Newsletter of the National Clarion Cycling Club 1895 (North Lancs Union)
February 2012
DISTINGUISHED LADY CYCLIST
THE COUNTESS OF WARWICK
Know your history; learn your history; understand your history; but most important of all, never forget your history.
Daisy Greville , The Countess of Warwick Robert Blatchford’s Aristocratic Convert
(An article submitted by Comrade Sylvia Alving) In her Autobiography published in 1929, Life’s Ebb and Flow by Frances Evelyn Greville, Countess of Warwick, (Daisy to her family and friends) there is a small photograph of her with bicycle. She is fashionably dressed and wearing a large hat. Intrigued, I got in touch with Cycling World, hoping to discover that, in their Archives, there might be a bigger and better photograph of the lady in cycling attire. But imagine my disappointment, when the photograph that arrived was of the Countess, with fan, seated and somewhat languidlooking. I did, however, discover that Harry Dacre’s 1892 hit song, Daisy Bell, was indeed inspired by her legendary beauty.
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do, I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage - I can't afford a carriage But you'd look sweet on the seat Of a bicycle built for two. The reason for my curiosity about Lady Warwick (1861-1938) and the Socialist politics to which she devoted much time and energy from the 1890s until her death in 1938, was because I had been asked to write a book about her politics by the owner of the remnant of her Essex estate the Gardens of Easton Lodge. I then discovered that I would have to explain her journey from having been the richest heiress in England, lover of Bertie, Prince of Wales throughout the naughty nineties, to being the
People’s friend while remaining a monarchist. Very much a maverick figure: class traitor to the aristocracy, class enemy to the proletariat, she began her married life in 1881 as a Lady Bountiful, stood as Labour candidate against Major Anthony Eden in 1923 , and finally was a supporter of Sylvia Pankhurst’s anti-fascist struggle in 1937, appealing in a letter to the latter’s newspaper, New Times and Ethiopia News, for donations towards an anti-aerial bombing monument in Woodford Green in Essex and appealing for an end to aerial warfare, which is where I first came across her name. Lady Warwick credits her conversion from landowning Tory to Socialist, becoming a platform speaker initially for the Social Democratic Federation, and later for the Labour party, to the editor of The Clarion, Robert Blatchford, On the front page of the Clarion of 16th February, 1895, he had printed an article criticising the extravagance of the great costume ball held in Warwick Castle to celebrate her husband’s inheriting the title of Earl on his father’s death, and she becoming the next chatelaine in line. Through gritted teeth, Blatchford named it a ‘costly masquerade’ an example of the aristocracy’s conspicuous consumption: ‘lavish luxury on lavish luxury, heap on heap, glitter on glitter, in a vulgar saturnalia of gaudy pride.’ This obscenity he contrasted with ‘other men, and women, and children the while huddling in their ragged hovels, their meagre shrunken flesh pierced by the winter's cruel sting; without food, without clothes, without fire, shuddering, shivering, suffering till dawn; and then again from dawn till night, from day to day, from week to week - their souls crushed between ever-grinding millstones’! And he ended with the unkindest cut of all: ‘I can frame no angry taunts upon this one; upon my life I deeply pity the poor, rich Countess of Warwick.’ So shocked was she at being represented in this manner that the Countess travelled at all possible speed to London and the Fleet Street offices of the Clarion, appearing in Blatchford’s little room in a great rage, demanding an instant apology. None was forth-coming, however, instead she was given a lecture on the meaning of her (and his) particular brand of economics. Thus chastened, this was followed by her return to Warwick Castle and its many guests, where she compiled a reading list, arranged for a university professor to come and answer the many questions that were crowding into her mind. As she put it, ever after ‘I joined the Union of Love in the service of those who suffer.’
Matters Arising A several of items in the last issue of The Clarion (December 2011) caused a number of members to contact me regarding: an error, a clarification and an omission. I thank them for their trouble and respond below.
Sylvia Pankhurst; a correction Dr. Ian Bullock, secretary of the Brighton Section of the National Clarion Cycling Club who is one of the country’s leading experts on Sylvia Pankhurst writes: ‘It is perfectly true that Sylvia was an outspoken opponent of the war ~ in contrast to her mother and sister ~ but that was not the issue that led to her expulsion from the WSPU. This happen before the war and was because of Sylvia’s insistence on organising among working class women, forming the East London Federation of the WSPU, and aligning herself publicly with the Left’.
