Country Standard

Handforth Clarion Club House 1903 -1936

2012-02-11T06:08:00.000-08:00

Handforth Clarion Club house September 1903-1936

Denis Pye

Handforth Clarion Club house, was located on the outward road between Cheadle and Handforth, about half a mile off the main Manchester-Wilmslow road. This rambling old building had oak beams and panelling inside. there was a sitting room, a kitchen, and a room which was made into a library, well stocked books - especially Clarion Press Publications.

The four dormitories held a total of fifty beds, and there were tents to sleep at least a dozen more outside in the summer.. "fresh air fiends" said a publicity brochure can always be accommodated with a blanket in the haystack". Eventually wooden outbuildings were constructed by Clarion volunteers provided a dinning room to seat 200, and a billiard room.

A comfortable sitting room. Here the presiding genius was Edward Fay, the much loved Clarion writer “Bounder” who had died in 1896 at the age of 43 and whose picture adorned the wall. There was a card room as well as a library and reading room.

The Clarion Club house was flanked by two orchards and was secluded enough to minimise the possibility of causing annoyance to local people.

Tom Tyas, secretary of the Handforth Clarion Clubhouse recalled it as “a happy combination of natural forces”. The bicycle itself “brought within easy reach all the things which the new philosophy taught (people) to enjoy”. It offered an “escape from city life after the daily round of toil” and gave them “the power to roam on the King’s Highway”.

Annual Sheffield Clarion

Assembly Meet 1914

13th & 14th June 1914

Handforth Club House

Saturday

A good number travelled from Sheffield. Comrades Dormand and F.J.Bookes and Mrs B; E. Clayton, Mrs Clayton and youngsterMrs Melling; Mr & Mrs Reynolds & youngsters; Barton R. E.Cheetham Staleybridge were represented: Comrade Hepworth; Jagger; Stubbin; Garside; and Jack Ramsden.

The weather was glorious and an enjoyable time was spent.

After a good tea, we rambled to neighbouring villages, presumably to post letters and buy stamps, but the post offices were not attractive, so after putting the question we decided on a visit to a certain house, well-advertised, and a rest for

“Clubbers”.

On our return supper was served, and then the impromptu concert was merrily going until the early hours. Then – rest, do you say, sleep, eh!

When a chap finds his bed dropped and no bedclothes, w

hy he sits and watches for the next move and he gets it. Down! Someone howls. What a tussle – and Handforth is a “haven of rest”! Anyhow, quietness reigns at last, and 6 am comes , and, hang it, some of them want to get out. Fine morning, get out for fresh air, and all this kind of bunkum. Well, those that want may, and leave the lazy ones until breakfast is ready. We laz

y ones barricaded the door, but when we wanted to get out the door was locked.

But the youngster Clayton saved us – his Dad was inside.
Sunday morning we routed Stalybridge at Crick

et. The scores are not available, but our mighty swipers Brookes and Melling just revelled in it. Jack Ramsden played well for the gentlemen, and it was hot. Fancy, when the ball was lost, John Hall – hoping it could not be found! There’s cricket for you. Bravo Sheffield.

We must not forget the ladies. They were up betimes playing tennis. Some people cannot sleep. Perhaps our s

erenade on the Saturday night made them sleep lightly.
Those who remained the Sunday afternoon were enable to hear Ramsden sing, and a jolly good concert they had.

Shall we go next year

Handforth Clarion Club House 1917
"The Home of Clarion Fellowship"

Book in if you wish to stay for your holidays at the cheapest, best, and jolliest holiday-place on earth, as we are full up every week that passes.

next week we shall have Jack Ramsden and Party who will sing songs galore on Saturday and Sunday 1 and 2nd September 1917
Book in by writing to the steward, Clarion Club house, Handforth, Cheshire.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom Goom visited Manchester to see the new abode of the Clarion Club House committee. Today is the last day for planking down that £1,300. for years the Handforth settlers have struggled and saved to get a place that shall be all their own; so that all the voluntary work that that is put into the place shall belong to the present and future generations of members.

The Clarion Club House movement stands easily in the first rank of clarion achievements and though there is a war on the opportunities offered by the present venture are so many and so splendid that it will be a thousand pities to lose the estate at Northern Etchells

loans are urgently required. telegraph them today to the Secretary , Clarion Club house, outwood road, handforth, Cheshire. Northern Etchells must be secured. a scheme for early repayment of all loans is drafted and I will outline it next week. for the present the need is for loans and plenty of em

------------------------------------------------

Handforth - history week just concluded. We have completed purchase of the thirty five acre estate for £1,950 and raised the entire money necessary in loans from members and friends. the Manchester Clarion Choir delighted us in the orchard and we had the pleasure of again entertaining a party of wounded solders; tennis fanatics finished their tournament. there is still room for numberless shareholders (Clarion 24 August 1917)

Tom Groom - Clarion Cyclorama Clarion 24th August 1917

Leanne Wood - Welsh Progressive

2012-02-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

INTERVIEW WITH LEANNE WOOD

By Andy Newman

http://www.socialistunity.com/

I spoke to Leanne Wood today as she was on route to a meeting tonight at Neuadd Penygroes, near Caernarfon, for local Plaid members. The leadership campaign means that she, and the other candidates, are travelling the length and breadth of the country for hustings and public meetings. The under-developed civic infrastructure in rural Wales was underlined by the trouble we had continuing a conversation, as her phone dipped in and out of coverage. Travel around Wales can also be difficult, as became clear as we discussed the impracticality of me travelling to Aberystwyth to report an upcoming public meeting.

For some decades Wales’s economy has suffered from de-industrialisation, and the neglect from the government in Westminster, who have prioritised growth of the finance sector in the South East of England. Leanne points out that the Caernarfon area has a GDP of only 60% of the UK average. However, she is quick to acknowledge that the same process has disadvantaged the regions of England, as well Wales and Scotland.

Leanne also understands how the levers available to the Welsh government provide opportunities for promoting economic growth. “I am arguing for a twin track”, Leanne says, “We need to have a long term economic plan, firstly with what we can do right now with the existing devolved powers, and take that as far as we can, but we also need a vision of what we could achieve as an independent nation”

Economic underdevelopment poses particular challenges for the West and North of the country, as second home ownership and tourism can represent a threat to the sustainability of Welsh speaking communities, and the survival of Welsh is complicated not only by geography, but also issues of class.

“Plaid’s vision is that the economy should serve equality” said Leanne, “and that includes economic equality across Wales”, and she agrees that a civic concept of nationalism can promote the idea that the nation should support the interests of every citizen, not just of the business community.

I asked Leanne whether she thinks that there could have been a possibility of the coalition between Plaid and Labour continuing after the last Assembly elections. “I don’t know what they could have offered us, to be honest” she replied, “Plaid has already won all our short term objectives. The One Wales agreement gave us the referendum, and now we have devolved powers, and we have won cross party consensus on issues like defending the Welsh language; and now Labour are not in power in London, they don’t have much scope for offering anything. Plaid are not interested in just more of the same, and we want more for Wales than just managing decline”.

