Duncan Hamilton
@dnhamilton.bsky.social
University of Manchester PGR researching radical 19thC literature and politics | National Co-operative Archive volunteer | IHR History Lab+ ambassador (North West England)
Me most of the time: oh I'm from the North East, it's okay nobody knows it that well - haha not quite Newcastle but Haway the Lads and all that!! :)
Me during the General Strike centenary: THAT'S D-U-R-H-A-M TO YOU - IS THAT A MIDLAND ACCENT I HEAR? YOU *RAT*, I WILL ONLY TALK TO THE WELSH
Me during the General Strike centenary: THAT'S D-U-R-H-A-M TO YOU - IS THAT A MIDLAND ACCENT I HEAR? YOU *RAT*, I WILL ONLY TALK TO THE WELSH
December 27, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Me most of the time: oh I'm from the North East, it's okay nobody knows it that well - haha not quite Newcastle but Haway the Lads and all that!! :)
Me during the General Strike centenary: THAT'S D-U-R-H-A-M TO YOU - IS THAT A MIDLAND ACCENT I HEAR? YOU *RAT*, I WILL ONLY TALK TO THE WELSH
Me during the General Strike centenary: THAT'S D-U-R-H-A-M TO YOU - IS THAT A MIDLAND ACCENT I HEAR? YOU *RAT*, I WILL ONLY TALK TO THE WELSH
Making a pancake out of Yorkshire pudding batter and using it as a rudimentary tortilla for a Christmas Dinner Leftovers Burrito is both my greatest culinary invention and my greatest crime. However, I did look extremely smug walking into the living room holding a full Christmas dinner in one hand.
December 26, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Making a pancake out of Yorkshire pudding batter and using it as a rudimentary tortilla for a Christmas Dinner Leftovers Burrito is both my greatest culinary invention and my greatest crime. However, I did look extremely smug walking into the living room holding a full Christmas dinner in one hand.
Reposted by Duncan Hamilton
Twelve places in labour history sslh.org.uk/tag/place-in...
December 25, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Twelve places in labour history sslh.org.uk/tag/place-in...
Responding to a threat to lock down my entirely sheep-based economy with "I'd rather die standing than live kneeling"
Churchill wishes he was me
Churchill wishes he was me
Christmas Day 2025, also known as ground zero of Duncan's Catan phase
December 25, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Responding to a threat to lock down my entirely sheep-based economy with "I'd rather die standing than live kneeling"
Churchill wishes he was me
Churchill wishes he was me
Christmas Day 2025, also known as ground zero of Duncan's Catan phase
December 25, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Christmas Day 2025, also known as ground zero of Duncan's Catan phase
Reposted by Duncan Hamilton
Concluding our series on places in labour history, Greg Billam takes us to St George's Plateau, Liverpool, where crowds have gathered for more than a century for key social, political, and cultural episodes in the city’s history
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/24/s...
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/24/s...
St George’s Plateau, Liverpool: a place in labour history
Concluding our series on places in labour history, Greg Billam takes us to St George’s Plateau, where crowds have gathered for more than a century for key social, political, and cultural epis…
sslh.org.uk
December 24, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Concluding our series on places in labour history, Greg Billam takes us to St George's Plateau, Liverpool, where crowds have gathered for more than a century for key social, political, and cultural episodes in the city’s history
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/24/s...
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/24/s...
Christmas holiday reading off to an interesting start as I swing dramatically between Corinne Fowler and Tim Key.
December 22, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Christmas holiday reading off to an interesting start as I swing dramatically between Corinne Fowler and Tim Key.
Is there anything as liminal as an intercity train at night? I have absolutely no idea where I am most of the time. This is probably what Purgatory looks like these days
December 11, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Is there anything as liminal as an intercity train at night? I have absolutely no idea where I am most of the time. This is probably what Purgatory looks like these days
Reposted by Duncan Hamilton
The future of England is a Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings and Jolof rice and that is not a force that can really be slowed
December 8, 2025 at 11:38 AM
The future of England is a Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings and Jolof rice and that is not a force that can really be slowed
Reposted by Duncan Hamilton
We have a new guide to archive sources for #co-operative #history on the website. You can download the 35-page PDF here
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/07/s...