Menwith Hill in Yorkshire A couple of correspondence from members asking for more information about this American Spy Base. Menwith Hill occupies 545 acres of land in Nidderdale near Harrogate. The land was compulsory purchased by the MOD in 1954 an action never debated in Parliament. The base which became ‘operational’ in 1960 is occupied by the 421st Air Base Group and is run by the National Security Agency. It is the largest intelligence gathering and surveillance base outside of the USA, the information gathered is relayed directly to NSA HQ at Fort Meade in Maryland. It is unaccountable, secretive and out of the control of the UK government. Two of the 33 large golf balls structures called radomes form a crucial part of the US Missile Defence system known as the Space Based Infra Red System. Missile Defence, unlike what its name suggests, is an offensive system and is about US domination of space. The road signs along the A59 identify the site as a RAF base. There are currently 4 RAF personal at the base and 8 from the Royal Navy. The base’s 540 US military personnel are under the command of US Colonel Michelle Clays. Who must be kept very busy defending the ‘free world’ as she never acknowledge our invitation to write a feature for The Clarion about her lovely Yorkshire home. So why not pay her a visit on the 4th July 2012, you definitely won’t be alone.
Greenham Common: Definitely a serious omission to have ignored the 30th anniversary of this historic women’s led victory On the 5th September 1981 a group of 40 marchers (mostly women) from Cardiff arrived at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire. They were protesting about NATO’s decision that 96 American Cruise missiles were to be based there. Shortly after arriving, the protestors set up a Women’s Peace Camp outside the main gate. The camp remained there for the next 19 years during which time the police, local and central government did everything in their power to end the women’s occupation of the Common. After years of harassment had failed to move the women off the land attempts were made to move them by means of the legal system. A legal challenge was made to deny them voting rights but the High Court ruled that the tenure of the women had sufficient permanence for each of them to be included on the electoral register. The Defence Secretary then introduced a new set of byelaws to the effect that any women found within the protected area of the Common could be arrested, charged and fined. Two brave women were fined but appealed their convictions, the case lasted over four years and was finally settled in the women’s favour by the House of Lords. They ruled the Minister had exceeded his powers in attempting to prevent access to common land. The camp stayed on the Common until the missiles were removed in 1992. The women’s challenge to the byelaws exposed the illegal use of the land for military purposes and in April 2000 the fences came down and the Common was handed back to the public. The area where the Women’s Peace Camp was situated has now been turned into a Peace Garden. At Greenham Common a small group of courageous, determined women (and their supporters) illustrated to the world the power of non-violent direct action. Footnote: Comrade Bob Sproule from Keighley writes: Today I bumped into veteran peace activist Helen John. She told me of her disgust at the continued use of drone missiles in conflict zones like Afghanistan and Pakistan. She remembered the fear she felt when Hitler’s V1 and V2 rockets fell on the south east of England during World War Two, indeed her grandparents’ house had been destroyed by a V2. She was therefore outraged to discover that drone missiles are being stored at Waddington in Lincolnshire. She proposed setting up a Peace Camp at the base on Sept 3rd 2011, the camp is open to all women and men who are committed to nonviolent protest. Details contact: Helen on 01535 603240
Cycling Socialists: ‘The Big Fella’
Michael Collins, The Big Fella, was born into an Irish Republican family on 16th October 1890. His elderly father had been a Feinian and his school master in Lisavaird was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Collins left Ireland aged fifteen to work in London where he was soon recruited into the IRB. In 1916, he returned to Ireland and played an active role fighting in Dublin during the failed Easter Uprising.
Following a period of internment in north Wales, Collins once again took up the fight for his country’s freedom. He turned the defeated Republican volunteers into an effective fighting force and became a leading member of Sinn Fein. It was during the War of Independence that this ‘Wanted Man’, made great use of his very large, twin top-tube bicycle. He would daily cycle unnoticed through the streets of Dublin under the noses of the British army. He organized a secret assassination squad called The Twelve Apostles, which in a single morning killed 14 officers of the infamous ‘Cairo Gang’, virtually eliminating the British intelligence network in Ireland.
In October 1921 Collins led a delegation to London to negotiate a peace treaty with the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Collins returned to Ireland with an agreement that Ireland would become an independent Free State but six counties in Ulster would remain under British rule. Many of Collins’ former comrades in the IRA regarded the Treaty as a betrayal and a bitter Civil War broke out in which Collins commanded the Pro Treaty forces. On the 22nd of August 1922 an armed convoy escorting Collins through Beal na mBlath in County Cork was ambushed by Anti Treaty republicans and in the ensuing 20 minute gun battle Michael Collins was killed by a rifle shot to the head.
