Born 115 years ago today: KINDER SCOUT HERO BENNY ROTHMAN ON FIGHTING FASCISM

 

 Born 115 years ago today

KINDER SCOUT HERO BENNY ROTHMAN – FIGHTING FASCISM

This work and many others can be accessed at:- https://markwrite.co.uk/home-2/

Any readers wanting to help fund this expanding site is welcome to do so. M C Metcalf sort code 60-09-27 77358244

Born on 1 June 1911, Benny Rothman is best known for his major role in the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass of April 1932 that paved the way for the 1949 National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act that ultimately led to the ‘Right to Roam’ Countryside and Rights of Way Act of 2000.

For more on this watch https://markwrite.co.uk/2018/11/29/mass-trespass/

Benny though was much more than just the Trespass.

So on the 115^th anniversary of his birth then on my blog at https://writemark.blogspot.com there will be  a number of articles from my 2016 booklet on Benny and which will be republished later this year in a new format.  It can be read at:- https://markwrite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/6328-benny-rothman.pdf

Readers can listen to the book at:- https://markwrite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/benny-rothman.mp3

We start with his fight against fascism across Manchester in the 1930s when he particularly successfully organised Jewish working class youth.

Blacklisted

When Benny came out of prison in 1933 following the Kinder Scout Trespass the continuing high levels of unemployment meant he could not find work locally as the negative publicity also meant he was blacklisted. The Young Communist League (YCL) proposed and he agreed to go to Burnley with Ernie Regan, an Openshaw lad of Irish extraction, where the pair would be involved in the struggle across North East Lancashire by clothing workers who were on a prolonged strike against the “more-loom system.” The aim was to build a YCL group but this proved almost impossible as any previous organisation had become defunct.

Benny found the poverty in Burnley to be much worse than in the Manchester area. Interviewed years later he recalled a young married man in his early 20s. The couple were living in a little terraced house and had a table but only one chair and a couple of boxes to sit on. They may have had one or two cups, but they were living in abject poverty. His wife was expecting a baby and he went to the hospital to arrange for her to go into hospital to have the baby. He was told she could only go in when she went into labour. At one point they thought she was going into labour and they rang for an ambulance but were told they had to make their way to hospital on their own. They set off to the hospital which was at the top of a long hill and as they were walking the last lap she collapsed on the pavement. A tram driver stopped his tram and took the couple as near as possible to the hospital. The baby was lost and the tram driver got into very serious trouble for doing what he did because he had breached regulations. “That was an indication of the atmosphere at the time," said Benny.

A sporting breakthrough

Attempts to get young people from the mills into a political movement floundered as meetings were very poorly attended. More successful was the establishment of a Sunday Football League but when the football authorities said they would exclude any football team who played in it from the ordinary normal competitions then this broke up. It was also possible to get a small rambling club started. But these were no consolation for the failure to build a political organisation. Benny returned to Cheetham after 4 to 5 months away, stating later “I wasn’t cut out for what I had been asked to do as I wasn’t previously that much involved directly in politics.”

Communist Branch revived

On his return home, he helped resurrect the Cheetham YCL branch in 1933 and became its first secretary. This was to become one of the two largest YCL branches in the country – the other being in another large Jewish area, Stepney. Later in the year, Benny helped set up the Challenge Club on Herbert Street, Cheetham. Challenge was the name of the YCL paper. The club, which eventually shared a healthy number of its 400-plus members and facilities with Cheetham YCL branch, offered an impressive range of activities including rambling, cycling, a boxing club, gymnastics and even Sunday evening dances that because of its amplified music became very popular with local young people. The club was to become the hub of anti-fascist activities in Manchester over the next few years.

Meanwhile the act of combining social with political activity meant the YCL branch grew to over 200 dwarfing the local CPGB membership itself which was less than double figures. Such growth failed to prevent Benny being criticised with his opponents fiercely arguing he was not engaging in political but social activity. Benny in 1933 at High Tor, Matlock. He was returning from the Clarion Cycling Club AGM in Nottingham.

Fighting MOSLEY

A former Conservative MP, Sir Oswald Mosley had been a minister in the Labour Government of 1929-31 but, inspired by Benito Mussolini in Italy, he helped found the BUF in October 1932. Taking advantage of the desperate economic climate right across Lancashire, Mosley aimed to make Manchester an important centre of his activities. He blamed the Depression on minorities, including Jews, and left-wing and communist movements, rather than on the capitalist system. Mosley was successful in obtaining the backing of the Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere and at one point the BUF claimed to have 50,000 members, including a corps of black shirted paramilitary stewards, nicknamed the Blackshirts.

Fascism became visible in Britain at the same time as Adolf Hitler began to consolidate power in Germany after he became Chancellor on 30 January 1933. He then eliminated all political opposition prior to becoming dictator of Germany. Daily Worker reports on the battle against Nazi terror in Germany. In Manchester the BUF set up its headquarters in the Northumberland Street and Tyson Street areas where many Jewish people lived.

 According to Benny the BUF drew their membership from "lots of unemployed people who got a uniform and a club where they could box...there was a lot of antisemitism at the time." According to Manchester Chief Constable John Maxwell, the fascists adopted a "policy of deliberate provocation of the Jews...visiting the Jewish quarter to make insulting remarks which lead to outbreaks of disorder." The Jewish Chronicle of 24 July 1936 reported how fascists had appeared outside a Cheetham cinema that was frequented by many Jewish people and began selling their newspaper, Action, whilst shouting out “the only paper in the country not financed by Jews.”

Faced with such intimidation, Benny helped organise local opposition.

“The battles with Mosley’s Blackshirts started when they tried to go into Cheetham and were driven out by the YCL. We eventually made it impossible for them to hold an event. At one meeting we turned their van over and at any event they organised we turned up and heckled. On one occasion I was arrested but the charge was later dropped.”

