People’s History

Image of the remnants of an anti-aircraft gun position at Purdown, Bristol. Nearby military huts were squatted after the Second World War (credit: Eugene Byrne)

People's History

'Staking a claim': how the postwar housing crisis led to a mass squatting movement

After the Second World War, Britain faced an acute shortage of homes. The remarkable outbreak of civil disobedience that followed is being remembered as part of a two-month festival of working-class history in South Bristol.

Eugene Byrne

People's History

Avon Street Gasworks: shedding a light on Bristol’s industrial and social history

Dr James Watts (University of Bristol) and Lena Ferriday (University of Bristol)

People's History

30 years since the Hartcliffe riots

Eugene Byrne

People's History

The single parents from Bristol who changed women’s lives

What started as an interview in a living room became Single Parent Action Network, which tackled the stigma around single parenthood and campaigned on national issues.

Hannah Vickers
Hannah Vickers

People's History

Hilda Cashmore: Pioneering social worker who founded Barton Hill Settlement

Helen Meller

Video

Watch: The filmmakers behind ‘Rooted in Bristol’ discuss land, race and inequality

Aphra Evans
Aphra Evans

People's History

Bristol has a trove of artefacts originally taken through colonisation. Should they be given back?

A roiling debate about the ownership of the spoils of empire, mired in practical and political issues.

Eliz Mizon
Eliz Mizon

People's History

That time when one of the most iconic slavery abolitionists came to town

Frederick Douglass escaped slavery and became one of the world’s most powerful advocates for freedom. In 1846 he thrilled crowds in Bristol.

Laurence Fenton

People's History

From factory boss’s daughter to community organiser – meet Bristol’s first woman councillor

Mabel Tothill was a champion of the labour movement and women's rights in East Bristol.

June Hannam

People's History

Stokes Croft Riots: 10 years on

Key changes being made to the Stokes Croft Tesco in 2021 mean the story is as relevant, and murky, as it ever was, says Eliz Mizon. What led to the ‘Stokes Croft riots’ ten years ago?

Eliz Mizon
Eliz Mizon

Edition 24

From Russia with oil: Bristol’s Soviet spy saga

It may read like a John le Carré novel, but a Bristol Soviet spy story detailed in a bundle of security services documents was no work of fiction.

Alon Aviram
Alon Aviram

Bristol History Podcast

Bristol History Podcast: The Mystery of Princess Caraboo

On Thursday 3 April 1817, in the village of Almondsbury just outside of Bristol, a strangely dressed young woman began attracting the attention of local...

Tom Brothwell
Tom Brothwell
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