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Further to Mick's post about our long-ago visit to what was then Czechoslovakia:
50 years ago in January 1970, a group of 12 Young Liberals travelled to Czechoslovakia on the first leg of a cultural/political exchange with the Ceska Lipe branch of the Young Czechoslovak Railway Workers Union. Liberator is interested in an article about this for its 50th anniversary issue. My husband Mick and I were 2 of the 12 and we have tracked down 3 others of the surviving participants: we know that 3 are dead, (including Rosemary Kirkwood, wife of Archie, the Lib Dem peer). As to the rest, we have long ago lost touch.
We know when we went, how we travelled and where we stayed: we spent most of our time in a little ski resort in the High Tatras called Spindleruv Mlyn, did some cultural visits eg to the Ceska Lipe glass works and had a rather boozy day or two as tourists in Prague just before we came home. What we did was some skiing, lots of drinking and dancing and loads of conversation, much of it political. The big questions about this visit all start with WHY: why then, long after the Warsaw Pact troops had reoccupied Czecho (Aug 20th 1968)
and brought the Prague Spring to an end? Why the Young Liberals? Our hosts told us that they had read about the YLs in the Guardian (!!!) and wanted to know more about what motivated us and how we campaigned. They were particularly interested in the developing campaign against sporting links with South Africa, which of course had a massive success later in 1970. This was supposed to be an exchange visit but the return visit to the UK never happened - why not??? - and no-one seems to have any surviving correspondence or contact information: we didn’t get the sort of folder with programme and details that you would get today.
So why am I sharing this with you? We have plenty of material for an initial article but we want to find out more eg what happened to our hosts who were all very young then so presumably could still be alive. I think we might find some of the answers in Slovakia and I am also thinking that we need a political contact or a journalist (or both!) who could do a bit of research for us. Mick and I will be in Bratislava for a few days in early May for the ALDE Council and could potentially follow it up with a local contact. If nothing else, it might provide a human interest story for a Slovak paper!
Do you know anyone who might be able to help us?
50 years ago in January 1970, a group of 12 Young Liberals travelled to Czechoslovakia on the first leg of a cultural/political exchange with the Ceska Lipe branch of the Young Czechoslovak Railway Workers Union. Liberator is interested in an article about this for its 50th anniversary issue. My husband Mick and I were 2 of the 12 and we have tracked down 3 others of the surviving participants: we know that 3 are dead, (including Rosemary Kirkwood, wife of Archie, the Lib Dem peer). As to the rest, we have long ago lost touch.
We know when we went, how we travelled and where we stayed: we spent most of our time in a little ski resort in the High Tatras called Spindleruv Mlyn, did some cultural visits eg to the Ceska Lipe glass works and had a rather boozy day or two as tourists in Prague just before we came home. What we did was some skiing, lots of drinking and dancing and loads of conversation, much of it political. The big questions about this visit all start with WHY: why then, long after the Warsaw Pact troops had reoccupied Czecho (Aug 20th 1968)
and brought the Prague Spring to an end? Why the Young Liberals? Our hosts told us that they had read about the YLs in the Guardian (!!!) and wanted to know more about what motivated us and how we campaigned. They were particularly interested in the developing campaign against sporting links with South Africa, which of course had a massive success later in 1970. This was supposed to be an exchange visit but the return visit to the UK never happened - why not??? - and no-one seems to have any surviving correspondence or contact information: we didn’t get the sort of folder with programme and details that you would get today.
So why am I sharing this with you? We have plenty of material for an initial article but we want to find out more eg what happened to our hosts who were all very young then so presumably could still be alive. I think we might find some of the answers in Slovakia and I am also thinking that we need a political contact or a journalist (or both!) who could do a bit of research for us. Mick and I will be in Bratislava for a few days in early May for the ALDE Council and could potentially follow it up with a local contact. If nothing else, it might provide a human interest story for a Slovak paper!
Do you know anyone who might be able to help us?
