Tim's walks: London and the suffragettes
About the event
The suffragette movement for the right of women to vote just before the first world war tore Edwardian society apart. While there had been a suffragist movement campaigning peacefully for women's votes from at least the 1860s, progress towards women's equality had been glacially slow. The militant suffragette movement, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, embarked on a campaign that was met with violence and in turn became increasingly violent. They slashed paintings, smashed windows and laid bombs. The state responded with police violence, mass imprisonment, force feeding and ended with the notorious 'cat and mouse' law. Today we tend to look back on the suffragettes as great fighters in a just cause. But some of their tactics were extraordinarily controversial at the time and probably would be even more so today. Emmeline ruled the movement with an iron rod expelling all who disagreed with her (including two of her daughters!) So did the ends justify the means and what are the lessons for just stop oil, extinction rebellion or Palestine Action (can I still write that today?) On this walk through central London, we'll see where the suffragettes met, organised, demonstrated and died and the memorials to them. This walk is quite long, about 4 miles, but full of interest, controversy and relevance to today
The cost of the walk is £12 payable by card or cash on the day, by card or by bank transfer or PayPal. Phone for emergencies: 07846899I56