The current leadership election does find Plaid at the crossroads, having won the reforms they have been campaigning for over the last few years, and now contesting a new political context with the Senedd enjoying greater powers. Leanne sees their opportunity because she believes that Labour does not speak up consistently and unambiguously for Wales, and the Blairite strategy of triangulating around the concerns of swing voters in marginal constituencies in Southern England acts against the interests of Welsh voters.

Leanne believes that Labour did pull a fast one by organising the Welsh referendum two months before the Assembly election. “After the referendum campaign our activists were exhausted” said Leanne, “But we did win”.

“The economic crisis is opening a space for Plaid”, Leanne argues, “We can build on that space based upon different values, and arguing for economic recovery for Wales”. She is excited that the leadership contest has revealed a willingness for large numbers of people to engage in a different type of politics. She believes that the debate in Scotland over independence has shifted the political context. “We are two different nations, with two different cultures and histories, but if Scotland gains independence, then there is no more UK, and that is bound to have an impact on Wales”.

Leanne believes that Labour is too oriented towards the British state and British national identity to effectively represent Wales. “There is a tremendous amount of ignorance from some Labour politicians in Westminster about how devolution works, and what devolved powers we have”.

The next stage of the campaign will be a number of hustings meetings for Plaid members, who will hear from the four candidates. It is a testament to Plaid’s forward looking approach that the two leading candidates are both women.

Edward Carpenter Memorial Service 1931 - Clarion Choirs

2012-02-05T06:39:00.000-08:00

Edward Carpenter Memorial Service 1931

Edward Carpenter
(29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929)

The first annual service Edward Carpenter Memorial Service was held at Millthorpe, Cordwell valley on 29th June 1930, at the rear of the house, speakers included Henry Nevinson, Richard Hawkin who addressed a 'huge crowd' a recital of Carpenters songs was given by the Clarion Vocal Choirs. These services continued until after the Second World War cica 1949.

A Clarion report on the second Edward Carpenter Memorial Service was published in the Clarion. the service being held on Sunday 5th July 1931 at Cordwell valley starting at 2:30pm "wet or fine" singing by massed Clarion choirs under the direction of G.W. Poppleton, Clarion Vocal Union Choir.

Clarion Report of the Edward Carpenter Memorial Service for 1931 states

Even those of us who had never met Edward Carpenter knew that he moved graciously about the crowd on that refreshing and lovely Sunday when the second pilgrimage was made to Millthorpe.

The crowd—a thousand or so—would have delighted Carpenter. There were strong-limbed girls in khaki shorts and open-necked blouses, bareheaded men making the most of the sunshine, and all in happy reverence under the sky.

Great white galleons moved above on that infinite blue sea and the wind spoke in faint music as it swept lightly down the green valley. It was not only a memorial service to a gentle teacher; it was significant of the return to health, to sunshine, and the simple beauty of the earth. We have so often said that the most natural place for worship was under the open sky.

News from Nowhere

Some who knew Carpenter well have said that he would not live except through the influence of those he met, and Mr. E. M. Forster in a discerning and affectionate tribute argues that Carpenter will never attain fame. " All he gave," writes Mr. Forster,

"was the gift of gifts, life itself, the transference of vitality, the sense of peacefulness and power."

That may be so, and it is no small thing. It may be that Carpenter was pleading for an England peopled with harvesters, an England of cornfields and craftsmen, an England that was shattered when the machine began to plough slag heaps over the fair country that once lay over the hills above Millthorpe. And yet as I looked at that cheerful crowd sitting terraced on the green slopes across from Carpenter's house it struck me that Mr. Forster may be mistaken.

I have attended a few meetings in my time, but I have never listened to tributes delivered with such grace and eloquence.

Councillor R. H. Minshall, " Dick " Hawkin, and Mrs. Stanley Jast strengthened my impressions of Edward Carpenter by speeches which without conflicting served to build up an admirable and vivid portrait of their friend. Each stressed Carpenter's human qualities, his love of good wine, home-made cakes and
fun. But it was made eloquently clear that " the Sage of Millthorpe " had powerful claims to a title that would sit uneasily on a man of lesser stature. The occasion was made doubly impressive by the christening of the brook that runs at the bottom of the garden at Millthorpe.

This was the brook on the edge of which Carpenter built his little wooden retreat when Towards Democracy was written. You may remember the poem. Little Brook without a Name:

Little brook without a name, that has been my companion so many years ;

Hardly more than a yard wide, yet scampering down through the fields, so bright, so pure, from the moorland a mile away ;—

The willows hang over thee, and the alders and hazels;and the oak and the ash dip their feet in thy waves ;

And on thy sunny banks in Spring the first primroses peep, and celandines, and the wild hyacinths lavish fragrance

on the breeze—

Little brook, so simple, so unassuming—and yet how many things love thee ! "

There, by the edge of that brook. Carpenter sat for many hours in silent watchfulness. He met the white-throat, the wren, " creeping like mouse from twig to twig," the willow-warbler, the night-jar, and the trout " balancing itself hour-long against the stream." He knew them all, the water-rat, the caddis-fly, the weasel, the squirrel and the may-fly, " practising for the millionth time the miracle of the resurrection." Towards the end of the service, when Mr. George Harrison had recited the poem. Miss Hawkin scattered rose petals on the stream and Mr, Richard Hawkin christened the brook, " Carpenter Brook."

The Best Monument

The service will live on in my memory and I should like to pay my tribute to the organisers and especially to Mr. Sam Harpham, on whom the main responsibility fell. It is hoped to secure Millthorpe as a national memorial, indeed so much of the spirit and memory of Edward Carpenter is sheltered in the Cordwell valley that it would be unthinkable that, now the host has gone, the guests should abandon a place that has been, and still can be, an inspiring and revitalising influence. Obviously the purchase of Millthorpe would be the best monument to Edward Carpenter.

All money sent will be devoted to the purchase of the house and grounds, the upkeep of the property and the preservation of Carpenter's household effects and literary works. Subscriptions of anything from a shilling upwards should be sent to Sam Hapham 20 Derbyshire Lane, Sheffield.

NOTE

Clarion Fellowship Rally 4th July at Sheffield Clarion Clubhouse (Dore Moor Inn) Mr F. L. Stevens of the Clarion will speak and Mr L. Royle will give a brief outline of of the Edward Carpenter service.

Listen to England Arise

http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/server.php?show=conObject.9604&search_word=carpenter&pp=10&current_browser_object=2

NOTE:

After Carpenter's death, the Edward Carpenter International Memorial Trust was established to raise funds for the purchase of Carpenter's Millthorpe home as a memorial. Due to a shortage of funds the Trust negotiated with the Workers' Travel Association, and a scheme to turn Millthorpe into a 'Socialist Memorial Guest House' was suggested. This, too, fell through, and ultimately the house was sold to a private individual.

Memorial services, however, continued to be held for Carpenter. The first annual service was held at Millthorpe on 29 June 1930, and these services continued until after the Second World War.

The Cordwell Valley was a popular meeting place for all the different Clarion groups.

At the beginning of the 1900’s, a Clarion camp was situated at the side of the Royal Oak pub, across the road from Edward Carpenter's house. This was used by Clarion members at weekends (see photo below).

