Wiltshire: A Case Study of Bedminster Union Workhouse. Rosemary will tell the the true story of how in 1850s the local community pulled together to uncover murder in the Flax Bourton workhouse.
Not A BRHG Event
Taking a Holiday is a tale of conscientious objectors and others who went on the run from conscription during the First World War – and of the networks that supported them. A story 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? A table top and shadow puppet show based on the true stories of ordinary people in 1916/17 and the hidden […]
