“There were once three golliwogs who were most unhappy in the nursery cupboard. None of the other toys liked them, and nobody ever played with them, because their little mistress Angela didn’t like their black faces.” These were the opening words of a children’s story...
Police, drugs and ‘agriculture’ in Toxteth
In the early 1970s the police in Liverpool made extensive use of their powers to stop people in the street and search them. Writing about this years later, Ian MacDonald, a former assistant chief constable, described it as a key tactic in combating inner city crime....
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The Bridewell and the Boys from the Blackstuff
Much of Alan Bleasdale’s acclaimed TV drama was filmed at a former police station on Prescot Street.
Scotland Road Free School
Come to school when you want and do what you like. The Free School was a bold experiment in classroom democracy that didn’t work out.
Police, drugs and ‘agriculture’ in Toxteth
In 1971 there were two notable court cases where black men accused of possessing cannabis were acquitted after claiming police had planted it.
The battle to save Fisher Bendix
The Fisher Bendix factory in Kirkby had been built with government help to ease unemployment in the area. It wasn’t a success and in 1972 when the owners tried to shut it down workers occupied the factory in an effort to save their jobs. Three years later they began running it themselves.
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