However the fascists were able to hold weekly meetings in other parts of Manchester and they distributed literature door-to-door that sought to divide the working class on religious and ethnic lines. Eighteen new BUF branches were established locally in 1933 and 1934. The largest BUF activities were mass meetings and rallies, which were designed to demonstrate its invincibility to its opponents and potential supporters.

A large rally was held on 12 March 1933 at the Manchester Free Trade Hall and a further Manchester city centre BUF meeting was held on 29 October 1933. Benny Rothman was amongst the anti-fascists who physically opposed both meetings. At the former he was very fortunate when the event erupted into fighting between the fascist and anti-fascists, who were mainly Communists, and he was shoved over a balcony, only escaping serious injury when his fall was broken by a fascist sitting below.

Daily Mirror praises Mussolini & fascism

Fascism was meanwhile gaining significant political support and interest. The following day the Daily Mirror editorial was headed Eleven Years of (Italian) Fascism. It concluded “Rome was not built in a day, and Fascism, though nominally eleven years old, has its roots in the best of Italian civilisation. It is interesting that the Duce, (Benito Mussolini) in his message on Saturday emphasised the severity of his task before Fascism. Whether this revolution is the "world's word of command and hope " has yet to be proved. What will Europe be like at the end of the century?”

Then on 31 October 1933 the Daily Mirror carried an article reporting the comments of the Nottingham Lord Mayor Mr H Seeley Whitby headed “We need a Hitler” in which the Lord Mayor hoped for a man with “the energy and initiative” of Hitler and Mussolini.

At Belle Vue on 29 September 1934 Mosley picked up on Hitler's attacks on Jews by telling the audience that his opposition was "financed by Jewish financiers" who "had stabbed our men in the back when they were fighting in the last war." This event though proved to be a failure for the BUF.

‘Bye Bye Blackshirt: Oswald Mosley defeated at Belle Vue – Michael Wolf.

Reproduced thanks to Searchlight magazine.

 After the notorious brutality of the fascist meeting earlier in 1934 Mosley thought he would have a repeat performance in Manchester. To combat this threat an anti-fascist co-ordinating committee was created to counter the fascist thugs. A dynamic campaign of leafleting, fly posting and public meetings were organised to mobilise the opposition. Deputations were organised representing the broadest possible democratic coalition to demand the banning of the fascist meeting. In the face of all the protests the meeting was allowed, and to add insult to injury the Chief Constable banned all marches, a decision clearly taken to make anti fascist mobilisation more difficult.

However, the anti-fascists were determined that there would be no repeat of fascist violence and intimidation. Saturday 29th September the opposition mobilised.

Three marches from Openshaw, Miles Platting, and Cheetham marched to meet the hundreds already waiting to meet them at Ardwick Green to form a united demonstration of over 3,000 who would march along Hyde road to join the protest meeting outside Belle Vue. The contingent from Cheetham comprised in the main young working class Jewish activists from the Challenge Club, the Youth Front Against War & Fascism and the Young Communist League. Together they formed the backbone of the group that was to rout the fascists later in the day.

When the marchers arrived at Belle Vue they were greeted by the hundreds assembled for the protest meeting. The marchers however had not come to listen to speeches. They had come to stop Mosley.

At the agreed time they left the meeting, crossed the road and in orderly fashion queued up to pay their entrance fee for Belle Vue. Once inside the amusement park scouting parties tried to find the fascists. They had no success, as these examples of the “master race” were hiding in the halls hired for them.

Mosley was to speak from The Gallery which was protected by the lake, his supporters were to assemble on the open-air dance floor which was in front of the lake. Even so the fascist leader did not feel safe and in addition to the gang of thugs he called his bodyguard, there were wooden barriers and the police. In case this was not enough searchlights were available to be directed against the anti-fascists and fire engines with water cannon at the ready. The scene was set. 500 Blackshirts marched from a hall under The Gallery and formed up military style.

Mosley, aping Mussolini stepped forward to the microphone to speak. He was greeted by a wall of sound that completely drowned his speech. “Down with fascism”, “Down with the Blackshirt thugs!”, “The rats the rats clear out the rats!”, “One two three four five we want Mosley, dead or alive!” There were anti fascist songs, the Red Flag, and the Internationale. The sound never stopped for over an hour. In spite of the powerful amplifiers turned up to maximum Mosley could not be heard To quote The Manchester Guardian, “Sitting in the midst of Sir Oswald’s personal bodyguard within three yards of where he was speaking you could barely catch two consecutive sentences.”

Mosley tried all the theatrical tricks he knew to try and make an impression but without any effective sound he appeared like a demented marionette. Defeat stared him in the face and he knew it, as did his audience which slunk away as soon as the police bodyguard was removed. The humiliation of the fascists was complete. The only sound they could now hear was the singing of ‘bye bye Blackshirt’ to the tune ‘bye ’bye blackbird’, a popular song of the time.

With the fascists defeated and demoralised, the protesters raised their banners and posters high and proudly rejoined the meeting outside Bele Vue.

Mosley’s humiliation was complete, what was supposed to have been his most important meeting since Olympia was in fact the first of a series of defeats he was to suffer in Manchester.

DEATH TO FASCISM. 

 

Roly Gregoire - a night with Sunderland’s first black footballer

 

Roly Gregoire - a night with Sunderland’s first black footballer

Footballer Roland (Roly) Gregoire, the first black footballer to play for Sunderland AFC, and film maker Jeff Brown last night spoke to a 50-strong capacity crowd inside the Dominica Association on Worthington Street, Bradford, Roly’s hometown. They were warmly received and were later joined on stage by Bradford City heroes Cec Podd and Joe Cooke, the first black footballer at Oxford United.

Also in attendance was experienced striker Ray Entwistle, a team mate of Roly’s during his time at Roker Park. Johnny Meynell, historian for Halifax Town, from whom Sunderland signed Roly on Guy Fawkes Day 1977, was also present to show support and as was writer Bill Hern, co-author of Football’s Black Pioneers – the stories of the first black pioneers to represent the 92 league clubs.

