Why did the chicken cross the road?

What do you think of chicken and how often do you eat it?  Probably once or even twice a week I suspect.  Do you think about where your chicken has come from of how it was reared?  Probably not.  Should you be thinking about this?  Well, probably yes but would it actually make any difference to your eating habits?  As a society, we want good, cheap food and most people are more concerned about that that where the food actually comes from.  It would be nice of all the chickens we ate were free-range and had a good standard of life during their often short existence but if you're trying to feed a family on a low income with little likelihood of any substantial increase in pay and free-range chicken costs more then think again. 

Am I the only person who is getting increasingly annoyed by the growing number of foodies on the television telling us what we should and should not eat or environmentalists who pontificate about our (it never seems to be their) carbon footprint?  It's all very well for them.  They're often very (and I mean very) well-paid for what they do and can afford to live their lives according to their prejudices.  They can fly and then offset their carbon footprint by planting trees.  If you have a contrast with a supermarket worth over £1 million, then you can live the way you want.  That is not an option for most people.  I strongly object to being told how I should live my life and that the decisions I make are wrong.  Wrong they might be from an ethical point of view, but they are my decisions made within the monetary parameters within which I live.  Unlike most of those who pontificate on food matters, I come from a farming background so I'm fully aware of the difficult decisions that have to be made between animal welfare and profitability.  It's not that the foodies are wrong, it's just the self-satisfied arrogance in which they put forward their case that offends.  So the answer to the question 'why did the chicken cross the road?' is clear.  It's to get away from the foodies who think they know best!

Aspects of Chartism: Nottingham

During the middle of the eighteenth century, a large chartered hosiery company lost its privileges and a large amount of its trade went to Nottingham, which already was known for its production of both silk and cotton hosiery. Much of the labour was performed in domestic workshops. Between 1823 and 1849, the social and work situation of the handloom weavers and stockingers of Nottingham was reduced dramatically. Because of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act and the large-scale immigration of Irish workers who were moving in to English factories, there was mass pauperism among the people of Nottingham. Distress certainly existed and Sir Charles Napier blamed the Poor Law for the discontent in Nottingham in 1839. In the 1830s, the weavers and framework knitters tried to establish a union, which would put a halt to the decline in their earnings, but it was never an effective organisation[1].

Leaders

The early leaders of Chartism in Nottingham were Dean Taylor, Henry Vincent, James Sweet and Charles Sutton. Dean Taylor and Henry Vincent were Chartist speakers who were said to have a “magical” effect and frequently they were interrupted by vociferous shouting. These two men played a vital role in creating a great popular feeling, a mixture of Christianity and Chartism.

James Sweet was a Nottingham shopkeeper and was a considerable asset to local Chartism and in fund-raising for the National Rent. Charles Sutton was the publisher of the Nottingham Review, which campaigned against the Corn Laws. He wrote of the ‘unparalleled mass of unrest, distress, privation and consequences among the poor’. Feargus O’Connor was elected MP for Nottingham in the 1847 general election.

Development of Chartism

Taking their lead from the London Working Men’s Association, many Chartist organisations held weekly lectures and reading classes. In time some of these classes became separate debating societies whole others concentrated on building up extensive libraries and newsrooms with the help of donations from (Church) ministers, landowners and MPs. Nottingham Chartists developed educational provision[2].

Certain actions of the Nottingham Chartists could be seen as violent. On 18^th January 1840, there was an attempt to seize the town hall, following the example set by Chartists in York. In 1842, it was reported that Nottingham Chartists were arming themselves. Rioting, resulting in four hundred arrests followed this. There was another side to Nottingham Chartists, for whenever money was needed for the National Rent, a fund set up to help supporters of Chartism who had fallen on hard times, or the ill, sick, victims and widows in need, there were considerable contributions from the town. The anti-Poor-Law campaign and the Anti-Corn Law campaign were often linked to Chartism and other radical movements in Nottingham. For example, an anti-Corn Law petition came from the ‘United Artisan and Mechanics of Nottingham’ in January 1838 although this organisation died out with the repeal of the Corn Laws.

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[1] Malcolm Thomis Politics and Society in Nottingham 1785-1835, Blackwell, 1969 provides the necessary background.  Peter Wyncoll, Nottingham Chartism, (Nottingham Trades Council), 1966, is a succinct discussion.

[2] James Epstein ‘Some Organisational and Cultural Aspects of the Chartist Movement in Nottingham’, in James Epstein and Dorothy Thompson (eds.) The Chartist Experience, Macmillan, 1982, pages 221-268 is a most useful paper.