Bristol Radical History Group
Since 2006 BRHG have organised over 500 events; staging walks, talks, gigs, historical recreations, films, exhibitions, trips through the archives and fireside story telling. We have several active research projects, publish a range of books and pamphlets and host an archive on this website.
BRHG projects and events are organised by local people from Bristol and are NOT funded by universities, political parties, business or local government. To break even we rely on members giving their labour for free, donations from the audiences and the sale of publications.
BRHG are associated with several other history groups in Bristol including Remembering the Real World War One, Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group and the Countering-Colston Group. BRHG are also a member of the International History From Below Network.
Breviary Stuff Publications
Our friends include Breviary Stuff Publications, an independent publisher of radical history, working class history and history from below. For almost 10 years they have reproduced out-of-print classics along with new titles for affordable prices, unlike the majority of academic publishers. Check out their interesting range of books here.
Six Points Publications
Our friends across the water, the Newport Chartist historians have recently founded a publishing house 'Six Points', which aims to produce and promote high quality books that explore nineteenth century Radicalism, the ideas of Chartism and their historical antecedents, the movement’s context and development into modern times. Their latest work is Peter Strong's The Bristol Connection, the neglected story of the political, cultural and commercial links across the Bristol Channel between the city of Bristol and Newport and other parts of south east Wales in the 19th century.New BRHG book: Conflict and struggle in the arms industry
This memoir provides a rich account of the actions of rank-and-file trade unionists to improve the pay, conditions and job security of aerospace workers in Bristol, culminating in a notable industrial and political struggle to convert the British Aerospace arms factory in Filton to the production of socially useful products. Alas, this final campaign failed, and in his account, Andy Danford reveals the complexities and political difficulties of achieving the principle of ‘swords into ploughshares’. Read more here.
New BRHG pamphlet: Indoctrinating for Empire
Many children’s ‘classics’, some still in print, glorify the British Empire. In this essay, Colin Thomas argues that they help to perpetuate racist attitudes which only recent children’s books have begun to challenge. Find out more here...News Feed
- “William Morris” Returns to Bristol - Events
- Painted out of History – Ellen and Rolinda Sharples - Events
- Trade Unions Then – Tramways 1901 and Print 1985-86 - Events
- Curating Angela Carter: Bristol, Art and Writing - Events
- International Women’s Day - Events
- The Bristol Bus Boycott : Race, Unions and Civil Rights - Events
- The life and legacy of artist, activist, eco-feminist and writer Monica Sjöö (1938-2005) - Events
- Doris Hatt : Art, Principles and Politics - Events
- Tremors of Discontent: A Life In Print - Events
- Putting Welsh history on TV - Events
Pending Events
- Unveiling of a blue plaque to Hilda Cashmore - 08/03/2023
- International Women’s Day - 11/03/2023
- Doris Hatt : Art, Principles and Politics - 22/04/2023
- The Bristol Bus Boycott : Race, Unions and Civil Rights - 22/04/2023
- The life and legacy of artist, activist, eco-feminist and writer Monica Sjöö (1938-2005) - 22/04/2023
- Curating Angela Carter: Bristol, Art and Writing - 22/04/2023
- Painted out of History – Ellen and Rolinda Sharples - 22/04/2023
- “William Morris” Returns to Bristol - 22/04/2023
- Trade Unions Then – Tramways 1901 and Print 1985-86 - 22/04/2023
Recent Blog Posts
Steve Philbey
Many years ago, stuck in a traffic jam on the Bath Road bridge, I looked up to see a series of massive slogans expertly pasted onto the advertising hoardings on the billboards. The […] More
Feminist, Socialist, Pacifist – Mabel Tothill […]
Hurray! Bristol has a new road named Mabel Tothill Place in the Barton Hill area. This is great news as it is well deserved and highlights a local activist who did so much for the […] More
Callout for feedback on our 4th Bristol Radical History […]
How time flies in the midst of the multiple global crisis of capitalism! A week ago our 4th Bristol Radical History Festival was just beginning, and we at BRHG were pretty pleased […] More
You are invited: to the 4th Bristol Radical History […]
We are delighted to welcome people back to M Shed this Saturday, 14th May, for our 4th Bristol Radical History Festival. It's been a frustrating two years of delays and […] More
Downs row – Merchants hit back over criticism
In a report in the Bristol Post of Wednesday 26 January 2022, the Society of Merchant Venturers [SMVs] hit back at critics who want them to give up their half of the Downs and […] More
Congratulations Barbados
On Tuesday 30 November 2021, marking the 55th anniversary of independence from Britain, Barbados proudly became a Republic. In 2020 the then governor-general of Barbados, Sandra […] More
