#great strike

[krusaderman]

Battle of Featherston Street

The ‘Battle of Featherston Street’, in downtown Wellington, saw some of the most violent street fighting of the 1913 Great Strike.

[strikepenrhyn]

[strikepenrhyn]

#PenrhynArt ... 1902 Telegram: Will you sell quarry six millions / Evans British Hotel Bangor

Source: Archives and Special Collections, Bangor University, Penrhyn Castle Papers PSQ 256

[strikepenrhyn]

Great Strike Memorial, Bethesda

Placed in the garden of Jerusalem Chapel (Welsh Presbyterian Church) in Bethesda in 2000, the centenary of the start of the Great Strike, which commenced on 22 November 1900 and lasted for three years.

[strikepenrhyn]

#PenrhynArt / Week 3 Review

...Music

When working site-responsively on a commission it’s as much about listening to the sound of a place as it is about doing things; about taking-note as much as actually interacting. And so, during the course of the last 4 months I’ve been lucky enough to catch a glimpse (and film) a few pianists playing the grand piano in the Great Hall. I even discovered the piano tuner on one occasion, playing scales, as I traversed an upper landing. These audio ‘slices of time’ are as indicative of the life of the castle as the Penrhyn Male Voice Choir is to Bethesda and the quarry. And so, within this context, I was lucky enough to record an original piano duet titled: ‘Llechi’ composed by two of the Conservation Assistants, John and Kane, at the start of the week.

A few days later I added to the ‘Strike Penrhyn’ (2016) audio archive by recording the choir in Bethesda for the third time. I am always humbled and honoured to be in their presence as they exercise their vocal chords and harmonies. Whilst simultaneously being taken back-in-time as originally the choirs members were sourced solely from the quarry workforce. They are a living link to a history so deep and vital within the area that their voices form a melodic incantation that spans decades.

...Mountain

The light was noticeably different last week - signalling a change in the weather and reminding me of the seasonal shift from Winter to Spring. It cast long, monochrome, shadows across the hillsides that surround Bethesda. Adding further layers of drama and intensity to the narrative. It seemed as if just about every discarded piece of slate was reflecting back towards me. Like individual narrative shards reflecting the complexity of the stories held within the valley and the oppositional opinions related to castle/quarry, chapel/church, striker/returnee:

'A very close community during the hard years of the strike - rifts were formed and still linger in the older generations thoughts.'

...People

This was the week that I began recording the thoughts of the people of Bethesda. Contacting richly diverse elements of the community from castle volunteers and quarry members to the people at Marchad Ogwen. I collated the responses of more than 80 people who embody just about every element of the embedded narrative. From those that refuse to enter the castle on account of their family history passed from grand-father to father to son to those that have volunteered there for more than 20 years:

'My grand-father died in the quarry. My father worked there and his three brothers. When I visited the castle I was so angry at the opulence.'

'The slate industry is such a fundamental element of the story of Penrhyn that there is a definite need to extrapolate the relationship with the community, to signpost its relevance to the visitor.’

As I continue on with the commission until late April I will continue to gather more responses that will feed into my blog, the work produced and my final report. It's a chance for voices to be heard and questions to be raised.

[strikepenrhyn]

The Great Strike at the Penrhyn Quarry, from 1900 until 1903, was one of the largest disputes ever seen in the industrial history of Britain. Although there had been strikes before at the quarry there had never been one on such a large scale and local society would be changed forever.

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/nostalgia/looking-back-great-strike-penrhyn-4698535

[becky-sauerbrunn]

PINOOOEEEE