Clarion Camp, Cordwell Valley c1890

CLARION VOCAL UNION 1931

Sheffield Clarion Vocal Union Conductor G.W. Poppleton 31 Alderson Place, Sheffield, Secretary Mr J. Marshall 98 Cliffe Field Road, Marsbrook.
(Sheffield Clarion Vocal Union 1923 Clarion Prize Baton winners picture above)

Manchester Clarion Vocal union conductor Mr G. H. Higgins, Secretary Miss M Galley 13 Cromwell Avenue Whalley Range. (former conductor Peter Cash died 1931)

Potteries Clarion Vocal choir Conductor Mr H. Chadwick, Secretary Mr B. Thavker 17 Bucknall New Road, Hanley

Oldham Clarion Vocal Union Conductor Mr J Houghton, Scretsry Mrs W. Scott 32 Samson Street

Rochdale Clarion Vocal Union conductor G Clegg Secretary F Petrie 11 Further Pits

Halifax Clarion Vocal Union Conductor J.L. Read Secretary Miss L.Fogg 163 Pellon Lane

London Labour Choral Union ???

The Clarion Prize Baton won by Sheffield in 1923

Clarion Choirs

A short history of the Clarion Choirs and Clarion Vocal Union

Montague Blatchford (brother of Robert Blatchford) wrote a series of articles on choral singing in The Clarion, and as a result of these articles singing classes and choirs were formed in different parts of the country.

By the middle of 1895 more than a dozen of these choirs had been formed, and Montague Blatchford had become leader of the Clarion Vocal Union movement nationally.

His stated object was 'to encourage unaccompanied vocal music performed creditably and with understanding'.

By far the biggest local group was in his hometown, Halifax, where by 1895 there were 146 members plus an 'elementary class' of 48, and an orchestra.

The average weekly attendance for rehearsals was 120, and Montague Blatchford (known as "Mont Blong") was teacher and conductor.

It was in South Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire that the Clarion Vocal Unions or Choirs, like the Cycling Clubs, took deepest root; and soon they were eager to arrange inter-club meets. Hardcastle Crags, a beauty spot near Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, not far from the border with Lancashire,

Hardcastle Crags became a regular venue for CVU picnics and outdoor concerts. At the first of these gatherings, on Saturday 1st June 1895, there were present about a hundred Clarion members, with 150 relatives and friends. Many came on their bikes, proudly wearing the new silver badges pinned in their caps. The mixture, according to the report in the paper, was of 'sandwiches, laughter, tea, tobacco and singing'. There was also a thunderstorm, followed by a rain-soaked dash to the railway station where songs echoed round the platforms as they waited for their trains home. A year later 2,000 (others estimate 12,000 people attended Hardcastle Crags.

According to the Hebden Bridge Times, May 29^th 1896, “Whit Monday is a red-letter day for the socialists, and demonstrations take place on this day all over the country. The Yorkshire Independent Labour Party also observe this custom and this year they held their annual demonstration at Hardcastle Crags. Glorious weather prevailed and the gathering was a monster one in every particular. Trips were run from all parts of Yorkshire and large contingents came from Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Liversedge, Brighouse, Sowerby Bridge...(from Lancashire delegations) from K eighley, Cleckheaton, Horbury, Heckmondwyke, Honley, Thornhill and Meltham and also from several towns in Lancashire, notably Todmorden, Rochdale, Oldham and Burnley….. It is computed that during the day the Crags were visited by fully 12,00 0 persons.” A musical programme preceded the speaking, the artists being members of the Halifax, Bradford, Leeds and Keighley Clarion Vocal Unions and a quartette party from Golcar.“ Extracts from Life and Letters of Caroline Martyn “During this month of May, Caroline Martyn attended a demonstration at Hardcastle Craggs, and the following description is given of her at that time: Then from a dais-like, heath-clad rock, around which the choristers had stood, arose our Carrie Martyn. Truly no Diana of old was ever more godlike than she, as she stood before the background of waving green, and with the wind gently moving her flowing gown into graceful folds, spoke from her noble heart words of burning fervour and truth, which it wer e well that the whole world upon that day should hear and heed.”

Glasgow and Bristol both had choirs by 1896, when national CVU Hardcastle Crags Meet that year attracted more than 2,000 people to listen to massed choirs on the hillside, and speeches by Caroline Martyn and Keir Hardie.

On Jubilee Day, 1897, a big rally was held at Bolt

on Woods, and so much enthusiasm was displayed that it was resolved to have a joint concert and Contest each year. membership reached 1,250. The second In May 1899 the first Clarion Vocal Union (Choir) United Concert at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester took place, with 450 singers in fourteen choirs competing for the ivory and gold Challenge Baton which had been presented by the Clarion Board.

This was to be an annual event for the next thirty years, bringing hundreds of Clarionettes to Manchester, cyclists and non-cyclists alike. Songs were specially written (like the 'Song of the Clarion Scout') and poems were set to music to form an extensive Socialist repertoire. Young composers and musicians were drawn to the cause, like Gustav Holst, who was a regular cyclist and often rode with his trombone strung across his back.

While studying at the Royal College of Music and living in a bed-sitter in Hammersmith, Holst became the first conductor of the Socialist C

hoir there. He wrote reports for The Clarion about the choir, one of whose members was his future wife Isobel.

Gustav Holst's fellow student Rutland Boughton, set poems by William Morris to music, and they appeared in the Clarion Song Book published in 1906.

The Clarion Baton

The Clarion Board of Directors presented a Baton of ivory and gold which has been keenly contested for, and, until 1915, Annual Contests took place without a break. In 1915, the Contest, which should have taken place in Sheffield, had to be abandoned owing to lack of railway facilities, and it was only in 1922 that, on a small scale, it was revived. A major Clarion Vocal Union festival was held at the Manchester Albert Hall on 24th Oldham, Rochdale, Sheffield and Manchester May 1924, with choirs from Bradford, Hyde, Leeds,

The Baton was won in 1923 by the Sheffield Choir. Although the actual contest adds a zest to the evening's enjoyment, the best part of the Concert has always been the singing by the massed Choirs. Unaccompanied pieces are generally chosen, and these range from the glees and madrigals of the Elizabethan masters to the part songs and folk song arrangements of modern composers. Clarion Choirs still exist in Birmingham, Sheffield and Nottingham and Bolton Clarion Choir has recently be reformed.

In 2007 Bolton Wood Street Choir and Burnley Clarion Clarion Choir met on the first Sunday in June at the Nelson Clarion Tea room in order to revive a Clarion tradition of "Clarion Sunday's"and in 2008 thirty six members of different Socialist choirs attended in poor weather.

I have seen reference to a Plymouth Clarion Choir established in 1915, Cardiff Red Choir (Cor Cochion Caerdyddand) and the "Strawberry Thieves Socialist Choir" based in Lewisham

A number of "progressive" Choirs are presently being established across Britain, hopefully the Clarion movement will offer a big umbrella to nurture this growing trend as it did over one hundred years ago.

Rare Picture of Delegate to Welsh Conservative Party Conference

2012-02-03T15:21:00.001-08:00

Welsh Conservatives had to cancel their national conference at Llandudno this weekend, due to a lack of delegates and a funding crisis.

