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Happy birthday Housmans

IT has survived special branch raids, IRA bombs and planning applications from King’s Cross developers.
Housmans Books in Caledonian Road is celebrating its 60th birthday next Friday.
The bookshop shares the building with the editorial offices of the monthly pacifist publication Peace News, which celebrates its 70th birthday next year.
Housmans helped kick-start many campaigning groups including the Gay Switchboard, the McLibel campaign and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade.
With its unique range of political pamphlets and first and second hand books on the history of revolutionary struggle, the shop is still going strong.
But according to Albert Beale, who has worked as a volunteer in the bookshop for 30 years, the Housmans history had not all been plain sailing. He said: “The shop used to provide a resource for marginalized groups – the shop was raided by the Special Branch when the nuclear disarmament group was staying. I think they used to come in and buy up the pamphlets as well – we were the nearest radical books shop to Scotland Yard.”
Walter Wolfgang – the man thrown out by security guards at this year’s Labour Party conference in Brighton – will speak at 6.30pm at Housman’s birthday party on October 28.
Pictured here: Craig Liddle, Delme Jenkins, Albert Beale.




Give power to the people

POST-war, early 1950s Britain was still experiencing food rationing and was a disillusioning place for English gourmands. The war had destroyed the restaurant trade and, with few exceptions, post-war eateries made the worst of a bad situation.
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