News from across the water The Occupation of Wall Street
In September 2011, Occupy Wall Street began in Zuccotti Park, New York, when 1,000 people gathered to protest against corporate greed and social inequality. The Occupy Movement quickly spread to more than 950 cities and 82 countries. Comrade Steve Nightingale did his bit to keep our Club’s tradition of fighting for the just case. Steve writes: After their generators were confiscated by the police, a group of Occupiers decided to generate their own electricity for charging batteries, by adapting turbo trainers to generate usable watts. I hopped on to one of the bikes this morning and gave them a spirited half hour of Clarion Power. Well done ~ no contribution is ever too small, nor none ever too large. Footnote: the day after Steve’s effort, police in riot gear once again jumped to the rich man’s orders and attacked the weak and venerable with batons.
A musical hello from San Francisco We met singer/song-writer/political activist Jon Fromer at the Raise Your Banners festival in Bradford. Jon comes from sunny California where he regularly rides his Marin mountain bike in the hills outside of San Francisco. The week before Jon and Mary, his wife attended the RYB festival he had been outside the gates of Fort Benning in Georgia helping lead the annual mass demonstration to close down the infamous ‘School of the Assassins’. In 1965 he took part in Martin Luther King’s civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery. Last year Jon received the Joe Hill Award for a lifetime contribution to working class culture. Who knows perhaps one day he will be able to join the protest outside the gates of Menwith Hill Spy Station.
Bits found in the saddlebag
Club Headquarters
Since its formation some 16 years ago the Club’s HQ has been Oakhill College. Members are notified that henceforth Bolton Wood St. Socialist Club will serve as our headquarters. The Socialist Club links with the Clarion Cycling Club can be traced back over 100 years. Note: the starting point for our Club runs will remain at Oakhill College in Whalley. Bolton Clarion members outside the Socialist Club at the start of a sponsored ride to support of the families of striking miners. (Denis Pye 1984).
News from the capital Our comrades in London Clarion have just purchased some very high quality embroidered blazer badges based on a design used by the London Section in the 1930/40’s. Whilst talking about London every cyclists and visitor to the capital should call in and say hello to Digger and his comrades who works at a wonderful café/bar/cycle workshop called ‘Look mum, no hands’. It serves great food, quality coffee and some excellent bottled beers. The address is: 49 Old Street, London EC1V 9HX.
EASTER MEET This year’s Easter Meet is being held in Shropshire where we will ride quiet country lanes familiar to Tom Groom and the founders of the Clarion Cycling Club. The Meet will be based at 11, The Close, Church Aston, Nr Newport TF10 9JL where Syd and Pippa Sherriff have kindly agreed to make their house and lawn available for our use. Members are welcome to camp at 11, The Close, where there is also some limited accommodation in the house, in an on-site caravan and in a large size family tent. There are also a number of local B& Bs and a Premier Inn in Telford (tel: 0871 527 8812) Sid and Pippa have use their extensive knowledge of local pubs tried and tested, to plan routes which like the Clarion tours of old will require the use of boozometers rather than speedometers. All the rides will start from The Close: Friday 6th April depart at 1pm. Saturday 7th April depart at 10am Sunday 8th April depart at 10am Monday 9th April depart at 9.30am ‘If you miss me at the back of the ride and you can’t find me no-where, come on over to the nearest pub and I’ll be drinking right there’ (no doubt with Martin & Norman) Members are invited to attend for the full Meet or a couple of days or just a single ride. If you do plan to join us please let Sid or Pippa know asap as it will help them with planning the accommodation. Tel: 01952 811164.