Labour up to 50% support in latest opinion poll.

Mercia Fields - My Calling

2012-01-23T12:32:00.000-08:00

Mercia Fields - My Calling

Mercia Fields, a young "progressive" Folk band from Kent - with a track from their forthcoming album, which include many songs appealing to rural workers and communities.

We at Country Standard wish them all the best success with their album and project.

Country Standard

Keep Music Live

Monmouth By-Election May 1991

2012-01-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

Famous Monmouth (Wales) Parliamentary By-Election 16th May 1991

Labour's Huw Edwards won this rural seat for Labour with a 12.6 % swing from the Conservatives.

This by-election was not won by Peter Mandelson, as he later claimed but by the hard work of the candidate Huw Edwards, the local party (and many isolated rural supporters) on primarily the issue of the Conservative Governments threats to privatise the NHS.

Huw Edwards personal support for PR was also important in winning over key voters (LibDem voting Edwards posters). The election also saw Labour posters in many villages out numbering Tory posters in places such as Usk and Tintern Abbey.

Barbara Castle spoke at an election meeting in Usk.

Victory rally held in Abergavenny Labour Club on the night and later at the Star Inn, Llansoy.

	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	Huw Edwards	17,733	39.3	+11.6
Conservative	Roger Evans	15,327	34.0	−13.5
Liberal Democrat	Frances David	11,164	24.8	+0.8

Devon Clarion Tour of 1907

2012-01-12T11:14:00.001-08:00

DEVON
Clarion Van Tour
1907

The Clarion was a weekly socialist publication edited by Robert Blatchford begun in Manchester in 1891.

Blatchford stated

"I will go as far as to say that during the first ten years of the Clarion's life that by no means popular paper had more influence on the public opinion in this country than any other English journal, The Times included."

One of the Clarion's best known writers was Julia Dawson, it was she who proposed the establishment of Clarion Van tour, with the idea of bringing the Clarion newspaper and Socialism into every town and village in England.

The First Clarion Van tour was embarked upon in 1896 and through a series of Clarion Vans they continued until 1929.

Clarion Van Hackney women speaker 1908
Clarion Van Scotland ( Edward Hartley sitting)

Bruce Glasier (and Brierley and Bacon) inside Clarion Van note Merrie England bookon table and Caroline Martyn picture on wall

The Western Times reported in 1907 that a Clarion Van was to commence a tour of Devon on 29th February 1907,

The first Devon Clarion Van tour meeting was to be held at Barnstaple town square, where Mr Thomas Kennedy the Socialist (Social Democratic Federation) parliamentary candidate for North Aberdeen (1906 and 1910) was the main Clarion speaker and a huge crowd was in attendance to hear him. As a direct result of the Clarion Vans visit, a branch of the Social Democratic Federation was established in Barnstaple, North Devon (early March 1907 - was this the first avowed socialist organisation to be formed in North Devon ?).

Thomas Kennedy (25 December 1874 – 3 March 1954) railway clerk, joined the Social Democratic Federation, stood as parliamentary candidate in 1907 and 1910, Joined the British Socialist Party (later Communist Party) and became BSP national organiser in 1913 but left the party over his support for the War. Kennedy was later Labour Party Member of Parliament for Kirkaldy Burgs (Fife) from 1921–1922, from 1923–1931 and from 1935–1944.

By the 9th April 1907 the Clarion Van had arrived in Exeter from Newton Abbott again large crowds flocked to Bedford Circus to hear the Clarion speakers including Councillor Edward Hartley of Bradford.

Edward Robertshaw Hartley (1855-1918) was a noted Yorkshire socialist activist.

Given previous Clarion van tours the arrival of the van in any town or village would secure a large turnout of local people interested in finding out about the new politics of socialism. The local farmers, businessmen and Tories would try to stifle attendance, heckle the speakers and sing "God save the queen/king" .

At the end of the Clarion speeches questions and answers would be taken and socialist propaganda sold, meetings would often ending with the singing of "England Arise".

100 Years Anniversary of Nelson Clarion House 1912 - 2012

2012-01-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

Join the
100th Anniversary Celebration of
Nelson Clarion House
Lancashire

1912 - 2012

11th - 12th August 2012

http://www.johnboardman.ismysite.co.uk/images/index/NelsonClarionHouseCentenaryPoster1.pdf

http://www.clarionhouse.org.uk/

Rural Revolt 2012 - Revolte Rural 2012

2012-01-03T15:50:00.001-08:00

Greetings to all Country Standard readers
and special salute to our sister paper
La Terre in France

Rural Revolt 2012

Révolte Rural

http://www.laterre.fr/

Join The Resistance !

Rural Labour Reborn

2011-12-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

Rural Labour Reborn

Progress Magazine

Labour has succeeded in the countryside in the past and could do so again with some hard work and imaginative manoeuvres, argues Steve Race

Labour speaks for the cities, the Conservatives speak for the countryside: that is the old canard that prevails throughout both political parties and indeed the general public. The myth maintains that this has always been so, and that the 1997 Labour gains in rural seats such as The Wrekin and Kettering were mere aberrations from the proper pattern. This despite the Labour party boasting over 180 members of the parliamentary party after the 1997 general election who self-defined as ‘rural MPs’, and despite our origins in historical events unfolding in the countryside such as the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

With the axing of the Agricultural Wages Board, the body that set minimum standards of pay and conditions for over one million agricultural workers in the UK, the government has broken its self-proclaimed traditional affinity with rural workers. Now is Labour’s time first to actively value and then to reclaim the rural vote.

The Labour campaigning machine should work to dedicate available resource to reconnecting with rural constituencies, from local communities up. There should be no excuse that these seats are ‘unwinnable’ or that we ‘don’t have the activists’. It is only with these English seats and votes that we will regain a majority in parliament in order to govern, and this is especially urgent if the Scottish National party continues on the road to independence in Scotland.

Centre-left parties across the western world have successfully engaged with rural voters. In Australia, the Labor party successfully operates Country Labor, a specific brand of the party aimed at gaining and retaining rural seats – an important task for any party in a country as vast and as sparsely populated as Australia.

In creating Country Labor, the ALP brings together the different strands of policy development affecting rural areas, while organising conferences and forums that genuinely look to reflect rural concerns back to the national party and, at the moment, the government. Particular successes have included specific training both for candidates at all levels of rural elections and for members.

It is exactly this type of vibrant organisation that is needed for our rural areas in the UK if the Labour party is serious about ‘refounding’ itself to truly represent every community in the UK. Great work already happens. Rural Socialism is the newsletter produced by Dan Whittle, a former Labour parliamentary candidate for Wells, and is the last vestige of the old Labour Rural Revival campaigning organisation – an organisation that even in its name accepts that we are not the party of the countryside, and which has long since ceased to be operational. My own experience as a campaigner in Exeter shows that strong Labour organisation in that seat encourages and aids surrounding rural seats to be more active by sharing good practice and providing an organisational base. And then there is the Progress-supported Third Place First, a network of local councillors and parliamentary candidates in the Surrey-Hampshire-Berkshire borders who work together to organise campaigning and tailor programmes that meet local people’s needs.

