Events

Seminar to mark 40th anniversary of the Wapping dispute

The Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School is holding a day-long seminar marking forty years since the Wapping dispute. The seminar will take place on Saturday 24 January and it will be possible to attend either online or onsite. This event will commemorate the year-long struggle of workers for their jobs and trade union rights and reflect on its legacy. The Wapping dispute began when Rupert Murdoch’s News … Continue reading Seminar to mark 40th anniversary of the Wapping dispute

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Commentary

New Palace Yard: a place in labour history

Continuing our series on places of significance in labour history, Dave Steele recalls the long history of extra-parliamentary activity in New Palace Yard, on Parliament’s doorstep. New Palace Yard originated as part of the eleventh century Palace of Westminster. It formed an enclosed outer bailey much larger than the fenced-in area which survives today, and once hosted tournaments, jousts, public executions and a pillory. Later … Continue reading New Palace Yard: a place in labour history

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Labour history news

Peggy Seeger to perform ‘Songs for the Workers’

Legendary folk singer, musician and political activist Peggy Seeger is to perform at a special one-off concert to mark International Workers Day. The event will take place at Cecil Sharp House, London, on the evening of 7 May 2026, and tickets are on sale now. Buy tickets. Seeger will perform alongside prominent folk singers and musicians Jackie Oates and Nick Hart, Lancashire ballad singer and … Continue reading Peggy Seeger to perform ‘Songs for the Workers’

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Commentary

Canklow meadows: a place in labour history

In our continuing series on places in labour history, Joe Stanley draws on his family’s history to recall the pit pony races that raised money and the morale of Rotherham miners during the 1926 general strike. In 1997, my great uncle Denis Stanley (1920-2011) published a history of his childhood in Brinsworth, Rotherham, in the Ivanhoe Review, a journal of local history in his home … Continue reading Canklow meadows: a place in labour history

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Commentary

The correspondence columns of the anarchist press: a place in labour history

Continuing our series on places in labour history, Constance Bantman explains why the back pages of French anarchist newspapers are her happy place. Much of my work focuses on piecing back together often elusive anarchist networks and understanding how they operated in the decades preceding the First World War, and so my happy place is the correspondence sections of anarchist periodicals, where groups and individuals … Continue reading The correspondence columns of the anarchist press: a place in labour history

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Commentary

Coney Street, York: a place in labour history

Continuing our series on places of significance in labour history, Kathy Davies introduces Coney Street in York. As a resident of York, I frequently walk down Coney Street, one of the city’s oldest and most familiar commercial thoroughfares. Now bustling with ‘brunchers’ heading to The Ivy and tourists searching for Betty’s Tea Room, this street was once the home of the Yorkshire Evening Press and … Continue reading Coney Street, York: a place in labour history

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Commentary

West Ham: a place in labour history

In our continuing series on places in labour history, Mike Mecham argues that West Ham and Canning Town in East London form a cornerstone of the British labour movement. There is a good case for West Ham, in East London, being recognized as the cornerstone of the British labour movement and of political radicalism more generally. For Caroline Benn, in her biography of Keir Hardie, … Continue reading West Ham: a place in labour history

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Advice & reference, Topic guides

Sources for Co-operative History in the UK

The Society for the Study of Labour History has created a guide to sources for co-operative history in the UK. Compiled by the Society’s Archives and Resources Committee, the guide includes information on the major archives and their holdings on this topic. First published December 2025. The guide aims to help researchers find material relating to the co-operative movement across UK archives and museums. It … Continue reading Sources for Co-operative History in the UK

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Labour history news

Labour history journals 2025

It has been a big year for labour history journals with both the North West History Journal and Saothar marking their fiftieth issues, and Scottish Labour History publishing its sixtieth edition. This roundup looks at the latest journals published by: Scotland Introducing the 2025 issue of Scottish Labour History, Stewart Maclennan, chair of the Scottish Labour History Society notes that this year sees both the … Continue reading Labour history journals 2025

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Books etc, Labour history news

Half price history books for Christmas 2025

Liverpool University Press, the Society’s publishing partners in the Studies in Labour History book series, are offering up to 50% off print and ebooks in their Winter Sale. Use discount code 27WINTER at checkout on their website before Thursday 18 December 2025. Click here. Find out more about the Studies in Labour History book series. Continue reading Half price history books for Christmas 2025

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