You wouldn’t recognise it anymore. Anonymous, a dual carriageway. That stretch, behind the Walker and Museum. From Islington and down to Byrom Street. An endless stream of vehicles, both ways. In one, towards the eastern suburb sprawl, the motorway and hated Manchester, the two cathedrals, Toxteth and the south. The other? Mersey Tunnels and the … [Read more...] about The Life and Times of Hunter Street, Liverpool, 1911-2022
Winning the Vote for Women in Britain
In Poland and in Britain, hidden threads of history can sometimes coincide. The fight for women’s votes is one of those, since Nineteen Eighteen saw us each succeed – at least in some initial victory, five years after cold Norway won the race. In Poland, after Independence came. In Britain, after decades of campaign. Campaigns … [Read more...] about Winning the Vote for Women in Britain
Britain’s Champions of Free Speech
Each nation has its Free Speech champions, its women and its men who’ve challenged laws or blinkered moral standards of the day. Subjective lists, of course. Each to our own, depending on our politics, I guess. And my own “major league” was hard to choose. John Milton was the first who sprang to mind. He wrote his staunch attack on … [Read more...] about Britain’s Champions of Free Speech
Liverpool 1911: The Kru Seamen’s Strike
Kru seamen? How do they end up playing such a part in The House on Hunter Street? Liverpool's 1911 Conflicts The year1911 in Liverpool is probably best known for its transport strikes, including a major seamen's strike as part of a national dispute. It was these strikes which caused some to believe that Liverpool was "near to revolution." But … [Read more...] about Liverpool 1911: The Kru Seamen’s Strike
From Persecution to Toleration, 1290-1700
In Sixteen Eighty-Nine we passed a law – a Toleration Act to guarantee our right to think and worship as we will. A necessary law. To compensate for many centuries of wicked crimes. Four hundred years since our Edward the First required a scapegoat for his mis-spent reign. The Jews. No logic. Just a mass of myths. And so, they died. In massacres. … [Read more...] about From Persecution to Toleration, 1290-1700