As Harriet Harman has said, we want Labour candidates in every seat, to give Labour voters the opportunity to vote for their party. How else did we end up with a Labour councillor on South Hams district council in Devon this year?

The same goes for the brilliant campaigning work of Cornwall Labour, which had no councillors at all when the new unitary Cornwall council was born in 2009 but which is now building out from its win in Camborne North with further by-election wins on parish and town councils. Cornish activists’ determination to set the Labour ball rolling there has galvanised members and I expect to see many more successes in the coming years.

But these Labour representatives in otherwise pure blue seats have had to do it off their own bat, with little help from a Labour party that looks mainly to increase Labour seats in urban areas.

A campaigning organisation called Rural Labour, which provides materials, support and advice and which shares best practice, would help rural candidates and local parties to rebuild in districts that we would not otherwise identify as ‘core vote’. With a little support from head office, Rural Labour would inform our party, which can often be seen as one of metropolitan liberal types, by focusing forensically on the wants and needs of rural voters. Labour candidates could even stand as Rural Labour candidates, hammering home the message that we understand the needs of rural voters, and along the way stealing the ‘pavement politics’ approach of the Liberal Democrat Focus Team handbook.

If there are to be ‘no no-go areas’ for the Labour party, then the vast swaths of our rural areas need immediate attention – a new identity for the Labour party in rural seats that brings together all the strands of our shared social democratic tradition and that works to enable our comrades to engage rural voters is desperately needed.

—————————————————————————————

Steve Race is treasurer of the Young Fabians and leads their activity in the south-west

Remember Cornish Spanish Civil War Hero - Pat Glasson

2011-11-13T11:57:00.000-08:00

Patrick ‘Harry’ Glasson:
Cornishman in the Spanish Civil War

James Whetter, in the Cornish Banner, No 129, August 2007

Patrick Glasson was born in 1910, the son of a Cornishman and an Irish lady, nee Byrne. Their home was probably at Tolgas Lane, Harris Mill, Redruth – this was the address of his next of kin according to the International Brigade records. His parents split up when he was two and his father emigrated to Australia. Patrick probably had his schooling at nearby pool school and after leaving worked as a blacksmith at one of the many smithys in the area.

He gave up this trade after a while and joined the British Army, serving in the Wiltshire Regiment ‘for many years’ until 1935. He was clearly a fit and strong young man and went round the fairs as a boxer and wrestler.

According to his cousin Reuben Byrne, also a regular soldier, whom he met in 1935 at Crownhill barracks, Plymouth, on leaving the army for a few months back in Redruth, he decided to join the International Brigade. No doubt he went to London and was vetted at the King Street headquarters of the Communist Party.

Having passed muster he seems to have gone to France with the intention of joining the Brigade in Spain in late 1936 or early 1937 but shortly after was deported for misdemeanours committed in Paris. In his memoir, Entering the Conflict, Frederick Ernest Clarke, told how he had met up with him in late March 1937. Clarke had gone to the Communist Party HQ at King Street on the 20th. While he was receiving instructions for his departure from Mr Robson of the Central Committee

“another comrade arrived, by the name of Peter [sic] Glasson, a typical British Tommy and a brother communist. I was to be his mentor form that time until we got into Spain. I received money to buy him trousers, cap, etc. in an attempt to make him look like a weekender in Paris. The result was not very gratifying! Afterwards, I bought him dinner and he took me to Aldgate where his friend was to take leave of him at Whitechapel Library. He was given into my charge, as his first attempt to reach Spain had been a failure due to his getting drunk in Paris, hitting a taxi driver and landing up in a French Prison for three weeks.”

The buying of tickets for their rail journey from Victoria station was

“something of a carnival. We were all shapes and sizes and all classes and creeds, but all going to the same place and for the same reason – apparently! Of course, not one of us knew anyone else and not a word was spoken as to our destination or our mission; but a crowd of men trying so hard to hide something, and all waiting in the same waiting room for the same train became very transparent to those others who know what is going on.”

There were about 25 of them and they had yellow “Passing Show” cards concealed on their persons to identify them to contacts when they arrived at the Gare du Nord station in Paris. Two plain clothes policemen examining tickets at the Victoria Station barrier stopped Patrick when he went through, asked him how long he was staying in France and how much money he had with him. Clarke “stuck up an attitude of indignation, enquired if our tickets were in order, stated that Glasson was with me and that I had sufficient money for us to enjoy our week-end in Gay Paree!”

They got on the night train eventually but Clarke felt distinctly uneasy for the police were then seriously enforcing the non-intervention pact to the fullest limits.

“The prospect of Glasson banging one of them and landing us in jail was not a very rosy picture, and from then on I lost interest as his guardian and keeper. From Newhaven to Paris was a constant strain of watchfulness for me.”

They reached the Gare du Nord station on Sunday morning, 21st March. They were glad to get out of the train with its hard wooden seats. People were flashing their ‘Yellow Passing Show’ cards and Clarke was nervous that the police would pick them up and jail them on the spot. They were approached by a couple of Brits, collected together and taken to a café just outside the station. There they were given food tickets for a certain café and some money which they mostly spent on cigarettes and “the foul tasting onion flavoured beer of France.” They were billeted in “pensions” nearby which were comfortable and clean though they had their breakfast in another hotel and all other food in a workman’s café which was situated opposite the Metro in a wide cobbled street.

Also amongst them awaiting instructions were Americans and Canadians, all of whom possessed passports which gave them a lot more freedom. Lacking official papers of any kind the British party were like “vagabonds”. They envied the North Americans who were able to go sightseeing to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, etc, something they could not do.

Still in Paris on Saturday 17th April Patrick wrote a letter to his cousin Reuben Byrne:

Dear Reauban [sic],
Just a few lines hoping to find you in the best of health. I am going away fro some time, and I don’t know when I will be back in England. Well, old boy I am going into an Army but not the British army, it is the Spanish I am fighting for the Workers. I don’t know when I will ever write again, give my love to Cousin Kathleen, and Aunti Minnie and uncle Jack at Trouro. I might get married out here, if all goes well in the end.
I am your ever loving Cousin, Harry.
PS. I was wrestling in Paris, the other day at a fair ground, I beat a gaint Itialian in one minute.
Harry.

(Though called Patrick he [had] became known as ‘Harry’.)

Subsequently they had a tough struggle getting over the Pyrenees on foot. Clarke had a narrow escape since his shoes had become so shiny that he slipped from the path into a great drift of snow. He was saved by a bricklayer from Hammersmith, George Poustie.

“As I slipped, he hung on to me with all his strength and stopped me from sliding over the edge into the depths below. All the others had gone on and neither of us had enough strength to breathe of shout and, after a grim silent struggle George managed to pull me back onto the path.”

They seem to have got into Spain by 13th May and three days later were at Albacete, the British battalion’s base south east of Madrid. Patrick then enlisted in the International Brigade. He sent a postcard back to ‘Auntie Beatie’ which depicted a woman holding a child in her arms with silhouettes of planes above and an inscription in French, ‘Save my child’ – “This what I am fighting for these Spanish workers, these planes bombing these poor women and babies.”