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/07/s...
Sources for Co-operative History in the UK
Click to download. The Society for the Study of Labour History has created a guide to sources for co-operative history in the UK. Compiled by the Society’s Archives and Resources Committee, the gui…
sslh.org.uk
December 7, 2025 at 7:39 AM
We have a new guide to archive sources for #co-operative #history on the website. You can download the 35-page PDF here
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/07/s...
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/07/s...
Reposted by Duncan Hamilton
In our continuing series on places in labour history, Mike Mecham argues that West Ham and Canning Town in East London form a cornerstone of the British labour movement
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/08/w...
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/08/w...
West Ham: a place in labour history
In our continuing series on places in labour history, Mike Mecham argues that West Ham and Canning Town in East London form a cornerstone of the British labour movement. There is a good case for We…
sslh.org.uk
December 8, 2025 at 7:29 AM
In our continuing series on places in labour history, Mike Mecham argues that West Ham and Canning Town in East London form a cornerstone of the British labour movement
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/08/w...
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/08/w...
Entered the pub and Liverpool were 2-0 up against Leeds. Wondered where the Liverpool I'd seen this season had gone?
Five minutes pass and it's 2-2. Ah, there they are.
Five minutes pass and it's 2-2. Ah, there they are.
December 6, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Entered the pub and Liverpool were 2-0 up against Leeds. Wondered where the Liverpool I'd seen this season had gone?
Five minutes pass and it's 2-2. Ah, there they are.
Five minutes pass and it's 2-2. Ah, there they are.
Reposted by Duncan Hamilton
The first three posts in our Places in Labour History series are now on our website.
Duncan Hamilton on the County Hotel and Durham Miners’ Gala.
Jane Donaldson on the 1938 co-operative movement pageant.
Mark Crail on the burial place of Chartist writer Helen Macfarlane
sslh.org.uk/tag/place-in...
Duncan Hamilton on the County Hotel and Durham Miners’ Gala.
Jane Donaldson on the 1938 co-operative movement pageant.
Mark Crail on the burial place of Chartist writer Helen Macfarlane
sslh.org.uk/tag/place-in...
December 6, 2025 at 8:16 AM
The first three posts in our Places in Labour History series are now on our website.
Duncan Hamilton on the County Hotel and Durham Miners’ Gala.
Jane Donaldson on the 1938 co-operative movement pageant.
Mark Crail on the burial place of Chartist writer Helen Macfarlane
sslh.org.uk/tag/place-in...
Duncan Hamilton on the County Hotel and Durham Miners’ Gala.
Jane Donaldson on the 1938 co-operative movement pageant.
Mark Crail on the burial place of Chartist writer Helen Macfarlane
sslh.org.uk/tag/place-in...
Writing a bit about pubs in Chartism (Cooper advocates for them as meeting places in his novel but doesn't mention the whole, you know, drunkenness aspect). Having a fun moment getting to quote from the Chartist Circular's teetotal address that my 3x and 4x great-grandfathers both signed.
December 4, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Writing a bit about pubs in Chartism (Cooper advocates for them as meeting places in his novel but doesn't mention the whole, you know, drunkenness aspect). Having a fun moment getting to quote from the Chartist Circular's teetotal address that my 3x and 4x great-grandfathers both signed.
As much as I'm a scholar of Chartism, I'm also a Durham lad. It was great, therefore, to have a chance to write about one of the first sites to inspire my interest in British labour history, situated at the heart of the Miners Gala.
In the first of our December series on places in labour history, @dnhamilton.bsky.social writes about the County Hotel, Durham
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/01/c...
sslh.org.uk/2025/12/01/c...
