The Radical North & Melvyn Bragg

TODAY, Melvyn Bragg explores the radical movements that sprang from the North - Chartism, the campaign for women's votes, anti-slavery protests, the birth of the Labour Party.  The programme begins outside Manchester's Midland Hotel where Mr Rolls met Mr Royce.  It's also near the site of the Peterloo Massacre - one of the defining moments in British social history.  People had gathered here in their thousands from the city and surrounding towns and villages - protesting for parliamentary reform. fifteen were slain and hundreds wounded by charging cavalry troops.  Melvyn visits what one contributor Dr Robert Poole describes as Democracy Wall - it runs alongside of the nearby Quaker Meeting House - many people were crushed against it at the time of the Massacre. The wall is the only structure left from the period.  The massacre inspired the poet Shelley to write the Masque of Anarchy, part of which is read for us by the actor Maxine Peake.
Melvyn goes on to describe the rich history of dissent nurtured in the north - the women's suffrage movement, the campaign to abolish slavery, chartism, and the founding of the Independent Labour Party.
Why the north?
Was it Methodism, the size of the population, the isolated landscapes, the topography of the cities or even the weather?

'The Matter of the North'!

MELVYN BRAGG celebrates the history of the North of England in a new Radio 4 show, The Matter of the North:

The ten-part series, began yesterday Monday 29th August, with Bragg delving into stories spanning the end of Roman rule to the present day.

According to Mr. Bragg the North is as much a country as any other geographically defined country.  Melvyn Bragg's program explores the historical, religious & intellectual roots of what became the North of England.

The program begins in the 5^th Century when the Romans built forts in places like Maryport on coast of Cumbria, before the bulk of them began draining away.   

Arguing that the North is as much a country as any other geographically defined country.  Melvyn Bragg's program explores the historical, religious & intellectual roots of what became the North of England.
In the program Mr. Bragg will travel around Northumbria, Cumbria, Yorkshire, Liverpool and Manchester, exploring the pivotal historical moments and cultural contributions from the region, which have helped shape the Britain of today.

The blurb on the BBC website declares:

'This is the story of the North, one that has the history of most countries. The area has twice the economy of Scotland, if it were a country in its own right it would be the eighth biggest economy in Europe, and it’s been the scene of the greatest revolution in the world – the industrial revolution – the retreat of one empire – the Roman military – and the advance of another, the Roman church,'

Mr. Bragg says:    'Invasions from the East by the Vikings, and from the South by their cousins the Normans, the former enriching the English language, the latter marching up from London to destroy much of the North and leaving centuries of bloody rebellion and justified resentment.

'It’s here in the North that the original culture of England was founded after the Romans, the dissent and non-conformism bred great inventions, and that a particular sense of humour was developed... I think it’s a wonderful part of the world and like most people who’ve been born and brought up in the North I feel this is as much a country as any more neatly geographically defined place on the planet... And it’s not a bad time to look at the roots of northernness in this referendum year when there’s been much talk of a North-South divide – there’s no doubt that being northern matters greatly to people in 2016.'

Across the 30-minute episodes, Bragg hears from a cast of northern voices including Dame Judi Dench, David Hockney, Lee Hall, Jimmy McGovern, Ian McMillan, Geoffrey Boycott, Maxine Peake, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Chris Bonnington and Joan Bakewell.

The Matter of the North will broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 9am (Monday-Friday) from Monday 29th August – Friday 9th September

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