Swallownest against the Tax Dodgers

Swallownest is a village near Rotherham in South Yorkshire. It is 4 miles south of Rotherham and 7 miles from Sheffield and forms part of the marginal Rother Valley constituency. The following extract from the Leeds Mercury details Swallownest as it was in August, 1900: “The first glimpse of Swallownest is all that could not be desired, and one is almost tempted to withhold criticism”.

The 38 Degrees experience is somewhat different: just look at the photo above. The woman on the left is Hilda who together with Mick Hall and Mick Firth leafleted and collected signatures for 2 hours.  They got 83 signatures which is brilliant and meant that  proportionally many more people stopped and talked than in central Sheffield, where similar activities were organised  on the same bitterly cold day (March 14).

Mick Firth was so angry about the Tax dodgers that at one of our Rother Valley organising meeting he volunteered to set up stall by himself. He was able to rope two of old friends in. “Unfortunately the other photo’s taken of us I somehow wiped off my camera.  I don’t know how it happened as I have never done that before!”