Notts County Council rewriting history?

Poppy | 11.11.2009 18:28 | History

Nottinghamshire County Council has made some major changes to the Spanish Civil War memorial at County Hall, West Bridgford, seemingly in an attempt to hide the memorial's radical nature.

Before 1

Before 2

Before 3

Before 4

Before 5

After 1

After 2

After 3

After 4

After 5

The memorial was unveiled by the Spanish ambassador in 1993 and commemorates the volunteers who went from Nottinghamshire to join the International Brigades fighting to defend the Republic against fascism in 1936-7.

The memorial has been rearranged so that one of the panels on the side of County Hall has been moved further away from where people can stand.

Because of its location, the memorial was always difficult to read and an explanatory panel had been provided, containing the information on the panels and an image of the central sculpture.

This panel has now been removed and replaced by a flashy, but generic panel which makes no mention of the Spanish Civil War. Anybody looking at the memorial would likely assume, not without good reason, that the plaques on the wall were similarly generic.

It appears that the new Tory regime wants to remove any association between the council and the International Brigades.

Given the speed with which the new Tory regime moved to make this change it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this is ideologically driven.

Kay Cutts and other Tory councillors are as keen on war memorials as other right-wingers and have bedecked County Hall with a giant plastic poppy (albeit one initially attached upside down) in the run up to Armistic Day. They just have to be for the right conflicts (that is, ones where the British State is wielding the weapons).

Poppy

Comments

Hide the following 7 comments

Disgusting

11.11.2009 18:57

This is disgusting. There is so little attention given to the radical pasts of those who came before us. This is a shameful attempt to remove what little does exist.

The email address of David Taylor, who seems to be responsible for this is

cllr.david.taylor@nottscc.gov.uk

Peat

Counciller Cutts

12.11.2009 13:21

Counciller Katy Cutts' email address is as follows.

cllr.kathrine.cutts@nottscc.gov.uk

Henz

"No known risk" :(

12.11.2009 23:11

Clearly need to update the Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project about this.

http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/NM/SB0088.htm

Ironically the project database has an entry:

At risk: No known risk

They made no attempt to disguise the ripping off the wall of the plague so well shown in the 'before photos'. Well done for recording this. This is despicable. Where is the plaque now? - if it has been destroyed the persons who did this should pay dearly. Either way it should be replaced.

Anti-fascist

Vandalism& disrespect, why not add instead of ripping this small plaque down

14.11.2009 20:02

there are already huge memorials to the dead of other conflicts whilst the international brigades are often forgotten, disgraceful.
Many of those who went to Spain from Nottingham were also against Stalinism& dismayed at the Yalta treaty, the Conservatives should explain why they ripped down this memorial. If this is justified, should we all rip down all the memorials in Nottingham & replace them with a slightly vague plaque about freedom?

James

read it there, too

22.11.2009 13:57

the evening post mentioned it and thats when i first saw it. fucking disgusting that the names of those that died fighting the fascists is spain should be buried away like that. should be defaced and destroyed ASAP.

evening post mentioned it

disgusted

28.11.2009 12:23

'should be defaced and destroyed ASAP'

I totally agree! The dead don't deserve it and I won't accept it! To hell with the cynical local authorities.

embee

actually embee

02.12.2009 09:45

@embee: actually, i meant destroyed until they replaced it with the original one or a better one that explains which wars and which people and which causes, etc. not just a wide reaching, yet vague and misrepresenting one. actually...

not embee