As well as demonstrating his commitment to the cause the messages show he was in touch with several members of his family in Cornwall. As well as his cousin Reuben Byrne, these was cousin Kathleen, Auntie Minnie, Uncle jack at Truro and Aunt Beattie who seems to have been his next of kin. It sounds as if his mother may have died by this stage.

He took part in the Brigade’s offensive at Brunete west of Madrid from 6th July but was killed the on the 20th July. In August 1937 his relations received letters from Communist Party general secretary, Harry Pollitt, and from the Party secretariat informing then that Pat Glasson had been killed in action on 20th July at Brunete. Later his Aunt Beattie received his death certificate signed by the Mayor of Brunete.

In is memoir Clarke said: “He eventually died in Spain, I believe on the Brunete Front. He was a good soldier and a sincere comrade, a little coarse, but nevertheless a likeable person in many ways”.

In July 1986 a bronze plaque was put up at the divisional office of the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section of the AUEW (now the Manufacturing Science and Finance Union) in Coldharbour Road, Redland, Bristol, commemorating the nine volunteers from the south west- including Patrick, who were killed in the Spanish Civil War. The unveiling was organized by the then TASS divisional organizers, D Yeoman and D Perkins, and took place with a number of International Brigade veterans present. Its inscription reads:

"To commemorate those volunteers from Bristol and the South West who fought and died in Spain in defence of Liberty."

Note
Rumours remain that about a dozen young men, from either Padstow or Port Isaac, were sufficiently concerned about Franco's assault on democracy in Spain to volunteer themselves as soldiers in a foreign war. With no training or preparation, they kissed their wives and girlfriends goodbye and set sail. Within days of their arrival they were killed - and neither of my informants was clear about which side had shot them.

The Great War - Emergency Plans in case of Invasion in East Anglia

2011-11-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

The Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Lord Lincolnshire attended the July meeting of Buckinghamshire County Council and made a speech full of suggestions as to what the country would be expected to do in the event of hostile landing on the East Coast.

1. Posting and distribution of emergency notices
2. Reception, the care of and passing on of refugees from the East
3. Receiving and passing westwards cattle driven from the East
4. Arranging rest and food camps for cattle driven westwards
5. Hospital arrangements at specified places for sick and wounded removed from the Eastern counties
6. Reserving and keeping free from traffic certain main roads required for military use
7. Arrangements for registration and branding cattle in the county
8.Arranging and equipping stations for live stock in the county
9. Removal or destruction of the same if specifically ordered
10. Arrangements for removal and destruction of boats, launches etc on the River Thames, in accordance with the scheme prepared by the Thames Conservancy.
11 Precautions against hostile aircraft and signals for giving warning of their approach
12. Collection of motors, bicycles, carts, carriages, horses and harness, petrol etc
13. Removal or destruction of same if ordered
14. Removal or destruction of food supplies if ordered
15. Collection of tools, picks, shovels etc required by the military
16. Collection of working parties in charge of foremen, the policy of the Government being to encourage ever able bodied man to task his part in the defence of the Realm
17. A general census of all the above is the hands of police, together with lists of flour mills and granaries etc
18. Reservation of certain roads for ordinary traffic and of other roads for driving cattle.
19. Generally to advice the civil population in Buckinghamshire to remain cool in the their homes and to pursue their ordinary avocation, and with regard to owners of local cattle, to register with the police, obtain brands and await orders. It is anticipated that local cattle will not be removed

July 23rd 1915
Uxbridge Advertiser

Bella Ciao - Italian Partisans 1945 - Berlusconi/Mussolini

2011-11-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Bella  Ciao
Italian Partisans

52nd Garibaldi Brigade 

Coalition of Millionaires vote to scrap rural minimum wage

2011-10-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

(picture Farmers Weekly)

Coalition of Millionaires vote to scrap rural minimum wage

Tuesday 25 October, 2011

The Coalition of Millionaires has voted by majority of 77 to scrap (Conservative & Liberal democrats ) the Agricultural Wages Board which covers 150,000 agricultural workers and acts as a bench mark for thousands of other rural jobs.

From all over the UK rural workers, some dressed as scarecrows, travelled to London to lobby MPs in a bid to persuade them to back their campaign which has one objective - to maintain the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB).

Rural workers are extremely concerned at this government’s plans to abolish the AWB, a body which has supported rural workers for generations and was set up specifically to protect this vulnerable group of workers. Unite believes that this goes to show that the Tory-led government is completely out of touch with the countryside.

Unite national officer, Cath Speight, said: “According to the government’s own estimates, returning back to the statutory sick and annual leave payments alone, could potentially take over £9 million a year out of workers' pockets.

“This will be very unwelcome news to many of our members, who are already struggling to survive in the face of rising costs and higher food prices. Many have already been told by employers that should the AWB be abolished, their wages will be forced down - this is unacceptable and we can not allow this to happen.

“During this present climate, where people are worried about food production, food security and food supplies, it is astonishing that this government has chosen to attack the very workers who we rely on to maintain supplies and production.”

Unite fully supports this fight back to defend these rural workers and their communities. The union has thousands of rural members who will face a serious attack on their livelihoods if the AWB is abolished.

Country Standard co-editor Mike Walker stated:

"This is just another example of attacks upon rural workers by this Tory Government, when rural workers already earn on average £4,000 year less than city workers.

"Tory millionaire Farm minister Jim Paice knows nothing about rural low pay or poverty he spends his time in London on wages set nationally and on a big fat pension. His remarks that farm workers already covered by AWB will continue to be covered by it "for ever and a day" are simply an outright lie.

"Jim Paice states “The world has moved on. It is not the forelock-tugging yokel" yet under new proposed Tory employment legislation, if you don't tug your forelock or your just old you can be sacked".

Mary Creagk Slams Tory U-turn on Groceries Code Adjudicator with Power

2011-10-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

Tory-led Government out of touch with needs of

farmers and consumers

Creagh and Murray

17 October 2011

Mary Creagh MP, Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, in response to the publication of the Government’s response to the BIS Select Committee report on the proposed Groceries Code Adjudicator, said:

“After 18 months of delay, the Government has announced its Groceries Code Adjudicator will be neutered from the start. It will not investigate the claims of trade associations or whistleblowers and it will not penalise companies who breach the code despite the recommendations of two Parliamentary Select Committees.

“This Government is out of touch with farmers, food processors and consumers alike, when food prices have risen six per cent in one year. They should be standing up for shoppers who are feeling the squeeze and the food producers who are the engine for jobs and growth in this, the country’s largest manufacturing sector.”

Ian Murray MP, Labour’s Shadow Consumer Affairs Minister, added:

“The huge delays to this announcement are unacceptable. I am disappointed that the main recommendations of the BIS Committee are merely being considered, and not yet acted upon, by Ministers. Much of the evidence shows that the system would be more responsive to the needs of supplier and, ultimately, consumers if information from expert trade associations and even whistleblowers could be used to initiate investigations.”

