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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Decades on strike is still fresh for new generation - Helen Mort
HELEN MORT grew up in North Derbyshire where even today the strike has moulded both young and old
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
WHEN I was growing up in North Derbyshire, we all knew a good joke. “Why did the village cross the road?” Actually, it was a bad joke — it didn’t even have a punchline.
The village was Arkwright, a former mining community just down the hill from where I lived, in Dennis Skinner’s constituency.
Six months after Arkwright colliery closed in 1988, a leak of methane gas was discovered in a fireplace and villagers were evacuated from their houses.
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