In 2008, we conducted a series of workshops at North Warwickshire & Hinckley College for a project called ‘Protest School’ – a day of protest orientated activities contextualised by the 40th anniversary of Mai 68. This project formed the basis of our action research application but made appropriate to the Black Country’s ‘Bread and Butter’ riots of the 18th century.

The ‘Bread and Butter’ riots occurred across the Black Country in the 18th century. These uprisings stemmed from the fluctuating cost and availability of staple foods. However, these protests weren’t simply a mob reaction and colliers and iron-workers developed a sophisticated means of protest. In 1816, unemployed colliers dragged wagons of Black Country coal by hand to London and Liverpool in an attempt to publicise their plight. What struck us about the ‘Bread and Butter’ riots was the unconventional – even modern – approach adopted by the colliers to protesting.

After familiarising ourselves with the Black Country as a social and cultural site, and starting to plan how a ‘Protest School’ would operate in the Black Country, we began to come up against problems. After a visit to the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM), site visits to Bilston and Wolverhampton and trips to local libraries, the core issue that kept surfacing was one of identity – i.e. we are not from the Black Country. To start teaching people from the Black Country about the Black Country risks the possibility of patronisation (this is our viewpoint in relation to our practice). Once you spend time in the Black Country or go to the BCLM you realise that its inhabitants are fiercely proud of their area, its history and traditions. We wouldn’t have felt comfortable placing ourselves in a position where we were effectively trying to teach people about their own heritage.

Consequently, we wanted to continue to use the context of the ‘Bread and Butter’ riots but in a less didactic manner. This change in direction was also determined by the current socio-economic climate, particularly the steady supply of stories in the media regarding the threat of food shortages. Therefore, the plan at this stage was to initiate a series of interventions in and around Birmingham and the Black Country that utilised the ’Bread and Butter’ riots as a context for exploring the potential threat of food shortages now in the West Midlands. We asked ourselves the question, “How would people cope now if food shortages became so extreme as to match those of 1816?” We began to develop a number of strategies, solutions and protests for coping with the imminent threat of food shortages that we planned to preview in the Black Country as a series of interventions into public spaces and situations.

But then the research took an unexpected twist when we met up with Dave Cox of the Black Country Society at a pub in Wolverhampton (he wrote the original article on the ‘Bread and Butter’ riots that we based our action research on). During this meeting, he told us something extraordinary which made us change direction completely. He said that there is a little known apocryphal tale connected to the ‘Bread and Butter’ riots that may be of interest to us. Upon the colliers reaching Henley-in-Arden, they were confronted by a government employed mob of hired thugs who ordered them to call off their protest and turn back. After a tense stand-off between, the colliers began to turn around to drag their wagons back to their Bilston base. But then an incredible event occurred. Robert Ringford, one of the wagon dragging colliers, turned and faced the government force and, walking towards them, he began to Morris dance. After several minutes, he was joined my several other colliers who joined him in his spontaneous dancing and then, before long, there were approximately 150 Morris dancing colliers facing the police. The Morris dancing colliers then began to slowly walk towards the police with the other colliers dragging the wagons of coal behind them. The government employed mob, unsure what to do in this situation, and unprepared for the colliers’ protest, began to retreat. This situation continued for 10 miles from Henley in Arden to Stratford upon Avon; the mob retreating as the Morris dancing colliers gradually advanced forward. At Stratford, the colliers were informed by police that they would be able to continue dragging their wagons of coal up to London as originally planned. The government mob was dispersed and the colliers continued on to London. Robert Ringford, through his spontaneous moment of Morris dance inspired protest, almost single-handedly fought back the mob and in doing so made his own special contribution to the history of protest.

We subsequently decided, largely because we thought it was such a phenomenal story, to try and re-create this event. The final project (not quite Jeremy Dellar’s Battle of Orgreave) is our own interpretation of the Morris dancing colliers’ march as a performance and a video. We are absolutely delighted with the final outcome, particularly because it has helped us to pinpoint aspects of our practice that we feel are successful. These include the way we collaborate and perform as a ‘double act’, the role of humour in engaging an audience and the absolute importance of high quality documentation.