SURROUNDED by hundreds of books and publications at her Swindon flat, including many of her own works, Angela Gradwell posed proudly in her miner’s strike helmet, gave her beloved squeezebox a little squeeze, and spoke of the ethos that had kept her at the forefront of the fight for human rights and equality for the best part of 60 years.

“To do nothing but grumble and not act – that’s throwing one’s life away,” she told this newspaper upon the occasion of her 80th birthday in January, 1986. Just a few words to sum-up such a remarkable life, such an unyielding personal quest which, despite her age, was nowhere near an end.

There were still causes to be espoused, placards to be waved, protests to be made, letters of concern and objection to be written to people in high places, songs of the common folk to be sung and, of course, the bellows and buttons of an ageing, well-worn concertina to be pushed, pulled and pressed.

Anyone who frequented Swindon town centre during the Seventies and Eighties will be aware of Angela and her “infernal concertina.” She’d be out there come rain, shine, snow, sleet, playing and playing and playing… whether passers-by liked it or not.

She wasn’t bad either, it’s just that she had a tendency to carry on squeezing the thing pretty much all day long, demonstrating an outrageous stamina and unwavering spirit that truly belied her advancing years.

Incredibly, it was the very same squeezebox in which she had smuggled “red aid” cash to Greek patriots fighting a civil war in the late Forties. Couldn’t speak a word of Greek, either.

Other times she’d be in Swindon with that infamous shopping trolley “borrowed” from Tesco, now bulging with banners, placards, posters, petitions and sometimes a collection box that she was keen to fill on behalf of whatever people’s/workers cause was prevalent at the time.

Readers perhaps younger than 40 or so may well be asking themselves “who was Angela Gradwell?”

Among many things, she was Bristol’s first ever female solicitor who joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1931 after witnessing the plight of the hunger marches.

She was a journalist, author, historian, trade unionist, feminist, peace campaigner, theatrical producer, lecturer, writer and singer of folk songs, and an avid collector of food baskets for the needy.

Oh yes, she was a qualified aircraft pilot and played hockey for Great Britain (see panel.)

So what turned a privileged young woman from a moneyed background into a high-profile champion of the working-classes and an indefatigable member of the Communist Party – a political stance that, with today’s hindsight, seems somewhat questionable? (See panel)

Trade unionist and folk musician Rosie MacGregor reveals many of the answers in a keenly researched, finely-detailed and warmly written new book, Angela Remembered, The Life of Angela Gradwell Tuckett.

The author first became aware of her future literary subject while watching her perform with a “high pitched slightly strained voice” accompanied by a concertina “which was an acquired taste” in the early Seventies.

She was later startled to discover that the “rather straitlaced if slightly eccentric older lady had a history of militancy and radical politics.”

Born in Bristol in 1906 Angela Tuckett’s affluent home was immersed in art, music, theatre and culture. One of her earliest memories was sitting on the knee of celebrated Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst – and perhaps that eminent woman’s steely determination and relentless belief in her cause somehow rubbed off on little Angela.

Emerging from a private girl’s school, Angela took advantage of changing sex discrimination laws to become the first woman in Bristol to qualify and practice as a solicitor.

A growing interest in left wing politics became increasingly proactive during the mass unemployment and hardships of the Great Depression. The arrival of Welsh Hunger Marchers in Bristol in 1931 had an especially profound effect.

Joining the Communist Party was simply “unavoidable” if she were to make any difference.

“It could so easily have been a life of privilege but instead she chose to fight for the rights of others,” says Ms MacGregor. “Her motivation was a growing sense of rage that there had to be a better way.”

Angela was soon organising meetings, distributing leaflets and became a legal observer at demonstrations where she faced fierce police baton charges.

Plunging further into a world of radical politics she defended the leaders of the National Unemployed Workers Movement arrested for incitement, and during the London Blitz handled 600 National Council of Civil Liberties cases before writing for several workers publications.

She built a strong rapport with workers across the UK and then - as she later put it, probably with a big grin – her career came to an abrupt halt.

A divorced woman, life dramatically changed when she met and married another larger-than-life character, Ike Gradwell, Secretary of the Swindon Communist Party.

Together they became a huge presence - and to some, a hugely annoying presence - on the town’s political scene.

Rallies, elections, championing causes, launching campaigns, the Gradwells at the helm of Swindon’s anti-fascist, pro-worker Red Army were everywhere… until Ike’s death at 72 in 1979.

Battered but unbowed, Angela pressed on, writing a string of books on a variety of subjects ranging from the History of Swindon Trade Unions to the evils and dangers of fascism.

She promoted numerous local and national causes such as Swindon pensioners’ rights and the battle to keep open the town’s railway works.

Angela vigorously backed the miners during the 1984 strike and became a well-known figure at the anti-nuclear arms peace camp at Greenham Common.

There exist some wonderful images of Angela at the gates of the military base taken by Advertiser photographer Bob Naylor in 1982 – one of which adorns the cover of the book.

And of course, she regaled us with her trusty concertina. Be it on our town centre streets or at the Swindon Folksingers Club, they were an inseparable, inescapable duo, almost right up to her death at 88 in 1994.

Ms MacGregor describes Angela as “a complex character and passionate about her beliefs… never afraid to speak out or take action against oppression in its many forms, sometimes at considerable risk, or if she felt it necessary to raise awareness of injustice or inequality.”

She adds: “Hers was a life well lived… not selfishly but fearlessly and responsibly, with a genuine belief in social justice and a determination to take action and follow through what she knew to be right.”

*Angela Remembered, The Life of Angela Gradwell Tuckett by Rosie MacGregor is published in conjunction with White Horse (Wiltshire) TUC by Devizes-based WaterMarx price £7.50. watermarxmedia.yolasite.com

  • EMBARRASSING footage and photographs exist of the England football team giving the Nazi salute before a match with Germany in Berlin in 1938 – a year before the outbreak of war.

    Three years earlier in 1935, with Germany in the grip of rampant fascism, a similar show of hands was expected of the England Women’s Hockey team before an away game with the German national side.

    The team was told to pay homage, as custom dictated to The Fuhrer as they passed through a cordon of saluting Hitler Youth. The Great Dictator even sent his Army’s Commander in Chief General von Blomberg there for the occasion.

    Our girls dutifully paid tribute to the future mass murderer… all except Angela who steadfastly kept her right hand firmly by her side. Her hatred for fascism simply wouldn’t allow it.

    She compounded the insult by continually refusing to answer questions from the German press over her views on the New Germany – flatly responding to every enquiry with a comment on the hard fought game.

    Keen to maintain relations with the Nazis, The British Embassy was very cross indeed at our West Country girl. The team’s management quickly received complains about her behaviour from “the highest level.”

    Regarded as easily one of England’s best players, and having been a regular in the side for several years, Angela was suddenly dropped for the next game in Holland and never chosen for her country again.

  • IT may seem odd why someone as committed to the cause of championing the downtrodden should support Communism for so long.

    Stalin emerged as a tyrant and a dictator whose regime was responsible for the death and imprisonment of millions while the Soviet Empire crushed the democratic aspirations of those within the post-war Easter Bloc for almost half-a-century.

    This is author Rosie MacGregor’s view: “Perhaps for Angela communism was the only viable alternative to fascism.

    “I think Angela had a utopian view of a classless society where there is greater equality for all.

    “It is a dream that most regard as unrealistic and unlikely to be achieved but something to which many would aspire.”