Deliberately Maintaining the Silence on Slavery History
Calls for ‘an international memorial to the victims of enslavement’[1] sound reasonable, but my own experience this year uncovered a strong tendency to keep slavery history hidden. […] More
The Dragon has two tongues rises again…
After more than 35 years in obscurity the hugely influential TV series The Dragon Has Two Tongues, a history of Wales, has risen again. This week the Welsh Underground Network made […] More
If you are Glad Colston’s Gone – support […]
One year on from the fall of the Edward Colston statue from it's pedestal during the Black Lives Matter protest on 7 June 2020, there's been another media feeding frenzy focused on […] More
Statement of Support for the Toppling of the Colston […]
Early this morning, on the first anniversary of the toppling of the slave-trader and former Tory MP Edward Colston from his plinth, the campaign coalition @GladColstonsGone issued […] More
The M Shed Colston ‘Consultative Display’ – What’s in […]
Introduction After months of secrecy instigated by the Mayor’s Office finally M Shed are launching their ‘Consultative Display” entitled The Colston Statue: What Next? For many of […] More
Abolition Shed 2 – details
A Vision for former Seaman’s Mission and Chapel, Bristol Currently owned by Sam Smiths Brewery (Yorkshire) Introduction After the rejection of our plans for Abolition Shed 1, […] More
Recent Books
Mary Frost, Wife, Mother, Chartist
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, […] More
A Very British Conspiracy
This is an account of the case of the Shrewsbury 24, one of the longest, if not the longest, campaign to overturn injustice in this country. The Shrewsbury 24 were building workers […] More
The Dawn of Everything
This is a hugely ambitious book, setting out to provide an integration of the work of both archaeologists and of anthropologists. The extent of their ambition is spelt out on page […] More
Make Bosses Pay
Eve Livingston - Published by Pluto Press (2021) There isn’t a lot of history in Eve Livingston’s book – “The British labour movement: A potted history” pages 10-15 – but what […] More
Sabotage
Book Review: Dazza Scott, Sabotage: The Story of the Hunt Saboteurs Association (Hunt Saboteurs Association, 2021). In 2023 the Hunt Saboteurs Association will mark its 60th […] More
The Fight for Monad
Raymond Williams’s novel, The Fight for Manod was first published in 1979. As we know, 1979 was an important year, seemingly a watershed year. In this year Margaret Thatcher was […] More
Again with One Voice: British Songs of Political […]
This ‘supremely singable’ collection of 120 songs with musical settings should ‘enlighten and enliven our discussions and our singing in equal measure’ (Oskar Cox Jensen, […] More
The Book of Trespass
…the fences that divide England are not just symbols of the partition of people but the very cause of it. Bristol Radical History Group subscribers will find […] More
Posh Boys
If the reader has had a public school education then this book is probably ‘a huge enjoyable read’ as recommended by one reviewer, on the other hand if the reader is a member of […] More
Imperial Intimacies
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 […] More
On Brandon Hill
This is an absolutely epic overview of Bristol culture – literary connections, film, music, gossip and much more since WW2. That’s around seven decades’ worth. You need to read it […] More
The Fatal Shore
Anyone interested in the history of Australia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries would do well to read Robert Hughes’s book. He describes in detail the development of […] More
Recent Articles
The Slave Decks:
Warning – Due to the nature of the topic this article is not suitable for children The stench of the hold…was so intolerably loathsome that it was dangerous to remain there for any […] More
Slaves – the secret of Tyntesfield House
This article first appeared on the BRHG Facebook page in October 2019. It is published here as a tribute to Steve Philbey who passed away in August 2022. The connection between […] More
Radical Empathy: Voices of the Bristol Crisis Service […]
In April 1986 a group of women in Bristol who considered themselves both feminists and survivors of psychiatric treatment came together to found the Bristol Crisis Service […] More
Bath Workhouse Burial Ground Project
Trees will grow and a wildflower meadow bloom at Bath’s Union Workhouse Burial Ground. A place of memory and reflection is emerging thanks to the work of local residents, artists […] More
Some insights into the lives of the crew onboard the […]
An often overlooked but essential element of a slave ship, such as the Hannibal, was the requirement for a large crew in comparison to the number of sailors usually required to man […] More
From Lewis Hamilton to Jemima (age 12)
TEAR THEM ALL DOWN. Everywhere. Lewis Hamilton (seven time F1 World Drivers Champion) Black Lives Matter X heart X heart. Jemima (age 12) This is the third in a series of articles […] More
The fall of Colston – a timeline of impact in […]
All over the world I’ve seen grandchildren of slave masters tearing down slave masters statues – over in England they put it in the river. Reverend Al Sharpton speaking at […] More
New pauper burial research at Greenbank cemetery
