Susan Gillanders

A New Resource for Chartist Historians! In my time as a postgraduate researcher, some of my most enjoyable times have been spent in Holyoake House, trawling through items from the Co-operative Heritage Trust’s impressive archive of mater…

OF INTEREST TO CHARTISTS!

Come Monday, I will be starting a funded project with the Co-operative Heritage Trust archive to create a research resource highlighting points of interaction between Chartism and co-operation. More details below:

dnhamiltonblog.wordpress.com/2025/06/07/a...

Lloyd Cole in M&S, Glasgow. (1985) Pic: Kevin Cummins.

BBC Four - The Story of Microdisney: The Clock Comes Down the Stairs The story of trailblazers Microdisney, one of the most talented bands never to make it.

Public service announcement:

The Microdisney documentary is only on iPlayer for 13 more days. Pass it on.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Portrait painting of Charles Darwin in a blue tunic and brown jacket with brown hair and folded hands.

Happy #DarwinDay! Every year on Darwin's birthday, humanists celebrate his contributions to science and to non-religious understandings of human life. This year we're sharing a tale of the great scientist's student days in Edinburgh, which prove that we were all surly teenagers once! Link in replies

Irish playwright Brian Friel’s entire works to be staged in north-west of Ireland over the next five years FrielDays - A Homecoming will celebrate the centenary of one of Ireland’s great literary figures

Irish playwright Brian Friel’s entire works to be staged in north-west of Ireland over the next five years www.irishnews.com/entertainmen...

As it's National Pie Day in the US we are using it as an excuse to post our favourite bakery line up. West Calder Co-op Society, Addiewell bakery 1898. Addiewell was a new town established in the 1860s to house the workers of 'Paraffin' Young's chemical works. The floury footprints make this photo.

Empires My grandmother prophesied the end Of your empires, O fools! She was ironing. The radio was on. The earth trembled beneath our feet. One of your heroes was giving a speech. “Monster,” she called him. There were cheers and gun salutes for the monster. “I could kill him with my bare hands,” She announced to me. There was no need to. They were all Going to the devil any day now. “Don’t go blabbering about this to anyone,” She warned me. And pulled my ear to make sure I understood. - Charles Simic

This feels especially prescient today.

35 Watson Crescent, Edinburgh—16 flats in a tenement built along the Union Canal in 1898 for workers in the nearby foundries, breweries and rubber factories.

Former residents include:

Bo'ness Co-operative Society float for a Bo'ness Infirmary Pageant. Advertising both the ethos of co-operation and co-operative goods.

Happy Festivus everyone. Always amazed this crazy episode birthed a real celebration that seems to be enjoyed by so many around the world. So may your feats be strong and your grievances few. Enjoy.

The thread about the rise and fall of High Rise Edinburgh – a chronology of multi-storey, public housing in the city Between 1950 and 1973, Edinburgh built a total of 77 municipal, multi-storey housing blocks. These provided the city with 6,084 new flats (give or take a few) across 968 storeys. I’m interest…

This is good from Andy Arthur - the rise and fall of High Rise Edinburgh: a chronology of multi-storey public housing in the city ...
threadinburgh.scot/2024/01/05/t...

In the days before the NHS community ambulances were commonplace. In 1903 West Calder Co-op Society paid to provide an Ambulance Waggon for the use of their members. It was used regularly as the locality had 3 mines and the nearest hospital was the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. Courtesy of AVHT

Finally some good advice from an advice column.

Interesting. New YouGov poll shows strong support for assisted dying across just about every demographic/political grouping.

Unflappable to flappable was always the best Cary Grant

bsky.app/profile/did:...
Had a go at creating a feed for Killie ..

A City Solitary - View media Over 126 years of moving images from Northern Ireland, featuring amateur and professional films from 1897 to 2023, brought to you by Northern Ireland Screen.

Today's occasional archive.
A City Solitary was produced by John Hume & Derry filmmaker Terence McDonald.
They worked together on a number of film projects before Hume entered Politics.
This story of Derry is a hugely important work.

An advertisement for the polio vaccine which reads: "they all got vaccine except dad...don't take a chance...take your polio shots!" It depicts a photo of a family gathered around a father who is in an iron lung.

With science falling under increasing attack, this medical historian is here to remind people of the power of vaccines. THREAD👇

Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7 #history #skystorians

How should we respond to the recent riots and the return of the far-right as a political force? Sociologist Dr Russ Jackson on how Reform UK and the UK’s news media engage in the shameless normalisation of far-right discourse

The shameless normalisation of far-right discourse | Sociologist Dr Russell Jackson asks ‘how should we respond to the recent riots and the return of the far-right as a political force?’

@docrussjackson.bsky.social
@bylinetimes.bsky.social

NEW in store - Mon the Killie lads of 2024.

Available on T-shirts, prints, mugs and tea towels at fitbatweets.com

Retweets and shares to your Kilmarnock supporting pals would be much appreciated.

Building work is about to start here in West Calder in the next few weeks to turn our old Co-operative bakehouse into a centre to celebrate Scotland's co-operative movement. Have you got any co-operative photos, objects, stories from your area you'd like to share? Email Susan@westcalder.org

Upcoming talk on 90th anniversary of East Donegal Border Petition - Donegal Daily FacebookTweetLinkedInPrint A talk will be given in the Manorcunningham Community Resource Centre this Sunday concerning the 90th anniversary of the…

In 1934, 7368 East Donegal citizens petitioned to have their region transferred into NI.
It wouldn't have mattered as both sides of the NW border ended up abandoned by their respective governments.
But it highlights the folly of not treating Derry-Donegal as a single economic unit, then and now.

Nothing says Christmas 24 like these Apprehensive Nutcracker Crackers.

Where Do The Nights Of Sleep Go To When They Do Not Come To Me, by ballboy from the album A Guide for the Daylight Hours

Right blueskydivers! Here we go. A song to get us started.

ballboy.bandcamp.com/track/where-...

West Calder Co-op Staff outing in a charabanc c 1925. My favourite photo from the Scottish Co-operative Discovery Centre project.