The occasion helped highlight the launch of the Roly Gregoire Foundation and was the result of the release of Jeff Brown’s highly acclaimed BBC documentary film Whatever Happened to Roly Gregoire? Sunderland’s first black player.  This has already proved a major success with over 750,000 people having watched the footage as of Thursday (28^th May) evening.

It was Jeff’s determination to find Roly that made the film possible and it was clear at last night’s occasion that Roly – and his friends and family – are delighted he did so. Roly told the audience “He felt a lot happier in myself.” Well done to everyone concerned and especially Jeff, who said he had been inundated by an overwhelming number of positive comments on the release of his work.

I was personally delighted to tell the ex-player that I remember watching his single first team goal for Sunderland at the ramshackle Kenilworth Road in a 3-1 victory there in April 1978. It as a neat close-range finish to complete the scoring not long after he had come on as a substitute. He also played very well soon after in a 3-2 win at White Hart Lane where he did not look out of touch when up against stars such as Glenn Hoddle or Steve Perryman.

I was also present when Roly was very badly racially abused in the match against Blackburn Rovers a year later. Much of this abuse came from supporters in the Roker End and in the hours before I set off to Bradford last night I spoke to Alan, who amazingly is in the film footage of the crowd that attended the game at the Stadium of Light that Roly also attended, and told him I was attending. He spoke of how he, unlike myself, had been with his mates in the Roker End and found himself isolated on hearing the abuse as his mates would not also speak up. It appears the incident largely ended his relationship with these friends.

Roly had a bad game and was made the scapegoat for a defeat for promotion chasing Sunderland against relegation bound Blackburn Rovers. His record though with SAFC was a good one, six wins and four losses, one of which was at the Old Den where Millwall’s team contained one its first black players in Trevor Lee.

The ex-player spoke about this racist abuse in the film plus an incident during a club tour of Kenya where he was deliberately ignored by the hostess when the players visited the house of a wealthy couple. Leaving to sit on the bus outside he was forced to wait whilst the rest of the players enjoyed an evening of food and drink. The film also showed Roly visiting Sunderland AFC for the first time since the late 70s. He was, especially by FA Cup winning captain Bobby Kerr, warmly received and his daughter Akili also approached the SAFC club owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfuss to introduce her dad to him. Roly won’t be waiting over 46 years to revisit the club. Which is great.

Following a short presentation by Brown, the film was shown to the audience. On its conclusion Roly spoke about how proud he was about the work. He was also joined on stage by Cooke and Podd, who were cheered by those present. Disappointment was expressed at how few black footballers have gone on to be given the chance to manage top class teams.

Entwistle, Hern and Meynell all spoke briefly as did I to praise the film whilst I also pointed out that not so long ago, SAFC appointed a fascist as their manager in Di Canio. I suggested that once the Foundation was up and running it should consider erecting a plaque to Willie Clarke, Bradford City’s first black footballer and who, earlier during his time at Aston Villa became the first black footballer to score a goal in top flight football.

Roly did tell another few stories that are worth repeating. The first goes back to the end of season tour in Kenya in 1978 when he starred in the 5-0 victory against Mwenge, watched by 15,000 spectators.

The enthusiasm of the black youngsters present meant they dashed on to the pitch at the end to mob and shake hands with the Sunderland players. One of these was not best pleased and rubbed his hands on Roly as if that would mean he could ger rid of the stain of having been touched by black people. Roly did not name the player concerned. Roly was afterwards offered a lucrative contract to play in Kenya but was tied to playing for SAFC.

Then at the end of one game at Roker Park in which he was not playing he joined other players in a similar situation and entered the first team dressing room to congratulate the successful side. Amongst the victors one player was not best pleased to see him and refused his hand and called him a black b…..d. Roly pinned him up against the locker and then left straight after. But the incident made Roly look unhinged. The racist player was not named. Roly criticised the directors of SAFC from the time for doing little to challenge racism. His operation on his damaged leg that ultimately ended his promising career very early on was also badly performed by the SAFC doctor.

Then on one occasion when the squad was training on Seaburn Beach there was an incident when one player was picked out by the rest of the squad for some ‘banter’ and he started chasing Roly. “He started chasing me. Why was he chasing me, all the players and coaching staff were laughing.” He did not catch Roly, who was probably Sunderland’s fastest player at the time. “He knew he couldn’t catch me, if he’d chased another player he might have.”  

Although by no means putting aside his past experiences, Roly also spoke of how there were also many supporters who were supportive of him at Sunderland back in the 70s. “I did enjoy the supporters, they were very nice to me,” plus of how the film had given him some measure of comfort. “Three quarters of a million, maybe more than a million now. On me! I am overwhelmed, “ said a smiling Roly Gregoire.

The Roly Gregoire Foundation @RolyGregoireFoundation

https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Roly-Gregoire-Foundation/61590241798742/

Copyright – Mark Metcalf.

 

 

 

 

29 May 1951 – England star takes his place amongst the crowds outside Easington Colliery as they wait news of an underground explosion

 

75 years ago today

29 May 1951 – England star takes his place amongst the crowds outside Easington Colliery as they wait news of an underground explosion

75 years ago today a top flight footballer who went on to represent England and win the FA Cup was amongst those who rushed to the gates of Easington Colliery in the wake of the disaster that was to take the lives of 83 miners.

As a result of being a Bevin Boy (*) during WWII, Tommy Garrett would have known personally some of those killed.

Tommy, born in South Shields in February 1926, had recently suffered the disappointment of losing at Wembley in the FA Cup Final to Newcastle United, for whom Jackie Milburn scored both goals in a 2-0 success. Left full-back Tommy had earlier lost in the 1948 FA Cup Final when Manchester United beat Blackpool 4-2.

