A couple of months ago I went to a talk on the theme of Radical Walthamstow, given by local historian Roger Huddle. Walthamstow is the Victorian suburb of London that has been my home for nearly 20 years. Between around 1870 and 1940 it was a hive of working class agitation, organising and self-help. Just yards from where I lived until very recently, workers had clubbed together to build a community centre named in honour of William Morris, the Arts and Crafts Movement leader and socialist dynamo who was born in the town.
One of the services that used to be run in the centre was a socialist Sunday school. On the wall was a wooden plaque, and on it were set out the “Socialist 10 Commandments”. Continue reading
Rethinking Childhood 