Bristol Radical History Group

Slaughter No Remedy

Date: Monday 5th December, 2016
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: The Cube, 4 Princess Row, Kingsdown, Bristol, BS2 8NQ
Price: £5/£4
With:  Colin Thomas, Lois Bibbings, Ben Griffin, Ben Pike

The premier of Slaughter No Remedy a short film that studies the life of Walter Ayles a leading member of the Independent Labour Party in Bristol who was jailed in 1916 for his refusal to fight in World War One. This is followed by Watford’s Quiet Heroes a documentary telling the dramatic and largely forgotten stories of WW1 war resisters. Finally, The Unseen March exposes the contemporary policies that are increasing military involvement in schools across Britain. From the expansion of cadet forces to academies sponsored by the arms industry, the armed forces are playing a growing role in education without public debate.

A panel discussion follows, featuring historian of conscientious objectors Professor Lois Bibbings, Ben Griffin of Veterans for Peace and documentary film makers Colin Thomas and Ben Pike.

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Plaque to mark Eastville Workhouse at 100 Fishponds Road

Date: Wednesday 7th December, 2016
Time: 11.00am
Venue: 100 Fishponds Rd, Pedestrian Entrance to East Trees Health Centre, Bristol BS5 6BF
As part of the ongoing Eastville Workhouse history project a cast aluminium, painted plaque by local artist Mike Baker will be unveiled on the surviving gates to the workhouse at 100 Fishponds Rd. Over eighty years, thousands of men, women and children passed through these gates, driven by poverty, great age or ill-health. Families were separated, endured hard labour and a punitive regime. The plaque shows a relief of Eastville Workhouse and Fishponds Rd in the late Victorian period and marks the location of the institution which remains a dark, but important, symbol in the history of East Bristol.

Detroit: Future City?

Date: Wednesday 7th December, 2016
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: The Hydra Bookshop, Old Market St, Bristol BS2 0EZ
Price: Donation
With: Sarah Coffey

The US city of Detroit had a population in the region of 1.8 million in the 1950s but automation and the flight of big business, particularly in the automotive industry, led to massive redundancies, foreclosures and the displacement of millions. The population now stands at less than 700,000, the lowest it has been for a century. In the midst of this neo-liberal catastrophe and the associated withdrawal of public services, residents have banded together to create their own solutions including food networks, community safety patrols, free schools and neighbourhood housing projects. However, these pioneering  Detroiters are faced with an onslaught of further privatisation, dissolution of democratic control of local government, the removal collective bargaining and raids on pension funds. These competing models of the 'future city' will have ramifications not just in the US but worldwide. 
Sarah Coffey, a longtime Detroit resident, community organiser and a co-founder of the Midnight Special Law Collective has been closely involved with autonomous communities in the city.