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The power couple of Teesside communism
George and Phyllis Short were working-class heroes, facing down all enemies to fight the class struggle — especially the British Union of Fascists. We should remember them better, argues local TONY FOX
DR DAVID GORDON SCOTT tells the story of the North Sands Massacre, Sunderland, as part of the ongoing work of remembrance of those killed by soldiers during the 1825 Seafarers Strike and the bicentennial commemorations on Sunday August 3
MATT KERR charts his bike-riding odyssey in aid of the Royal Marsden charity and CWU Humanitarian Aid
JOHN CALLOW tells of the rise, fall and rise again of a young martyr to the early French republic, Joseph Bara, whose short life was elevated by Robespierre and, later, others for its emotional and ideological appeal
April 9 1928 – July 26 2025
OLIVER SNELLING, a south London stonecarver and yeoman stonemason, relates how he is helping bring about a new festival next month
I WAS saddened to see recently that the Battle of Stockton memorial unveiled in 2018 was partly obscured by a market stall, laying dirty and neglected at the foot of Stockton’s Market Cross.
The Battle of Stockton was the first and most significant action against the British Union of Fascists (BUF) on Teesside. It was a humiliating blow, so expertly delivered that the BUF never recovered nor developed locally thereafter.
The anti-fascist campaign on Teesside was led and organised by two people: George Short and his wife Phyllis. Short, the founding father of Teesside communism, was born in Chopwell in 1900 and so too Phyllis, in 1903. Short took up the only employment available, mining.
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TONY FOX highlights some of the activities of the newly founded North East Branch of the National Association of Italian Partisans
The annual commemoration of anti-fascist volunteers who fought fascism in Spain now includes a key contribution from Italian comrades
TONY FOX reports from a Hartlepool event to commemorate those from the area who went and fought for liberty in Spain
TONY FOX uncovers the story of Herbert ‘Avie’ Riding, one of five International Brigade volunteers from Hartlepool who fought fascism in Spain, as part of an annual commemoration of Teesside’s anti-fascist legacy