Tommy had joined the Seasiders after playing for Horden Colliery Welfare during WWII when he worked as a Bevin Boy at Easington Colliery. As the youngest of seven sons from amongst 12 children he had briefly joined his father Joseph Frederick Garrett there. According to his youngest sister, Barbara Harle, “Tommy hated it” and whereas their dad worked all his life down the mines the youngster, whose older brothers were miners for most of their lives, soon moved when the war ended to play football full time.

He was though back home in Easington Colliery on the fateful day of 29 May 1951 when an explosion ripped through the mine, killing 81 miners and, later, two rescuers who risked all to try and save those trapped underground. Amongst the dead were Joseph Charlton, aged 42, and Robert Noble, aged 45, relatives of the author of this piece.

“Tommy went down to join the crowds outside the pit. People were desperate for news of their relatives. It was a horrible time,” explains Barbara who was working at the Co-op.

“People were coming in to buy black for funerals. It was horrible. Every day it would be said ‘there’s another one gone’ when their bodies were found and they’d be funerals non-stop. One day I just broke down and cried. “

One of her friends was initially rescued. “Matthew Williams was the only one to be brought out alive but his injuries were so severe that he died.” Barbara attended his funeral and was heartbroken. Williams was just 18.

The bodies of many of those who were killed were badly disfigured. Wilf Charlton, who worked in the pit baths and was charged with cleaning down the dead bodies before their funerals, later told his grandson, Mark Metcalf, that it was “almost impossible to recognise persons who I knew.”

Later on, 83 trees were planted close to the Welfare Ground to remember all those who lost their lives.

Tommy was to go on to great glory. He scored a vital goal for Blackpool when they beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 in the 4^th round of the FA Cup in 1953 and was later part of the Blackpool side that beat Bolton Wanderers 4-3 at Wembley in ‘the Matthews Final’ at the end of the season. Barbara attended the final. “At 3-1 down we thought Blackpool had lost. But they didn’t give up.”

 Mortensen, another South Shields native like herself, scored three yet was overshadowed by Matthews, who was adored by the nation.

 

 

Tommy Garrett had made his England debut in a 2-1 victory against Scotland in April 1952 before a 134,000 crowd at Hampden Park. He later represented his country in May 1952 in a 1-1 draw in Florence and in a 4-1 win in Cardiff in October 1953.

After leaving Blackpool he played for Millwall.

After moving with his wife to Australia, the player died in 2006 suffering, like many older players, from dementia. Back home, 20 years on then would it not be good if he was to be honoured by a plaque at the Welfare Ground in Easington Colliery?

For more on the disaster go to:- Durham Mining Museum https://w.dmm.org.uk/reports/8646-05.htm

·         A Bevin Boy was a young man conscripted to work in coal mines during WWII.

Mark Metcalf

Football historian & Sunderland fan

https://markwrite.co.uk/football/

07392 852561

Chatterton Massacre

 

The unveiling of a headstone marking the 200^th anniversary of the Chatterton Massacre outside Ramsbottom brought together a large crowd who following a colourful, musical procession listened solemnly to speeches, dedications and songs at the exact spot and time where the tragedy took place.

(article to follow in Landworker magazine) 

JULIA VARLEY PLAQUE IN BRADFORD FINALLY OFFICIALLY UNVEILED

 See also a short film:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpiJh_J3Awc 

Former TUC President Mohammad Taj and Caroline Conway of Bradford TUC unveil Julia Varley plaque 

The long-planned Julia Varley plaque dedication event on the former Bradford Trades Union Council building finally took place at 1pm on Friday 1 May, 2026, at the junction of Sackville Street and Sunbridge Road, BD1 2SX 

The speakers were Mohammad Taj (TUC President 2013-14), Caroline Conway (Bradford and Shipley TUC), cllr Taj Salam (Unite), Jane Aitchison. (Leeds TUC President)  It was chaired by Mark Metcalf (NUJ)

 30 people were in attendance - Bradford City Council had failed to close the road and in order to ensure the safety of those attending the event was not as widely publicised as I would have wanted. 

       The Leeds TUC President Jane Aitchison was one of the speakers and she was well received. 

The speakers on the day are joined by Julia's cousin Joanne Downing,  who was afterwards really happy about the event. She took away a copy of the Julia Varley booklet, a link to which can be found below. 

Mill worker Julia Varley was a prominent campaigner for workers’ rights during the city’s late Victorian industrial boom. She was a key figure in the infamous Manningham Mills strikes, as well as being involved in the formation of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford. Varley campaigned for better wages for workers, and was a leading figure in Bradford Trades Union Council.

As a suffragette she struggled for the Rights of Women to vote within the Women's Social and Political Union and was twice sent to prison for her commitment. 

In 1909, Varley moved to Birmingham to work as a trade union organiser, firstly for George Cadbury and George Shann before joining the Workers' Union where she inspired thousands to join the trade union movement. She was key to the  struggle the Cornish clayworkers in 1913 who despite being brutally attacked by Glamorgan police were to win the right to join a union. The success established unions in mid-Cornwall. 

She was one of the first women to serve on the TUC general council. She later became the Chief Women's Officer of the Transport and General Workers Union. On her retirement she moved back to Bradford where she died in Hampden Street, Horton, where UNITE's Taj Salam, a speaker at the unveiling, currently serves as an Independent Councillor. 

Julia Varley booklet:- https://markwrite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/6328-julia-varley-booklet.pdf

* The reasons for the long delay in the unveiling of the plaque will be explained on this blog in the near future. It is not a tale that has any merit for prominent individuals in parts of the Bradford Labour Party, trade union and anti-fascist movement. 

The photographs are courtesy of John Mooney. I'd like to thank him for taking them.

ONGOING PALESTINE ASSEMBLY IN HALIFAX

On International Workers' Day I, again, attended the Friday public gathering in Halifax Town Centre. The reception was mixed with lots of car drivers tooting their horns in support and passengers giving big thumbs up. Some of those in local pubs are not so supportive and have chosen to come and tell us so. Racism and sexism has been employed by our opponents as the backbone of the regular assembly are women of colour. 

