Victoria Derbyshire and Ellen Strange

 

It is thanks to Unite and particularly former NW chair Martin McMulkin that since 2015 there has been an annual walk to the oldest site in the world to commemorate a domestic violence victim. Ellen Strange was murdered by her husband high up on Holcombe Moor in January 1761.

On the first Sunday of each July, campaigners make the 4-mile round trip to the Ellen Strange cairn where painted stones are left and the names of all domestic violence victims – in excess of 100 – in the previous 12 months are read out. It is an emotional occasion.

Unite held make funds available to publish a booklet on Ellen Strange, for basic organising costs and for Mark Metcalf and Adam Marseille to produce a 17-minute documentary Ellen Strange – the Light That Still Burns.

Because of these efforts many people now know about Ellen Strange. The efforts of all concerned meant that when Channel 5 made a programme in which Victoria Derbyshire visited locations around her hometown of Bury that she had when growing up no knowledge of they made the trip up to the Ellen Strange cairn with Martin McMulkin. Derbyshire, who witnessed domestic violence as she grew up, is clearly impacted heavily by the visit.

You can watch the action at:- No Place Like Home:- https://www.memorabletv.com/episodes/no-place-like-home-victoria-derbyshire-channel-5-2023-01-11/