Government 'failing' on countryside plans

2011-10-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

Government

'failing' on countryside plans

Caroline Stocks
Farming Weekly

Friday 14 October 2011 08:52

The government is failing to deliver on most of its commitments to help the countryside, a group of leading conservation organisation has claimed.

A report backed by 29 wildlife groups, including the RSPB and the Badger Trust, looked at 16 government pledges on the natural environment to see if they were being backed by well-designed policies.

The Nature Check document says the government has not kept its promise over a number of policies and points to a number of controversial schemes – including proposals for a pilot badger cull to tackle bovine TB – which fail to protect nature.

Other policies include the attempt to sell off forests and the current row over planning system, where campaigners fear changes to planning rules will lead to overdevelopment and damage to the countryside.

Published by the Wildlife and Countryside Link umbrella group, the report also expresses concern over the delivery of the government’s well-designed flood prevenetion plans and proposals to ensure open access to the coast.

Martin Harper, conservation director of the RSPB, said: "In these financially-straitened times politicians may be tempted to ignore the natural environment in favour of economic growth,” said Martin Harper, RSPB conservation direction.

“But this kind of short-termist attitude won't wash with a British public which expects the government to protect the countryside and wildlife we all hold dear."

Shadow DEFRA minister Mary Creagh, claimed the report showed the government was "out of touch" on the environment and failing to protect the countryside.
“The forest sell-off, the debacle over planning reforms and an expensive badger cull, which will have a negligible impact on bovine TB, mean that DEFRA is a department in special measures,” she added. “The Tories have no plan for the environment."

But a DEFRA spokeswoman said the government was working on an ambitious programme of policies and had made good progress across many areas.

“We believe that communities, business, civil society and government working together are likely to have the greatest impact on protecting and improving our environment,” she said.

“In the last few months we have unveiled a new Biodiversity Strategy for England, the National Ecosystems Assessment and the Natural Environment White Paper, the first in 20 years.

“We’re committed to leading by example and being the greenest government ever, mainstreaming sustainable development and enabling the value of natural environment and biodiversity to be reflected when decisions are made.”

END

Note:

Tory Chancellor George Osbourne speaking at Conservative party conference blamed:-

"a decade of environmental laws and regulations [for] piling costs on the energy bills of households and companies."

Country Standard Response to CAP Reforms

2011-10-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

Michael Walker Co-Editor of Country Standard

"The proposed reforms to the European Union, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) announced today, yet again fails to address the many challenges facing farming and rural communities.

While we welcome the increased emphasise on environmental factors, the reality is these minor changes do not address the real structural and planning changes required in farming.

While there maybe some good news in these proposals for British organic farmers, British taxpayers are going to increasingly ask themselves what they get for their yearly £107 contribution to the CAP.

In response to the global financial crisis, we urgently need to develop agriculture in Britain, however under the Conservative run DEFRA we are hemorrhaging thousands of agricultural jobs, these CAP reforms will do nothing to address that situation.

In conclusion these EU proposals are a monumental fudge, that will be ripped apart like the carcass of a dead sheep in the coming months."

Labour: CAP plans let down UK farmers

Caroline Stocks
Farmers Weekly

Wednesday 12 October 2011 11:17

Huw Irranca-Davies " height="230" width="270">

Proposals to reform the Common Agricultural Policy let down UK farmers and the natural environment, shadow food and farming minister Huw Irranca-Davies has claimed.

Responding to plans unveiled by the European Commission on Wednesday (12 October), the newly-appointed member of the shadow DEFRA team said the proposal for radical reform had turned into ‘a tired compromise’.

He said Britain’s farmers needed a policy which put them on equal terms with other EU producers if they were to remain competitive and called on government to show clear leadership in future CAP negotiations to secure this.

“The Commission’s proposals effectively scale back agri-environment schemes which support farmers to introduce more wildlife-friendly schemes,” Mr Irranca-Davies added.

“These schemes are vital to progress in halting biodiversity loss by 2020, but they also deliver great value for money and support farming incomes.

“The reduced CAP funds up to 2020 must be more effectively targeted on the contribution of farmers to food security and the environment, recognising both innovation and environmental services in the countryside.”

Mr Irranca-Davies said current and future generations of farmers were owed a CAP reform which was fit for purpose and not based on old compromises.

“We urge the government to stand firm against the vested interests in the European Union who seek to maintain the status quo.”

CAP Reform at a glance

Source European Commission & Farmers Weekly

Wednesday 12 October 2011 11:51

The 10 key points of the reform proposals are as follows:

1) More targeted income support

Fairer, simpler and more targeted support, fairly distributed among "active" farmers. Direct support payments capped at €300,000 in any one year.

2) More responsive and adequate crisis management tools

Safety nets for products most at risk of crisis, including private storage and public intervention, and the creation of insurance and mutual funds.

3) "Greener" payments

A proposed 30% of direct payments dedicated to practices that ensure long-term agricultural productivity while preserving the environment.

4) Additional investment in research and innovation

A doubling of the budget for agricultural research and development, encouraging the transfer of knowledge and advice to farmers.

5) A more competitive and balanced food chain

Support for producer organisations and a commitment that sugar quotas - "which have lost their relevance" - will not be extended beyond 2015.

6) Encouraging agri-environmental initiatives

A commitment that the preservation and restoration of ecosystems and the fight against climate change will be among EU rural development priorities.

7) Aid for young farmers setting up

Proposals to create new start-up assistance accessible to farmers under 40 during the first five years of their project.

8) Rural employment and entrepreneurship stimulated

upport for micro-business projects with financing of up to EUR70 000 over a period of five years.

9) Better account taken of fragile areas

Additional support for farmers in areas with natural handicaps, such as upland areas, by means of additional compensation.

10) A simpler and more efficient CAP

Simplification of several CAP mechanisms, including cross-compliance rules and control systems, without sacrificing effectiveness.

Source: European Commission

Eureka Stockade - 1854

2011-10-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Eureka Stockade
3rd December 1854

"Remember how the miners at Eureka’s Stockade fell!

If need shall rise, ere Union dies, we’ll fight like them as well!

Remember the Union by C. Drake, written in 1890

Clarion Cycling Club - Edinburgh to Cable Street -75th Anniversary

2011-10-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

Cyclists to mark International Brigades' 75th anniversary

A group of cyclists will set off from Edinburgh Monday 19 September for a tour of Britain and Ireland to remember the volunteers from the British Isles who joined the International Brigades.

Organised by the National Clarion Cycling Club 1895 (NCCC), the IBMT-supported ride will mark the 75th anniversary of the formation of the International Brigades in October 1936 to fight General Franco’s fascist-backed revolt against the Spanish Republic. http://www.international-brigades.org.uk/

Seven cyclists will complete the entire 645-mile itinerary, with others joining them for shorter parts of the route. They will call at International Brigade memorials along the way, where wreaths will be laid and homage paid to the 527 men and women from Britain and Ireland who were killed in the war in Spain.

The cyclists will arrive in London in time for the IBMT’s annual general meeting on 1 October and the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street on the following day.

IBMT members are invited to support the riders, by joining them for parts of their route or by attending the ceremonies of remembrance at International Brigade memorials.

