The production of woollen cloth from the shearing of sheep to the finished product was a highly labour intensive industry. There was an unlimited source of water and labour to produce the finest broadcloth in Bradford on Avon but reliance was placed on a workforce paid poverty wages whilst the clothiers grew rich on the profits.

It was not uncommon for angry disputes to arise between weavers and the other trades within the industry for whom life was a constant struggle against the clothiers who employed them. .

Matters came to a head when machinery was introduced and the realisation that one machine could carry out the work of ten or more labouring men and women. This book exposes the gaps between those who produced the cloth, who lived impoverished lives, and those who gained wealth and power as a result. Bradford on Avon today has become a desirable place to live and work. This wasn’t always the case!

ISBN 978-0-9957917-1-8

£10 including P&P

The improbable title of Wild West Wiltshire — Outlaws and Schemers may seem far-fetched but this book accurately describes scandalous events that took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

This is the unlikely story of goings-on in a quiet rural local authority in Wiltshire that brought the council into disrepute and had a lasting impact on those involved. It made national headlines at the time yet today the story is almost forgotten. .

This book is a first-hand memory by a participant in the drama as it unfolded. Rosie MacGregor tells the story from her own recollection, the memories of those involved and from press reports at the time.

ISBN 978-0-9957917-2-5

£10 including P&P

Angela Remembered is a celebration of the life of a remarkable woman. 

Angela Tuckett was born into an affluent, artistic and politically aware Bristol family. She was a feminist, peace campaigner, trade unionist, qualified air pilot, the first woman solicitor in Bristol, journalist, folk musician and writer of songs, plays, poetry and books.

She joined the Communist Party after seeing the plight of hunger marchers in 1931 and in 1935 she caused a diplomatic incident when as a member of the England hockey team in Germany she refused to give the Nazi salute and at great personal risk she smuggled ‘Red Aid’ to the Greek Patriots in 1937.

She was Head of the Legal Department of the National Council for Civil Liberties in 1940 — then moved to The Daily Worker (now The Morning Star) as legal advisor and journalist before moving to Labour Monthly.

Angela moved back to the West Country and married Swindon based activist Ike Gradwell in 1962.

ISBN 978-0-9570726-3-3

£10.00 including P&P

While Wiltshire gives an impression of sleepy rural calm, it has been the scene of impassioned events that have helped shape our nation’s history.

This volume chronicles the rural rebellions of the past, and the often savage response by the rich and powerful who used the gibbet and the noose to suppress the poor..

This book brings together the voices of academics and local trades unionists to tell the stories of ordinary working people engaged in extraordinary events.

ISBN 978-0-9957917-0-1

£10 including P&P

This fascinating book based on a series of talks given at a local history day-school in Bradford on Avon in 2010 lifts the lid on Wiltshire’s hidden radical past.

Perhaps surprisingly, Wiltshire — with its small towns and rolling green pastures — has been at the heart of dramatic political events. This volume chronicles stories of trades union militancy, machine breaking and unlawful assembly, as well as the fascinating story of how Trowbridge was the only town in Britain to have a husband and wife team of Communist councillors sitting on an Urban District Council.

This book brings together the voices of academics and local trades unionists to tell the stories of ordinary working people engaged in extraordinary events.

ISBN 978-0-9570726-0-2

£10.00 including P&P