Sunderland talk on the 1926 Miners' Lock Out and General Strike

On 13 April 2026 I spoke in Sunderland at a public meeting organised by the Literary & Philosophical Society. The subject was the 1926 Miners' Lockout and General Strike. I was one of three speakers alongside academic Duncan Hamilton and a political hero of mine, Heather Wood. 

This was how I introduced myself -  Peterlee born football author and socialist Mark Metcalf supports the only football club to be formed by a trade union, Sunderland AFC. A semi-skilled machine operator and GMWU shop steward at Tudor Foods in his early years, Mark was the secretary of Sunderland Fans Against Racism in the 90s through to 2004.

Working in London in the 90s, Mark was spied upon by the Special Demonstration Squad for ‘crimes’ such as successfully organising workers who defied the anti-union laws + victims of miscarriages of justice.

Now living in West Yorkshire, Mark has been a full-time writer since 2008 and has, in particular, an extensive knowledge of rural affairs. His work for Unite the Union has included many booklets on heroes from the past + a short booklet on the 1926 Miners’ Lockout and General Strike.

Mark was very active during the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike, about which he later co-wrote a highly successful book: Images of the Miners’ Strike.

In recent years, Mark has made a number of short films including The forming of Sunderland AFC in 1880 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usd-c8GvpQE and Sunderland’s Peterloo – Remembering The 1825 North Sand’s Massacre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J_VXf_IIVs

www.markwrite.co.uk   metcalfmc@outlook.com   07392 852561 

40+ attended the event and which I enjoyed. There were lots of questions and the society has a very good venue in which to organise similar events going forward. Well done to them. I'll be recommending it to anyone living on Wearside. 

Workers' Memorial Day in Halifax 2026

 

There were 14 people at the Calderdale Workers’ Memorial Day event organised by Calderdale Trades Union Council and held just outside Halifax Central Library yesterday. Amongst those who gathered was former Halifax Labour MP Linda Riordan who  also laid the wreath in memory of those killed in the last year as a result of work.

                                                                     Linda Riordan 

The main speaker was Mark Metcalf who dedicated his speech to the memory of a friend, electrician  Daniel Lee, a building and railway worker, who died as a result of mesothelioma, which remains a major killer, on 15 June last year. For more on Daniel watch TRACKS OF SOLIDARITY:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzZPMcSJKGQ

Mark recalled the tragic events of the Easington Colliery disaster of 75 years on 29 May 1951 in which two of his uncles were killed alongside 81 other miners.

Mark spoke of the heartache of losing a relative and friend and this was later brought home when Jenny Lynn told of the death of a relative, Dave Jones, who also lost his life to mesothelioma.

                                                                   Jenny Lynn 

It was noted that 70% of workplace deaths are the result of management failures and in some cases gross negligence.

Attention was drawn to the death locally in 2017 of Andrew Tibbott at Deco-Pak where safety systems were deliberately disabled. 24 years earlier six people, including lorry driver Derek Waterworth, were killed in Sowerby Bridge as a result of excessively worn brakes that had not been maintained by his employer who nevertheless, unlike at Deco-Pak, escaped prosecution. These cases form part of a 2-minute film: REMEMBER THE DEAD – FIGHT FOR THE LIVING produced by Dave Hackney and Mark Metcalf and which can be viewed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLyeMYnpVjo

The Calderdale Trades Union Council has also highlighted the deaths of workers from the past by recently publishing a booklet on a boiler explosion in 1850 no more than 150 yards from the library and in which 12, mainly female and young, workers lost their lives. The owner of the workplace though escaped any sanctions for his negligence. Read the HE WHO WEEPS booklet at:- https://markwrite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/he-who-weeps.pdf

The names of the 12 victims were read out by Nigel Smith of the CTUC. 

  Mick Foster from Sowerby Bridge was able to bring much better news in that the company who had sought permission to build an incinerator and were defeated by a vigorous local campaign appear to have finally accepted defeat and have removed the equipment from their site. This is a very welcome victory and shows the power of campaigning.

Peter Keal, treasurer of Calderdale TUC, read out the statement from Fight Against Corporate Killers (FACK), which since 2006 has supported families and friends of those killed in work-related incidents by negligent employers. https://gmhazards.org.uk/index.php/fack/

Nigel Smith added to the occasion by reading out a poem. Metcalf reported how trade union organised workplaces were safer and stressed the need for workers to join up, get organised and elect representatives, including safety reps, to put their concerns to management and fight for them to be carried out.

Linda Riordan laid the wreath at the end of an event that lasted around 45 minutes.

FIGHTING TALK DOCUMENTARY LIST UPDATES

 

Fighting Talk short labour movement documentaries by Mark Metcalf, a member of the NUJ and Calderdale Trades Union Council

@markmetcalf07 metcalfmc@outlook.com 07392 852561

Don’t Walk By – It Didn’t Stop with Ellen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um0MtKGQA58 + accompanying booklet

WHO’S BETTY TEBBS? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrWBJZr3I68

Just Grow to Eat -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu3HJtbXvd8 32 mins

There are major issues that will determine where we get our food from in the future.

JUST GROW TO EAT is a 30-minute journey across north west England explaining developments in Britain’s countryside such that - with the supermarkets ruling – food imports continue growing at the expense of the environment, people’s health and weight, real green jobs and rural communities.

Soil scientist and board member at the Incredible Farm in Todmorden, Charlie Clutterbuck outlines how food can be grown locally. Then by combining this with £3bn subsidies –around what Britain once received back from the EU – to harder up people to buy healthy food this will boost local economies, thus creating more jobs on the land.

Produced by Charlie Clutterbuck, Dave Hackney and Mark Metcalf this film aims to encourage debate about food and farming and could be used by communities or online.

