Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Get set for the Merthyr Rising Festival
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THE Merthyr Rising festival, sponsored by Unison, is a music, arts and ideas event that celebrates working-class culture and resistance at the birthplace of the red flag.
This year’s fifth annual event, set for May 25-27 at Penderyn Square, Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, takes place during the anniversary of one of the very first organised uprisings by workers in 1831 known as the Merthyr Rising.
It was the violent climax to many years of simmering unrest among the large working class population of Merthyr Tydfil where it is believed that for the first time the red flag of revolution was flown as a symbol of workers’ revolt.
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