ITINERARY

19 September: Assemble 9.30am at IB memorial, Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh; to Glasgow via Blantyre and Rutherglen IB memorials; 60 miles.

20 September: Assemble 9.30am at “Pasionaria” IB memorial, Custom Quay, Glasgow; to Cairnryan; 85 miles.

21 September: Cairnryan by ferry to Larne; onwards to Belfast; 25 miles.

22 September: Assemble 9.30am at IB memorial, Saint Anne’s Square, Belfast; to Dundalk; 55 miles.

23 September: Dundalk to Dublin; 55 miles.

24 September: Assemble 9.30am at IB memorial, Liberty Hall, Dublin; to Arklow; 62 miles.

25 September: Arklow to Rosslare; 58 miles.

26 September: Rosslare by ferry to Fishguard; onwards to St Clears; 33 miles.

27 September: St Clears to Cardiff via IB memorial in Swansea; 62 miles.

28 September: Assemble 9.30am at IB memorial, Cathays Park, Cardiff; to Bristol; 55 miles.

29 September: Assemble 9.30am at IB memorial, Castle Park, Bristol; to Streatley; 35 miles.

30 September: Streatley to London via Reading IB memorial (at 9.30am); join more cyclists at Olympia at approximately 3pm; arrival at IB memorial and mural in Cable Street at approximately 5pm; 60 miles.

Mission accomplished for International Brigade cycle tour

East London Advertiser reports on the National Clarion Cycling Club’s reception in Cable Street last weekend following a 645 mile cycle ride in honour of the International Brigade - which had set off from Edinburgh on September 19:

A plaque commemorating the Brigade was unveiled on St Georges Town Hall in Cable Street - ahead of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Cable Street.

watch video

http://www.rmtv.org.uk/

Country Labor - Australia - Fighting For Progressive Rural Policies

2011-09-30T01:46:00.001-07:00

COUNTRY LABOR
NEW SOUTH WALES - AUSTRALIA

http://www.countrylabor.com.au/

New South Wales shadow Minister for Resources and Primary Industries, Steve Whan. (picture above)

Twelve years ago, Country Labor was formed to formally recognize the historic and vital role of Country Australia in the Australian Labor Party. To this day most people believe that the Party was founded under the Tree of Knowledge in Barcaldine in rural Queensland.

Long term successful NSW Labor Government's have always had strong rural representation. Many current branch members remember Labor MPs in Burrinjuck and Murrumbidgee, not to mention Clarence, Murray Darling, Tweed and the more recently held seats like Bathurst, Monaro & Kiama.

There's no reason the next Labor Government can't have just as many country seats. Indeed it must if we are to have the broad base that will give our future governments longevity - but we've got a big job to get there.

No one can deny that we focused on ourselves and on city issues over the last few years.

We did have some good programs delivering for Country NSW – and many achievements we can be very proud of - but we didn’t build on them and we weren't able to communicate them.

The Building the Country package (announced at Country Labor Conference at Port Macquarie) was a good example, a great starting program but one that should have developed into a more comprehensive and integrated approach to regional development.

We've now got to build that comprehensive policy from opposition. We need to show country residents that Labor understands that country and regional communities have needs that are different from each other, let alone the city.

We need to be focusing on policies that help communities to achieve their own goals, not try to impose one size fits all models.

The Country Labor Members of Parliament, Clayton Barr in Cessnock, Mick Veitch and myself can't hope to do that alone and we looking for the enthusiastic involvement of members and supporters.

Let's not think that the job is hopeless – the Coalition is rapidly proving that they are the same old model, all talk and no action. Their catchy slogan of a decade of decentralisation has little to back it up. A very poorly thought through relocation incentive that will pay taxpayers funds to people who already planning to retire to the coast; and a regional infrastructure fund created by legislation but with no funding.

We can do better and our job is to work over the next four years toward giving country communities a party that listens to them and produces good policy.

It's going to be a big job but its one I and my Country Labor colleagues here in Parliament are looking forward to. In particular we look forward to working with branches and country communities and hopefully along the way we'll be able to inspire a few people to join us in our task of returning a Labor Government to NSW.

The Land (article)

"The reaction from the Coalition was one of the main reasons I agreed to joining the Upper House," Mr Whan said.

"They must fear me."

In a reduced Opposition, Mr Whan has been given a number of portfolios to cover, including tourism, major events and his old area of primary industries.

Mr Whan is one of just three MPs who run under the Country Labor brand and, having just completed a tour of Dubbo, Griffith and Parkes, he said reconnecting with regional NSW was an important part of the rebuilding process for the party.

"We need good regional policies, and it’s really important that we have strong branches of the party throughout country NSW," he said.

"The Country Labor brand isn’t dead, it’s very much alive - and it will be more important than ever in Opposition."

Country Labor

The objectives of Country Labor are:

to discuss matters of political significance with emphasis on Rural and Regional Affairs and to make recommendations on such to the ALP
to foster and maintain the interest of members and others in the Platform and policies of the ALP
to provide opportunity for and to organise meetings of members to discuss rural matters
to work for and assist ALP candidates in all State and Federal elections
to promote increased understanding between members of industrial unions and farming communities
to publish any periodicals or leaflets desirable for promotion of its objects.
Country Labor holds a conference every two years to discuss issues of importance to country members.

Country Labor Contact

President - Mark Braes (63rd Street, Millicent, SA 5280. 8733 4064)

Facebook Pages http://www.facebook.com/CountryLabor

Country Standard

Handforth Clarion Club House 1903 -1936

Leanne Wood - Welsh Progressive

INTERVIEW WITH LEANNE WOOD

Edward Carpenter Memorial Service 1931 - Clarion Choirs

Clarion Choirs

Rare Picture of Delegate to Welsh Conservative Party Conference

Mercia Fields - My Calling

Monmouth By-Election May 1991

Devon Clarion Tour of 1907

The Clarion was a weekly socialist publication edited by Robert Blatchford begun in Manchester in 1891.

100 Years Anniversary of Nelson Clarion House 1912 - 2012

Rural Revolt 2012 - Revolte Rural 2012

Rural Labour Reborn

Remember Cornish Spanish Civil War Hero - Pat Glasson

Patrick ‘Harry’ Glasson:Cornishman in the Spanish Civil War

The Great War - Emergency Plans in case of Invasion in East Anglia

Bella Ciao - Italian Partisans 1945 - Berlusconi/Mussolini

Coalition of Millionaires vote to scrap rural minimum wage

Mary Creagk Slams Tory U-turn on Groceries Code Adjudicator with Power

Tory-led Government out of touch with needs of

farmers and consumers

Creagh and Murray

Government 'failing' on countryside plans

Government

'failing' on countryside plans

Country Standard Response to CAP Reforms

Labour: CAP plans let down UK farmers

CAP Reform at a glance

Eureka Stockade - 1854

Clarion Cycling Club - Edinburgh to Cable Street -75th Anniversary

Cyclists to mark International Brigades' 75th anniversary

Mission accomplished for International Brigade cycle tour

Country Labor - Australia - Fighting For Progressive Rural Policies

Patrick ‘Harry’ Glasson:
Cornishman in the Spanish Civil War