  ‘Bread not Bayonets’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0UxMadnIEA

The dramatic story of Halifax in August 1842 when local workers downed tools to join a national general strike for better pay and extended voting rights and many lost their lives as a consequence of a massacre by the army. 32 minutes long Produced with Francesca Platt of Bolton Video Box

Mark Metcalf and Dave Hackney short films:-

Sunderland's Peterloo: Remembering the 1825 North Sands Massacre

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J_VXf_IIVs&t=40s  14 minutes

Bradford bus driver's journey - trade unionist Mohammad Taj

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltf0aXhdbOU&t=18s 24 minutes

Keith Laybourn - STITCHED UP - Bradford's textile unions until 1926

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e58Hfhboes&t=56s   42 minutes

Andrew Feinstein on Gaza, Genocide and what it means for the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNpv82dKVqs&t=3s 32 minutes

Andrew Feinstein - The Struggle for Democracy - Halifax 1842 & South Africa 1948-1994

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXW73WoRPG8&t=17s 20 minutes

Save Our GP surgeries say Calderdale TUC  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osayP8a21so

Calderdale Council Cuts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux8VIxFDiMk 3 minutes.

Dentists set to bare teeth after 2024 GE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAqjsZj-Aj8&t=3s

Rescue Public Education  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9sJiizoeTY 2 minutes

Remember the Dead, Fight for the Living https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLyeMYnpVjo

Not so Happy Valley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdcrdIlxs60

Andrew Watson: Halifax's Black Footballing Pioneer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvYf6kZn_7A

2023 call for a plaque to be mounted at the Halifax school that the first black football international attended in the late 19^th century. 2 minutes.

In 2025 the plaque was unveiled by Viv Anderson, England’s first black international player https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEOzfmAZn1M 3 minutes

Remembering Ellen Strange - Memorial Walk for Domestic Violence Victims 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0_uhqtIuoI

Pay Up to Save The NHS - The Junior Doctors Strike https://youtu.be/AA23wwcQTjY 12 minutes

Halifax Chartist Hero Remembered: Benjamin Rushton https://youtu.be/fp4mth4LfwY 14 minutes

Keep Our NHS Public Leeds - 75 Years of NHS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2GVgLQVGDA

Ellen Strange: The Light That Still Burns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPMaOEroepU  Adam Marseille

More to come. If you’d like to support this work donations can be made to Mark Metcalf metcalfmc@outlook.com 07392 851561

Sort code 60-09-27 Account number 77358244

 

WORKERS' MEMORIAL DAY IN HALIFAX NEXT TUESDAY

 

DON'T WALK BY - IT DIDN'T STOP WITH ELLEN booklet and film now out

A new free booklet and film featuring the motivations of those who have played key roles in turning the Ellen Strange Commemoration event on Holcombe Moor into part of the ongoing struggle against domestic abuse have been released. 

The booklet can be downloaded at:- 

https://markwrite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/dont-walk-by-final.pdf

Hard copies are also available, postage costs only for anyone wanting a copy.

The film, produced by Bolton Video Box is 18 minutes long and can be viewed at 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um0MtKGQA58&t=19s

1926-2026 Anniversary of the Miners' Lockout and General Strike - public meeting in Hebden Bridge on 4 May 2026

 

NO GENTLEMEN HERE - HALIFAX 1842 - fund appeal for new film

 

NO GENTLEMEN HERE – HALIFAX 1842

 

HALIFAX BORN SONGWRITER AND HISTORIAN CATHERINE HOWE BACKS THE FUND APPEAL FOR A FILM TO REVEAL THE FORGOTTEN EVENTS OF HALIFAX 1842. 

 

Ivor Novello Award Winner Catherine Howe, known for her 1971 album What A Beautiful Place and 1975 song Harry supports plans to make a 10-minute film revealing, through original source material, the events which took place in Halifax over two days in August 1842. 

 

Filming follows her book HALIFAX 1842: A Year of Crisis published in 2014 in which she describes a military attack upon workers in Halifax, West Yorkshire during Britain’s first national labour strike.   

 

Howe, who made a number of film and TV appearances in the 60s and 70s, will be donating her time to scripting the film which is to be co-produced by Dave Hackney of the film company Digital Cortex and journalist Mark Metcalf with backing from Calderdale Trades Union Council. 

 

£5,000 is required for this work which it is hoped will increase awareness of a period in British history that is highly significant and which has long deserved to be remembered and commemorated. 

 

Catherine and Mark are happy to speak at meetings about the project to raise awareness of the role northern county industrial operatives played in the political reform of Britain.   Already Calderdale Trades Union Council has organised the unveiling of a plaque at the Calderdale Industrial Museum to remember those who participated in these momentous events, as well as a half-hour filmed documentary ‘Bread Not Bayonets’ which associates events in Halifax 1842 with those at Peterloo Manchester in 1819.

 

‘Bread Not Bayonets’, directed and edited by Francesca Platt and produced by Mark Metcalf, has been viewed by more than one thousand people.  You can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0UxMadnIEA

 

Mark has since made films with Dave Hackney at https://www.youtube.com/@markmetcalf07

 

If you would like to help, funds however small can be donated via Calderdale TUC, Unity Trust Bank, Sort Code 60 83 01 Account number 20305688 Please reference donations as HX1842

 

Please also feel free to contact: 

Calderdale TUC. http://www.calderdaletuc.org.uk @calderdaletuc  info@calderdaletuc.org.uk  

Mark Metcalf: 07392 852561 

Catherine Howe: catherinehowe.contact@gmail.com

6 APRIL 1989 - the end of the NATIONAL DOCK LABOUR SCHEME is announced

Taken from my booklet GREAT YARMOUTH DOCKERS  

https://markwrite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/great-yarmouth-dockers.pdf

Chapter 6 National Dock Labour Scheme (NDLS) begins

In 1947, the Labour Government introduced the "Dock Workers’ (Regulation of Employment) Scheme". The scheme, financed by  a levy on the employers, was administered by the National Dock Labour Board, and local boards, made up of equal numbers of "persons representing dock workers in the port and of persons representing the employers of such dockworkers".  The system was to be jointly administered by the union and bosses and this gave the former some control over hiring and firing. It was a giant leap up from starving men fighting each other for a few hours badly paid, dangerous work.

