Preserving our stories

Sorting out a rather monstrous pile of papers I found some fabulous things in amongst the piles of pointless crap, including this brilliant itinerary of a walk to rediscover and celebrate the hidden history of the women of Bradford - my home town - which was produced in 2001.  I put it to one side ready to read after my sorting was complete and then spent about 30 minutes re-visiting the stamping grounds of my yoof, feeling the years roll back as I recalled my own involvement in some of the events and places that this walk recalled: a women's newsletter called "Irregular Periods", the venues where we held women's discos, reclaim the night demos and a protest outside the Odeon Cinema where a horrific film called "Dressed to Kill" was being shown; the radical bookshop where you could have a pregnancy test done in the time it took to have a cuppa.

It also took me back to one of the most famous demonstrations in Bradford, in 1976 against the National Front  and tells the lovely story of how one woman was arrested and then acquitted largely because her defence lawyer pointed out that it was impossible that this highly educated lady would have called the fascists "them f****** b*******".  She would, of course, have shouted "those f****** b*******"

There is much, much more which goes back to the 18th and 19th centuries and when I'm next in Bradford I think I'll do this walk.  One of the people who put it together was one of my best friends for several years who, alas, died in 2007.

Further down the pile I came across something from more recent times, from the final chapter of the Occupy Norwich encampment which started in October 2013 on the Global Day of Occupation and continued until 20 February 2014.  The item I found in my pile was a letter from Norwich City Council to the occupiers dated 1 February advising them  that they were trespassing and should leave the space (Hay Hill) by 5pm on the 3rd.  The site was cleared a couple of weeks later, on the 20th,  by many of the people who had been the mainstay of the occupation and their supporters. It was one of the longest occupations in England and you can see my post from that final day here.