Tail lights: Please do your best to support the Mikron Theatre. They have two plays touring throughout the Spring, Summer and Autumn: ‘Losing the Plot’ about love, life and allotments. ‘Can you keep a Secret’ the tale of the Yorkshire Luddites. For dates see: www.mikron.org.uk The Working Class Movement Library in Salford have an exhibition running until the end of March titled: The Clarion – a paper, a movement, a way of life. The library is a wonderful facility for anyone interested in the struggle for a New Society with Justice as its Foundation and Love as its Law. See: www.wclm.org.uk
2nd National Classic Lightweight Rally
Over the weekend of May 11th to 13th the 2nd National Classic Lightweight Cycle Rally will be held in North Lincolnshire on the Belton Park Pavilion Sport Field which is conveniently located just 2 miles from junction 2 on the M108 motorway, close to Doncaster. There is on-site camping/caravans and plenty of B&B establishments close by. The weekend’s programme will be as follows: Friday : Registration & welcome from 4pm. Saturday: 9.00 to 1.00 Cycle Jumble 13.00 Choice of two led rides 6.30 Social event in the Pavilion Sunday: 10.00 Choice to two led rides. The rides will be of 15/20 miles and 40/50 miles. If you wish to attend please contact Paul Reid asap by telephoning: 016973 43089. Belton in the Isle of Axeholme is surrounded by gently undulating, quiet country lanes which make it ideal for sharing cycling and good fellowship. Two, not so important questions: Do you need a lightweight classic bicycle in order to attend the rally? DEFINATELY NOT and if you do want one you might get a bargain at the event’s cycle jumble. What is a Lightweight Classic? I don’t know is the honest answer, but I do know that the Lightweight Classis website is a good place to start looking see: www.classiclightweights.co.uk
A CENTENARY OF CLARION SOCIALISM
Will you answer the Clarion’s Call ? All Clarion cyclists are called to gather at the Clarion Tearoom on Jinny Lane, Newchurch-in- Pendle on Sunday 12th August where our comrades in the Nelson Independent Labour Party plan to hold a Great Socialist Picnic to celebrate the centenary of this historic monument to the Clarion Movement. Don’t forget to bring your own sandwiches and a few coins for the donation bucket which will really help the volunteers to keep that Clarion fire burning for the next one hundred years. See: www.clarionhouse.org.uk
Walk in the footsteps of the Clarion pioneers As a part of the Centenary celebration there is to be a walk on Saturday 11th August. The walk will assemble outside the former ILP Socialist Institute in Vernon Street, Nelson. We will then follow the route that hundreds of Clarion workers took every weekend up to the Clarion Tearoom ‘to get away
A DAY OUT
By Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett’s first work for television ‘A Day Out’, was shown on Christmas Eve 1972, (now available on DVD) is a nostalgic look at a Halifax cycling club’s Sunday ride to Fountains Abbey, a distance of some 82 miles there and back. The film is set in the summer of 1911, a time when an excursion into the countryside meant a short but valuable escape from the dirt and grime of the ‘dark satanic mills’. To quote Tom Groom one of the founders of the Clarion Cycling Club: ‘Ah! This is better. One can breathe now. Clear away from the mucky towns; clear away from the pent up streets…..’ Of all the northern factory towns Halifax, located in a deep hollow, was certainly one of the filthiest. For a factory worker in 1911 life expectancy was less than 48. Although the play has a simple plot, it is nevertheless packed with incident as the club members, from across a wide social spectrum, interact with each other and with the locals they meet. Gregory should be at church. Edgar oversleeps and nearly misses the ride. Mrs. Shorter berates her husband saying (cycling) “is not fit for grown men and especially not on a Sunday.” Mr. Shuttleworth, their Club’s founder studies the route, while the clearly competent Mr.Shorter repairs a puncture, lecturing the others on the technique. The cyclists stop at The Sportsmen; where the Socialist Henry Boothroyd, explains, that the reason England has never had a revolution is that drink and Methodism have combined to distract the population through intoxication and visions of heaven. The film, with its talk of brotherhood and socialism depicts a time when so many, especially those in the Clarion Cycling Club, had begun believed that a fairer and just society for all was a real possibility. This optimism is countered in the final scene where the survivors of the Great War gather on Armistice Day 1919 to commemorate their fallen comrades.