Each local board was responsible for keeping a register of employers and workers, paying wages and attendance money, controlling the hiring of labour, and responsibility for discipline.

The scheme registered all portworkers and guaranteed dockers, provided they turned up twice a day to have their books stamped to prove their availability,  a basic minimum fallback wage, whether there was work for them or not.

Under the scheme, dock work was considered a "job for life", with any registered docker laid off by any of the 150 firms associated with the scheme either being guaranteed employment elsewhere or, by 1989, a £25,000 pay off.

The introduction of the NDLS did not though bring to an end industrial disputes on the docks. With the TGWU refusing to make any of them official, dockers were often forced to rely on their own industrial muscle. In 1955, 16,000 dockers in Manchester, Liverpool and Hull left the TGWU and joined a small London-based union, the National Association of Stevedores and Dockers. A long recognition strike was defeated.

 Dockers’ militancy did though not drop and it proved highly effective in the 60s and 70s. Dockers still had the power to shut down the country.

 But in the 1960s a technological revolution changed things dramatically. Containerisation, where cargoes were packed into giant containers in factories or special depots, meant dockers, who had previously humped cargoes on their backs, could now roll the giant containers on and off specially designed ships. Unloading a ship could take one tenth of the time compared to old style practices. Containerisation presented the employers with a strong incentive to reorganise the ports.

In 1964 the Labour government appointed a Royal Commission under Lord Devlin to investigate strikes on the docks, and then implemented the Commission report to 'decasualise' the docks.

Dockers were to be taken into permanent employment with a particular employer, instead of being hired out for some many half-days by the Dock Labour Board. They therefore lost a big part of the control the union had over hiring and firing through the Dock Labour Board, which would only be the fallback employer for a pool of unattached dockers who did not have a regular employer.

It meant the dock labour force could be more easily cut down over the years as modernisation took place.

Looking back, it could be argued that the dockers' answer should have been obvious: increase workers' control and modernise on that basis, using the advantages of modernisation to benefit the workers. A large minority of dockers wanted the nationalisation of the ports and most wanted to expand workers' control rather than give full control back to the bosses.

 

1970 National Dock Strike

On 16 July 1970 all of the Yarmouth NDLS registered dockers joined the national dock strike, which had been called following a TGWU national delegate conference the previous day.  As tankers were not worked by dock labour staff at Yarmouth they were not affected.

Average earnings

Yarmouth dockers, including overtime, in the first three months of 1970, earned on average £38 17 shillings and 7d a week. The national average was around £3 a week less and the highest earnings were at Ipswich where the average weekly pay was £45 5 and 10d.

The national strike, the first in the industry for nearly half a century, lasted nearly 3 weeks, led to the declaration of a State of Emergency and was only concluded after a government-sponsored inquiry.

From the outside it appeared that it had been provoked by the national employers’ association and the TGWU over basic weekly pay bargaining. Behind the scenes, however, the dispute was also about the relationship between the membership and the officialdom of the union, which had been antagonistic for many years, plus the revolutionary changes taking place in the handing of cargo.

Dockers took strike action for a pay rise of £11 a week. Around 47,000 dockers nationally were involved. The strike hurt imports and exports and the British Army were placed on standby to handle food supplies but most dockers were content to handle perishable goods and the strike was largely peaceful.

Lord Pearson was charged with ordering a court of inquiry and awarded an average 7% pay rise, which was at first rejected by the dockers but ultimately accepted.

The Yarmouth Mercury of Friday, July 24, 1970 reported that a long stoppage could cause ‘real trouble’ and that since the strike then ‘except for a few tankers, and some vessels bound for Norwich with grain cargoes, no ships have entered the harbour.’ The strike had resulted in the Port and Haven Commission, whose income came from tolls and charges, losing about £1800.

No shipments of vegetables or general cargo had been landed at the Norfolk Line’s roll on roll off.

The paper reported that Yarmouth dockers had agreed that ‘if supplies of food needed replenishing arrangements would be made for this. They will also work supply ships in the event of an emergency involving danger to life and limb.’

The following Friday the Yarmouth Mercury reported that news had come through that the dockers’ national delegate conference had accepted the proposals of the Pearson report. The paper believed that the changes would not be of great benefit to Yarmouth dockers except for the fact that overtime rates would be increased.

The paper also reported that in the previous week ‘six ships from various continental ports with wheat for Norwich had been discharged by the port of Norwich non-union dockers.’

 

Chapter 8 1972 National Dock Strike

On 28 July 1972 an official national dock strike began to safeguard jobs. No cargo was to be handled by the country’s 42,000 NDLS registered dockers. Roll-on roll-off ferries were still though set to pass through railway ports like Dover and Folkestone.

Dockers were striking at plans for compulsory redundancies as well as threats to their jobs from container firms using cheaper, casual labour.

TGWU National Docks Delegates voted 38 to 28 in favour of action and by doing so rejected a special joint committee report that had been established by the industry and headed by Lord Adlington, chairman of the Port of London authority, and Jack Jones, TGWU general secretary. Committee members had approved a payment scheme to pay off 2,500 unfit dockers or over 55-year-old dockers. Dockers’ delegates from the larger ports were particularly opposed to the proposals. Despite the existence of NDLS, between 1966 and 1972, 20,000 dockers’ jobs had been lost.

Earlier in 1972 a one-day unofficial strike, organised by the unofficial National Port Shop Stewards Committee, was supported by 25,000 dockers and on 7 March 14,000 London dockers walked out. The Industrial Relations Act had been passed by the Heath government with the intention of controlling wages. A key part of this was the National Industrial Relations Act (NIRC) which had the power to fine workers and unions. The strike action by its members’ saw the TGWU fined.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) policy was for non-registration with the NIRC but the TUC, fearing for its own funds, abandoned the TGWU whose members expected the union leadership to launch a national strike. There were strikes against fines by Southampton, Preston and Merseyside dockers.