Introduction From 2014-2019 Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group (EWMG) studied Rosemary Green, a piece of land consecrated and used as a pauper burial ground soon after the new […] More
Edward Colston: A century of dissent and protest
Introduction During the furore about the renaming of the Colston Hall in 2017 a number of angry letter-writers to the Bristol Post claimed that the recent protests over Edward […] More
‘Triptych’ A poem by Marvin Thompson […]
On the weekend of 7-9 June 2020 the Brecon plaque to a slave trading captain was stripped from the wall on which it was erected in 2010. Poet Marvin Thompson was inspired to write […] More
The Great Post Office Strike of 1971
The 15th February 1971 was United Kingdom Decimalisation Day: no longer were there 12 pennies to a shilling, half-crowns, or 240 pennies to the pound. That day, 50 years ago, was […] More
Black History Month 2020
During 2010, and during Black History Month no less, a plaque was quietly erected in the rural town of Brecon, Wales to commemorate the life of a slave trader and commander of the […] More
Recent Pamphlets
Claude Mickleson
Claude Mickleson, socialist activist, born 1923. Claude’s story is of a working-class life with all its ups and downs. His different jobs and life experiences provide the backdrop […] More
Conflict and Struggle in the Arms Industry
Note: This booklet is forthcoming, available from 15th October 2022 In this important memoir, Andy Danford brings to life his experience as a worker and senior union representative […] More
Indoctrinating for Empire
The story of how we came to have this Empire is a wonderful tale of adventure and romance Major General Baden-Powell in Scouting for Boys Many children’s ‘classics’, some still in […] More
Hilda Cashmore
Hilda Cashmore (1876-1943), her life and community work in Bristol and beyond. Over 100 years since its foundation, Bristol’s Barton Hill Settlement is still operating as an […] More
The Cry of the Poor
"Being a Letter from Sixteen Working Men of various trades, to the Sixteen Aldermen of Bristol." This impassioned and lucidly argued letter, written in 1871, set out demands for […] More
Tremors of Discontent
While there are many academic studies of workers’ resistance and consciousness during the 1970s and 1980s, few accounts relate the personal-political experiences of the activists […] More
De-Convicted
This pamphlet analyses British penology by focussing on three case studies, spread across two centuries, all with Bristol connections. Francis Greenway, originally sentenced to […] More
State Snooping
In the 1550s Elizabeth I claimed that she had “no desire to open windows into men’s souls” while seeking to do just that. This pamphlet traces a near 500 year history of British […] More
The Forest of Dean Miners’ Riot of 1831
In June 1831, the free miners and commoners of the Forest of Dean rioted. This book considers the background to the uprising and the motives of the participants. Chris Fisher […] More
Steps Against War
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 […] More
God’s Beautiful Sunshine
In 1921, in response to a severe depression in the coal trade, colliery owners, supported by the government, slashed labour costs. Refusing to accept this cut in wages, a million […] More
From Wulfstan to Colston
Tracing a thousand-year history, Mark Steeds and Roger Ball examine the involvement in slavery of Bristol’s merchants, from Anglo-Saxon times through the era of exploration and […] More
Recent Events
Putting Welsh history on TV
7.00-9.00pm 3 March 2023 Clwb Y Bont, 85A Taff St, Pontypridd CF37 4SL This talk with video extracts, will look at attempts to turn the complexities of Welsh history into […] More
Myanmar Diaries
Two years and one month after the military coup in Myanmar, the BristolWithMyanmar campaign will be showing Myanmar Diaries at Bristol's Cube Cinema on March 1st, from 7pm. It is a […] More
Tremors of Discontent: A Life In Print
The Nissen Hut, Eastville Park, Bristol, BS5 6QL Author and historian Mike Richardson on his recently published book, “Tremors of Discontent: My Life in Print 1970-1988". Mike […] More
Book Launch: Conflict and Struggle in the Arms Industry
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 […] More
WWI Resistance in South Bristol
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 – […] More
The Rise and Fall of Edward Colston
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’ […] More
‘The Recent Politicisation of The Riot […]
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 […] More
Nautical Woman – Women sailors and the women of […]
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 […] More
Parent Power: the fight against the closure of Gay Elms […]
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 […] More
Hartcliffe: the estate born out of conflict
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 […] More
The battle of Melvin Square – Knowle West 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 […] More
Nautical women – women sailors and the women of […]
Portishead Library, 24 Harbour Road, Portishead, BS20 7AL For more details and booking, see here. North Somerset Libraries are excited to host a series of talks by Bristol Radical […] More