A DAY OUT REVISITED (nearly) What should a member of a Socialist cycling club do on the day of a Royal Wedding? Obviously take advantage of the quite roads and go out for a ride, having first remembered to decked out their bicycle with patriotic red, white and blue ribbons (perhaps not surprisingly I could only find red ribbons). Paul Reid, Secretary of the Northern Counties Vintage and Classic Cycling Club came up with the idea of re-enacting, on bicycles of the period, the ride from Alan Bennett’s film on its centenary. A good idea made even better when the nation was given a day’s holiday by our kind and generous Queen; God bless her and keep her (and start to pay for her). Unfortunately Bennett’s film gives little detail as to the route his cyclists followed, other than to say that every route out of Halifax is up, up and then even more up. It was agreed, that as we planned to make a detour via Pudsey in order to pick up Graham and to eat his wife’s home-made scones, we would make Bolton Abbey our final destination. One abbey being much like any other and Bolton Abbey was 10 miles closer, a fact which had no influence on our decision whatsoever! This easier route did however involve a steep climb up to the Cow and Calf above Ilkley followed by an even steeper descent into the town. The ‘Ilks’, or whatever name the citizens are known by, had obviously heard of our coming as the town was festooned with red, white and blue bunting. After Ilkley the route to Bolton Abbey was almost traffic free and as my ‘not oiled since 1910’ chain kept breaking we had plenty of time to admire the beauty of Wharfedale. After a quick photograph by the ruined abbey we retreated into a local café for lunch. Then we retraced our route back to Graham’s to finish off the scones before some worn-out brake blocks gave us a ‘hairy descent’ into Halifax. Our return was welcomed by the chiming bells of the town’s cathedral, those Yorkshire folk are ever so thoughtful. Did someone mention a royal wedding? For details of the Northern Counties VCCC see: www.ncvccc.co.uk. Rides and camps are fun and you don’t need an expensive vintage machine.
At the Front Supporting the Principles of Socialism It is very pleasing to report that Clarion members took to the streets in many towns in support of their Trade Union brothers and sisters on the Day of Action at the end of November. Unity is our strength and unity is best demonstrated by respecting the picket lines of your fellow workers. The cry in November was: ‘1,2,3,4 we won’t pay a penny more, 5,6,7,8 we won’t work til 68’. The working conditions, wages and pension rights we have today were gained through years of hard struggle, they are not the gift of kind management or benevolent government, they must be defended on the streets. Historic Book on the Spanish Civil War The Club is able to offer members the opportunity to purchase a copy of the above 80 page booklet which is a reproduction of the one issued in December 1938 immediately after the withdrawal of the International Brigades from Spain. The cost is just £6 incl. postage. The Club also played an active role in supporting Tameside Trades Union Council in their campaign to secure a Blue Plaque in memory of James Keogh. This brave International Brigade volunteer from Ashton under Lyne heard the cries of the Spanish people and without hesitation or thought for his own safety rushed to defend the Spanish Republic against the cowardly forces of fascism .Age 23, he fell at Calaceite during the Aragon offensive. The plaque is now displayed in Ashton Public Library. Getting this justly deserved recognition after 70 years is not the end of the matter, it is the vehicle that we will use to launch a similar campaigns in Burnley and Bury. Watch this space!
‘Lanterne Rouge’
CYCLE JUMBLES Details of some further coming cycle jumbles: 5th May: South Manchester Cycle Jumble to be held at Parrs Wood Rural Centre, East Disbury, M20 5PG Contact Tony Davis 0161 442 5568. 12th May: Lightweight Classic Jumble to be held at Belton Park Pavilion, Belton, South Yorkshire DN9 1LR Contact: Charles Jepson 01254 51302. 17th May: Sheffield Cycle Jumble to be held at St. Mary’s Church, Bramall Lane, Sheffield S2 4QZ Contact Mark Hudson 07595 666370 Cycle jumbles give our Club a valuable source of income which along with donations from supporters and fraternal organisation helps to keep the subscription so low. Please donate your rusty old bikes and bits.
New Colour photo-copier Thanks to an unexpected gift from a relative of a former Clarion member in Yorkshire we have been able to purchase a new colour photo-copier. This thoughtful and extremely generous gesture came just at the right time, since my retirement after 30 years of teaching at Oakhill College meant that the Club had lost its access to free colour photo-copying. Thanks comrade, when others doubted and fell by the wayside you kept ‘em turning for Socialism and the National Clarion of old.
No State Funeral for the milk snatcher The Witch is dead ~ well not quite but at the time of going to press the so-called Iron Lady is in an advanced state of rust. We urge all Club members, Trade Unionists and Labour Movement activists to immediately sign the on-line e-petition objecting to the suggestion that she be given a state funeral which we, the common people, will be expected to pay for. If the petition gets 100,000 signatures before 05.08.2012 the issue could be debated in the House of Commons. This at the very least would give Miliband and his Labour colleagues the opportunity to show their true colours by supporting those whose hard-earned rights were stolen by this wicked and thoroughly evil women. See: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/2979