Action in Hull led to a court case against Walter Cunningham, chair of Hull stewards, who refused to attend and pay a fine, risking jail.

The national unofficial campaign then saw London dock stewards’ picket both Dagenham and UK Cold Storage but with most drivers refusing to honour the picket line the stewards moved to picketing depots directly. This was much more successful with lorries turned away at places such as Chobham Farm in Stratford.

There then followed a series of court cases that on 4 July 1972 saw Midland Cold Storage apply to the NIRC for an order to stop picketing. Seven summoned dockers did not appear at court and they then defied a court order to stop picketing or encouraging others to do so. On Friday 21 July arrest warrants were issued for five dockers for contempt of court.

Four of the five were arrested the following day and sent to Pentonville Prison. Vic Turner, the fifth, was on the picket line the following day. Picketing was shifted to the prison and widespread dock strikes broke out with an estimated 40,000 dockers out.

Delegates were sent to Fleet Street, the then home of the national press and the papers were brought to halt. A prison demonstration attracted 30,000 people.

Faced with this potentially revolutionary situation the TUC, which was previously opposed to solidarity action, was forced to call a one-day national stoppage the following Monday. (31 July) This would have been only the second ever general strike called by the TUC, the first having taken place in 1926.

Fearing a general strike, the government too was forced to concede. On 26 July 1972 a Law Lords ruling saw the case against the five dockers collapse. Amidst jubilant scenes the Pentonville 5 were released the following day. 24 hours later the official national dock strike began. On 4 August the government was forced to call a state of emergency.

 

 

All Great Yarmouth dockers who were not on holiday or sick supported the jailed London dockers by taking strike action at the start of the week beginning Monday 24 July. 30 Lowestoft dockers also joined the national strike.

Mr Len Chapman, the TGWU district official said that in both ports the union “had built up a reasonable relationship with the port employers and I regret that the Industrial Relations Act has brought about the one thing we have managed to avoid for years.”

The official National Strike, which did not affect ships supplying gas rigs and oil tankers bringing fuel to power stations, was supported by all 130 Yarmouth and Lowestoft dockers and close to 30 of the former managed to persuade seven Norwich stevedores to join the strike. The strike caused fruit to be in very short supply locally and this led to prices doubling.

 

On Thursday 17 August, Yarmouth dockers voted in line with the decision of the TGWU delegate conference the same day, to return to normal working from midnight on Sunday. However, M John Smith, branch secretary, told the Yarmouth Messenger that “in the event of any unofficial strike action in other ports, Yarmouth men would not handle any diverted cargo.” Smith told reporters his branch felt a great deal had been achieved and he calculated that the backlog of ships could be cleared in about for days if employers agreed to overtime working.

Shop stewards from eight ports had decided to maintain an unofficial stoppage which ultimately collapsed leaving the dockers to accept an amended Jones-Adlington agreement. This included ending the temporary unofficial register that allowed unregistered dockers to work on the docks.

The successful strike in 1972 did not though prevent the long-term decline of the dock industry and the number of jobs in it, especially NDLS jobs. By 1989 just under 9,000 dockers were covered under the NDLS and having successful taken on and defeated, amongst others, the steel workers, miners and printers then Margaret Thatcher, enjoying her third term in office was happy enough to destroy another group of organised workers in the dockers.

It is a story covered in a 2016 blog article by Iain Dale, a radio presenter these days with LBC.

From 1987 onwards, Dale worked for the National Association of Port Employers (NAPE) and, with Nicholas Finney, his boss, whom Dale describes as the ‘mastermind behind the lobbying campaign to get rid of this iniquitous piece of employment legislation’, by which he means the NDLS.

He goes on to state “it remains the greatest achievement of my life” and claims it “led to previously moribund ports having the ability to thrive.”

On 6 April 1989, the Employment Secretary, Norman Fowler, told MPs the scheme had become 'a total anachronism' that stood in the way of a modern and efficient ports industry. The 60 British ports who were in the NDLS argued constantly that the ports were at an economic disadvantage and that unregistered ports and European docks were taking their business.

In announcing plans to bring forward legislation to scrap the NDLS, Fowler offered assurances that any docker laid off as a result of the scheme being abolished would be compensated up to the value of £35,000. Fowler stated that port employers would not return to using mass casual labour. This proved not to be the case.

 

Strike action was held up for three months due to legal wrangles as NAPE used the courts to try and block any fightback. The port employers’ actions led to unofficial action in May 1989 at Tilbury, Liverpool, Lowestoft and Bristol. Other ports however remained at work and TGWU officials eventually persuaded strikers to return to work until all the legal restrictions that were obstructing the right to strike had been defeated in court. By the time strike action did take place the NDLS had been abolished.

A second national ballot produced a majority of 6,200 against 2,100 in favour of strike action and on 11 July 1989 many ports stood still as dockers mounted pickets at the gates. However, during the first couple of weeks of action a number of small ports began to return to work and at others a number of dockers took voluntary redundancy of up to £35,000.

Nevertheless, many dockers remained on strike but, hampered by the anti-union laws, when they were then unable to picket out ports that had previously been covered under the NDLS such as Felixstowe and Dover the strike ultimately collapsed with a number of key militants, especially at Tilbury, finding themselves victimised and out of work.

From then on – as covered in the reminiscences section that follows – all those who had previously been covered by the NDLS found their hard-won wages and conditions being quickly and permanently destroyed.

Six years after the NDLS was scrapped, 500 Liverpool dockers, the most militant in the UK, were to be locked out of their workplace and after a heroic two-year struggle (1995-97) in which they looked mainly overseas for support they were defeated.