History

“No Pasaran!”

by | 14th October 2026 | Counter-Heritage, History, Walks | 0 Comments

“Where Are the Faces We Seek?” This extract from a contemporary poem gives a flavour of the 1930s. You’ll hear about the Means Test which was, in essence, a vicious attack on the unemployed living on the dole during the Great Depression when unemployment as a national average reached 25%. The extract shows how domestic and foreign policies were intertwined,   ‘Where are the faces we seek, the British faces? Let the living answer the roll call of the dead … Where are those who tramping on Means Test marches Knew that the road they had taken against oppression Led to the front in Spain The shouts in Trafalgar Square of “No Pasaran!”’   Narration: The rise of Hitler in 1933 and his aggressive foreign policy led socialists and communists and liberals and men and women of all persuasions that a stand had to be taken when Franco led a fascist revolt against the democratically elected Spanish government in 1936. There was a belief that if fascism could be stopped in Spain, then that united front would show fascist powers such as Italy and Germany that war would not pay. In short, victory against fascist aggression in Spain could deter further wars. Working women and men, the unemployed and the intelligentsia began to make their way to Spain in the face of opposition and disapproval from British government. Many without passports walked the Pyrenees and made their way to the universal front that separated freedom from oppression and the rise of European fascism. The British government refused to heed the warnings from Spain.  Ignoring German and Italian aggression in Spain,...
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The Fascination of Railways

by | Jun 28, 2025 | , | 0 Comments

The Fascination of Railways Rodborough Church Performance   A friend at Stroud Walking Football lent me his boyhood collection of 17 Awdry stories, given to him at Christmas and birthdays in the early 1960s. I emailed him with a few questions and observations,...

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Stations like Stroud (and Macbeth)

by | Jun 27, 2025 | , | 0 Comments

Stations like Stroud (and Macbeth)   They’re great theatre, railway stations, don’t you think? The platform as the stage with Life and Existence itself in the limelight. For it’s almost as if a state of beatitude is attained whilst sitting on that platform, regarding...

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The Refreshment Rooms at Swindon

by | Jun 27, 2025 | , | 0 Comments

The Refreshment Rooms at Swindon The next time you stop at Swindon and grab a coffee, you might be astonished to discover that the refreshment rooms at Swindon were both famous and infamous (also possibly remind yourself of Shelley’s poem Ozymandias with a quick...

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The Rodborough GWR Bus Service

by | Jun 27, 2025 | , | 0 Comments

The Rodborough GWR Bus Service   The GWR experimented with some local bus services in the 1920s around Painswick, Cainscross, Chalford, Kingscourt and Rodborough. I recorded some residents’ memories of Spillmans off Rodborough Hill a few years ago: red brick...

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800101 and Andy and Steve

by | Jun 27, 2025 | , | 0 Comments

800101 and Andy and Steve 800101 stood gloomily at Gloucester station. His mood was worsened every Monday morning (and Monday mornings were bad enough anyway) by the excited chatter of two men who should know better at their age. Every Monday morning, they awaited his...

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