Ralph Winston Fox.

Image below from:Beau Bo D'Or
background to : The Story

*Lost&Found In Hebden Bridge !*
This of course isn't really a Political Blog.If that's what floats your boat, here is one blogger who has done a rather concise & comprehensive review of all things political in 2009. Plus a few predictions about our fate in 2010.Read&Learn!
Don! I just remembered I haven't sent you the cheque yet for Richmond Fontaine at Bury Met in February I will send soon (my brain had turned to glue these past few weeks!) .Incidentally, The Unthanks Christmas Special has finally surfaced on You Tube (see 1-of-6 videos posted via South America!).I will frieze-frame to try & spot Clive and his blue shirt in the audience!

Oh Dear ßenchers............As A Matter Of Principal , I have decided to end 2009 in chaotic fashion (nothing new here I guess!?).This is a bit of a mish-mash gathered over the last few days.I hope it makes some sort of sense?
George Unthank wrote the above song.'Tar Barrel in Dale'
Off the heads of the guisers
The blazing barrels are hurled
On to the bonfire;
Smoke, sparks and flames swell.
Amidst cheers and rejoicing,
The rites of Old Father Time,
We'll link arms together
Sing Auld Lang Syne........
“He is ignored by the Dictionary of National Biography and Encyclopaedia Britannica. There is no portrait of him in the National Portrait Gallery. He is a man largely without honour in his native town and despite obituary notices in most of the major newspapers, and a memorial service attended by 1,500 people.............."............the only memorial to Fox which exists in Halifax is a small plaque on a bench at Bull Green – on which the date of his death is incorrectly recorded...............[from:]
n.b. The ßench is outside what used to be the main Gents Public Toilet in the town !One the other hand, the Spanish recently put up a monument to him in the town of Lopera where he was killed.Sort of proves J.C.'s point that "a prophet has no honor in his own country". ?

"... they drank all night and were so high in swearing, ranting at the Crosse that they were heard far in the town. Lord Eglington, a Scotch Lord, stood on horseback at T.C door, swearing, ranting, calling for sack, making people drink, 100 were flocking about them, then rid desperately along the Corn-market and light at Crosse, stayd most of the week – men went home with heavy heads and empty purses ......................"

[from: history of The Union Cross Pub in Halfax]

below, a photo taken of Alan today in The Union Cross Pub in Halifax.Nice meeting You & Isobel. We Must Do It Again!

click here to view a wonderful 20 minute long film of Halifax between the years 1951-1965.It's part of the Yorkshire Film onLine Archive.I must go through this film via freeze-frame.See if I can spot myself or, for that matter,Alan Burnett [aka News From Nowhere + Daily Photo Blog + Great Yorkshire Pubs + Fat Dog To The Big Apple ]
Alan , I cant identify this tram journey! Where in Halifax might it be?

Alan, here are some links towards the Great Halifax Marxist Writer&Fighter Ralph Winston Fox. I also have a copy (somewhere!)of an unpublished dissertation I helped research 15 years ago on his Life & an out-of-print copy of one of his novels ,if you wish to borrow?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Winston_Fox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Brigades

http://www.trotsky.org/archive/pollitt/articles/1937/fox_tribute.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SPfoxR.htm
http://www.marxists.org/archive/fox/index.htm
http://www.marx.org/archive/jackson-ta/articles/1937/fox_writings.htm

The Mind can make funny tricks.I was telling a pretty young lady a couple of week's ago that i was old enough to "remember when trams ran in Halifax".she looked at me kinda unbelieving ."Trams stopped running in the 1940's ." I was told. " But they still had many tracks in the road until the 1960's".Which I guess is what i really remembered.................... The moral of this story,the moral of this song is.err...................don't get clever around Pretty Young Female Historians!
[In Other News............] A Big Congratulations To Claire At you have all the photos For Reaching This Milestone.(i contributed to it!)Check Her Blog Out To See The Results Of This Interesting Project.

photo via:Chris Hester / ɹǝʇsǝH sıɹɥƆ's

*This will be my last post of 2009, so Bestest Wishes To All For 2010. May All Your Blogs Be Spotted!*