Tolpuddle Martyrs Rally

[magog_83]

I spent the afternoon in Dorset today, at the Tolpuddle Martyr's Rally, an annual trade union festival organised to commemorate the six farm labourers from the village, who in 1834 were transported to Australia for forming a friendly society to protest against the lowering of agricultural wages. At the time, their treatment created such controversy that 100,000 people marched through London to protest, organised by the fledging trade union movement, and the men were eventually pardoned.

Nowadays, the TUC (Trade Union Congress) keeps the tradition going with a festival featuring bands and singers from all over the world, political speakers, plays, stalls for all sorts of causes and lots of activities with a free rally on the Sunday (when my family usually go). It's always a great day out, very family friendly and the Sunday rally has a march through the village with all the unions proudly displaying their banners and brass bands playing, and then the General Secretary of the TUC usually speaks, along with the legendary Tony Benn (who gets a standing ovation every time) and music from Billy Bragg to finish. The festival is getting bigger and bigger every year, I think there were an estimated 10,000 people this year.

Anyway, here are some of my pictures from today, featuring Billy Bragg, some of the great banners and a funny t-shirt :D

Crowds gathering on the main field for the speakers

My favourite t-shirt of the day

Marching with my union down the main street of the village.

Possibly the most endearing banner there: FOR RETIRED MEMBERS, AND THOSE WHO WISH TO KEEP IN TOUCH

The Fair Trade Brigade with their giant coffee cup and inflatable bananas

One of the older union banners

Billy Bragg on the stage

Another pic of Billy

So that was my tiring but very enjoyable Sunday!

Comments

[vensre.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you had a good day out! Looks like you had great weather with suitably dramatic clouds. XD

::cheers::

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

They were extremely dramatic, but fortunately the rain held off until the very last note of The Red Flag :D

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a lovely day and also a great reason for a festival!

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

It was great day out and a nice opportunity to recharge the batteries, so to speak, and remind myself that I'm part of a wider movement and a great bunch of people <3

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

I love union banners, but that coffee cup... it has to take the biscuit.

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

:D Now I wish there had been a GIANT BISCUIT too. The coffee cup and bananas certainly got a few cheers!

[bigolarthurfan.livejournal.com]

What a great day for a great cause. As someone who has had a beard since he was 20, I thoroughly approve of that t-shirt. Loved the giant coffee cup. And may I say that the big banner for your union is really beautiful. I mean, totally aside from its important meaning, it's just simply beautiful to look at.

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

It is a gorgeous banner isn't it! I know I am biased, but I do think it was one of the nicest ones there (some of the Miners banners were nice too). I love to see all the banners, all the colours and the brass bands playing too make it so memorable.

All the best revolutionaries had beards, or at least really stylish goatees...

[bigolarthurfan.livejournal.com]

I have done some serious Gay rights and HIV prevention work over the years. I'm not sure that makes me a revolutionary but I like to think my neatly trimmed beard is stylish.

[sabriel75.livejournal.com]

Fantastic! Loved the shirt. :D

Great day for supporting the cause.

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

The shirt was my favourite :D Marx works that beard!

[giecast.livejournal.com]

Whoa 100k! That's a sizable crowd. This looks really fun. I love the shirt and the giant cup.

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

It was a good crowd this year. I think the fact we have a right wing government and lots of bad stuff happening to the welfare state has really fired up people to get involved in protesting against it, and Tolpuddle is a nice part of that :)

[cadetsandkings.livejournal.com]

YEAH I love how red you are :D

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

:D I am red through and through, everything the Tories do just reinforces that. That and the fact I have the most patronising Tory MP EVER, I want to hit him everytime I see him.

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

I love that you are at least active with the union. It seems like right-wing conservatives are really doing a lot of damage these days.

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Oops! My reply is very late.

My family are very active with the unions. We are all proud members and my dad works for the TUC (Trade Union Congress) which is the umbrella organisation for all the unions in the UK, so I have grown up with it and knowing the importance of being active and showing solidarity :)

Conservatives are utterly terrifying me at the moment. This morning a government minister actually said public sector workers need "discipline and fear" in order to improve and be more 'efficient'. This is coming from a man who claimed £2000 in parliamentary expenses to pay for a repair to a water pipe under his tennis court and was ordered to pay it back - clearly he knows all about the struggles the rest of us face :/

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

My husband was in the teachers union before he retired and my dad was in the trade union, too.

I'm also terrified of what is going on. I'm sure you are too young to remember but in the 70s, the cities in the US were on fire from rioting. They had to call in troops to quell it. If the poor and working poor are pushed too hard, there will be nothing to hold them back. Plus the unemployment rate among black young men is 25%. This is not good.

Funny how the rich always seem to think the poor should be more efficient - as if they were some kind of work horse to be beaten into submission.