Wantage Morris Men flying the Wessex flag in Oxford on Mayday morning The image above comes courtesy of Chris McDowell. It is good to see the wyvern being flown earlier this month on Icknield Way. It serves as a nice appetiser for our annual St Ealdhelm's Day event, which this year takes place in LacockContinue reading "St Ealdhelm’s Day 2019"
And What Rough Beast, Its Hour Come At Last, Slouches Towards Singapore To Be Born?
Believe it or not, there was a time when we in Wessex were proud of James Dyson. When Wessex Society was formed in 1999, they asked him to become a patron, based on his former status as a successful innovator based in Wiltshire. Three years later, this request looked rather foolish when he moved mostContinue reading "And What Rough Beast, Its Hour Come At Last, Slouches Towards Singapore To Be Born?"
Don’t Look to London
So Jeremy Corbyn has admitted what we all suspected: that even if Labour were to win a snap general election in the new year, Brexit would still go ahead as planned. Is there any reason to vote for either of the two biggest London parties? If you want to save Wessex from economic suicide, voteContinue reading "Don’t Look to London"
Wessex Political Thinkers: Rolf Gardiner
Rolf Gardiner (1902-1971) was a friend and neighbour of George Pitt-Rivers, who I have written about previously. Like Pitt-Rivers, he is a problematic figure, due to his early support for Hitler. Unlike Pitt-Rivers, his support appears to have been short-lived. Some have speculated that this was due to his having Jewish ancestry; but Hitler's militarism,Continue reading "Wessex Political Thinkers: Rolf Gardiner"
Cottages or crops?
The Wessex Regionalists give a cautious welcome to the government's announcement of a new Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, chaired by Wiltshire resident Sir Roger Scruton. The Commission aims, in the words of its launch statement "to champion beauty in the built environment", and has a commendable commitment to preserving local character in new buildings.Continue reading "Cottages or crops?"
Wessex Political Thinkers: George Pitt-Rivers
The Wessex Regionalists were not the first political party to revive the name of Wessex in the modern era. In the late 1920s, the anthropologist, World War I veteran and Dorset squire George Pitt-Rivers founded the Wessex Agricultural Defence Association (WADA), to protect the interests of rural landowners in the region, and particularly, to protestContinue reading "Wessex Political Thinkers: George Pitt-Rivers"
WR statement on antisemitism
At our last meeting, back in August, the Wessex Regionalist Party approved the following statement on antisemitism: In May 2016 the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance adopted the following, non-legally binding, working definition of anti-semitism: “Anti-semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitismContinue reading "WR statement on antisemitism"
Many meetings
Just a short note that there will be a change to the way our meetups are being organised in future. The Wessex Regionalists have decided to move from one annual general meeting, plus special general meetings organised on an ad hoc basis, to quarterly meetings. Since so many Society members are also members of theContinue reading "Many meetings"
Wessex political thinkers: William Barnes
We recently received an email criticising this blog for focusing too much on "an undifferentiated English radical tradition" and on influences from America and Eastern Europe at the expense of our own native Wessex political tradition. The Clubmen, argued our correspondent, were a distinctively Wessaxon movement, the Levellers were not. Whilst we make no apologiesContinue reading "Wessex political thinkers: William Barnes"
Any Porton a storm
The government today announced a new £5 million support package for public works and small businesses in South Wiltshire. Well, that's nice of them. It's good to see money going to Wessex for a change, instead of London and its immediate surroundings. The reason for this largesse? The two novichok attacks which were undoubtedly carriedContinue reading "Any Porton a storm"
Wessex Regionalists 