After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
A STORY of life-changing activism, comradeship and defiance could have been lost forever, filed away in archives.
Instead, thanks to the award-winning film Pride, a book of the same name and the continued political commitment of its founders, the amazing tale of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) has reached millions across the world.
LGSM sprung into life in London in July 1984, four months into the year-long miners’ strike of 1984-85, as brainchild of Mark Ashton, a Young Communist League (YCL) member and later general secretary, who grew up in Portrush, Northern Ireland.
The Home Secretary’s recent letter suggests the Labour government may finally deliver on its nine-year manifesto commitment, writes KATE FLANNERY, but we must move quickly: as recently as 2024 Northumbria police destroyed miners’ strike documents
The Big Meeting isn’t simply nostalgia, it’s a happy day and a day to show resistance. HEATHER WOOD explains why
LYNNE WALSH previews the Bristol Radical History Conference this weekend



