Originally published @ 9:16 am, Wed 18th Aug 2010
The 30 year anniversary of the formation of the Polish freedom movement, the Solidarnosc trade union ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_(Polish_trade_union) ) , is being celebrated with a touring exhibition of photos and this week it visited Nottingham.
It provides an opportunity to remind ourselves of the struggle for freedom that took place only 20 - 30 years ago. And an opportunity to remind ourselves for struggles for freedom in Nottingham during the 1800's.
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The opening of the exhibition in Nottingham was on Monday and I was invited to speak cos I happen to help get such events for the Polish community (one of the community's key leaders was once a community development officer in my ward).
Nottinghamshire and Nottingham have particular links with Poland because so many servicemen were stationed here in the second world war, as was their war time leader. The county is twinned with Poznan.
Solidarnosc triggered events that led to the liberation of their country and Eastern Europe. It is natural that such a movement started from large workplaces, where people can most easily sustain organisations to fight for justice.
The imposition of martial rule in Poland in January 1982 led to protests across the world, including Nottingham. I was shown leftist leaflets from the time explaining this was a socialist campaign and not a campaign for the restoration of capitalism in Poland, but in retrospect, you kinda wonder. I nipped off to the local studies library to find a clipping of the 5,000 strong protest held in Nottingham which was addressed by MPs and spokespeople from all the then main political parties.
History programmes have reminded us again only recently how for Poles, liberation from the invasions of 1939 only truly came in 1990.
Local residents, mainly of the older generations, turned up for the opening, 2 ladies in traditional Polish costumes; 2 former servicemen who'd served in intelligence.
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Once proceedings had got going, I took most of the visitors for a tour of The Council House to explain and remind people of our own stories.
- The main staircase, with the statue of a women welcoming people (the "Queen of the Midlands", in front of the mural welcoming crafts and commerce, and the magnificent crystal dome;
- The ballroom with Robin Hood; and the balcony overlooking the renewed Old Market Square;
- The Lord Mayor's rooms, including the carved city crest (slogan - "Vivit Post Funera Virtus" - or "Be Good" as Brian Clough would have said; and includes a Moorish castle to celebrate the crusades); and the paintings of Nottingham as was before the expansion that came in late Victorian times;
- The Council Chamber, where decisions are made, but hardly any of the crests and decorations are in English;
- The main dome, and the four scenes of Nottingham history chosen - 1) the Vikings to celebrate Danelaw (Nottingham was founded by a Saxon; and the Vikings did not have horned helmets; 2) William the Conqueror commissioning the castle to control the last (then) fordable part of the River Trent (which was to become a proxy for control of England); 3) the tales of Robin Hood; 4) King Charles raising the standard to start the English Civil war in 1640 (although he failed to raise an army and Nottingham took no side in the war);
Missing from the stories are the Luddites and the Chartists.
Luddites organised for pay and conditions (and quality of goods) but had to act as a secret society when trade unions didn't exist and such associations were illegal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddites
Nottingham was the only city to elect a Chartist MP - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartists - votes for all (men); secret ballots; no property qualifications for MPs; payment of MPs; equal constituencies; annual parliaments;
The "slogan" around the dome provides an opportunity to emphasise four distinctive phases of councils - founded initially for counsel and commerce, taking on a new role in Victorian times with the drive on public health; building "homes for the Boys" after The Great War; and the provision of the welfare state after World War II.
(Was a fifth phase the Blairite emphasis on customer focus and service delivery?)
All of which led to concluding the tour by explaining why history matters.
I wonder how if major parts of Nottingham's history is over-looked now, how we will be come to regarded in centuries' times.
TO BE SPELL CHECKED AND FINISHED.
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