County Hotel, Durham: a place in labour history
In the first of a series of articles on places of significance in labour history, Duncan Hamilton tells the story of the Durham Miners’ Gala’s long association with the County Hotel. On…
sslh.org.uk
December 1, 2025 at 8:34 AM
As much as I'm a scholar of Chartism, I'm also a Durham lad. It was great, therefore, to have a chance to write about one of the first sites to inspire my interest in British labour history, situated at the heart of the Miners Gala.
My Thomas Cooper library grows in size and splendour with an extremely rare first edition of Alderman Ralph. Only the first volume, alas, but there's plenty of indecipherable notes in the back to keep me busy until Volume 2 surfaces!
November 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
My Thomas Cooper library grows in size and splendour with an extremely rare first edition of Alderman Ralph. Only the first volume, alas, but there's plenty of indecipherable notes in the back to keep me busy until Volume 2 surfaces!
There's very little that gives me a rush like passing an 8% check in Disco Elysium
November 18, 2025 at 9:08 PM
There's very little that gives me a rush like passing an 8% check in Disco Elysium
My grandfather emerged from the plains of Saskatchewan to become a professional ice hockey player in the 40s/50s and I will always defend the sport. It is completely insane. This is a great piece. Forget the shortform media content and watch people smash each other about on the ice as a replacement!
for this month's Observer sports column! I went to Romford to watch some ice hockey by myself and I had........the time of my life? observer.co.uk/news/columni... [free to read!]
November 18, 2025 at 11:53 AM
My grandfather emerged from the plains of Saskatchewan to become a professional ice hockey player in the 40s/50s and I will always defend the sport. It is completely insane. This is a great piece. Forget the shortform media content and watch people smash each other about on the ice as a replacement!
Starmer has gone from a draconian head of the Crown Prosecution Service to a jewel thief in just over a decade. One of the most insane lateral moves of all time
November 17, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Starmer has gone from a draconian head of the Crown Prosecution Service to a jewel thief in just over a decade. One of the most insane lateral moves of all time
Bring back Chartist plays - not BBC Schools necessarily, just an absolute boatload of Chartist plays. A Director-General vote for Duncan is a vote for common sense
Reading some old BBC Schools broadcasting notes because the incredible Thomas Cooper play (WRITTEN BY ALAN PLATER) is featured and - man, the Beeb used to be something, didn't it? Our Tom would have strongly approved of the educational angle.
November 15, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Bring back Chartist plays - not BBC Schools necessarily, just an absolute boatload of Chartist plays. A Director-General vote for Duncan is a vote for common sense
Reading some old BBC Schools broadcasting notes because the incredible Thomas Cooper play (WRITTEN BY ALAN PLATER) is featured and - man, the Beeb used to be something, didn't it? Our Tom would have strongly approved of the educational angle.
November 15, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Reading some old BBC Schools broadcasting notes because the incredible Thomas Cooper play (WRITTEN BY ALAN PLATER) is featured and - man, the Beeb used to be something, didn't it? Our Tom would have strongly approved of the educational angle.
William Morris's 'News From Nowhere' is actually a how-to guide on what we should do with cities
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
November 14, 2025 at 11:31 AM
William Morris's 'News From Nowhere' is actually a how-to guide on what we should do with cities
Another lovely day working on my thesis about radicalism in the 19th century - now to spend several hours writing about Anglo-Saxon Witangemots
a man in a suit and bow tie asks how did i get here
ALT: a man in a suit and bow tie asks how did i get here
media.tenor.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Another lovely day working on my thesis about radicalism in the 19th century - now to spend several hours writing about Anglo-Saxon Witangemots
Reposted by Duncan Hamilton
Apart from the desire to produce beautiful things, the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization.
-William Morris
-William Morris
November 10, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Apart from the desire to produce beautiful things, the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization.
-William Morris
-William Morris