Kent: Designer of CND peace sign honoured with Hythe blue plaque
The man behind the famous peace symbol used by anti-nuclear weapons campaigners has been honoured in the Kent town where he lived.Gerald Holtom designed the symbol synonymous with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) which swept across the world in the second half of the 20th Century against the looming shadow of the Cold War.Mr Holtom has been honoured with a blue plaque on the wall of Hillside Street in Hythe where he lived for over 20 years, from 1962 until his death in 1985.Campaigners said Mr Holtom's legacy is "part of Hythe's rich history" and that celebrating his work was appropriate "with the situation in the world as it is".
Sally Chesters, one of the project leaders, said: "Amongst all of the famous people who have lived in Hythe he might be the most special."With the situation in the world as it is its particularly appropriate now and perhaps people are thinking more about it."Paul Naylor, chair of the Hythe Civic Society, added: "We felt publicising what he achieved would be an important part of Hythe's history."Designed for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958, the symbol is said to represent a stick person holding out their arms in despair.The lines also represents the semaphore symbols for the letters N and D, for nuclear disarmament.Mr Holtom's daughter, Rebecca, said: "Growing up knowing that my father made a design as an activist seemed very normal for me."It was only in young adolescence in the 1970s that I started understand the complete importance and strength of his work."I really hope my father will be remembered for his strong, clear and undaunted activism."The blue plaque was unveiled at a ceremony in Hillside Street in Hythe on Friday, 28 February.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
08-03-2025
- BBC News
Kent: Designer of CND peace sign honoured with Hythe blue plaque
The man behind the famous peace symbol used by anti-nuclear weapons campaigners has been honoured in the Kent town where he Holtom designed the symbol synonymous with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) which swept across the world in the second half of the 20th Century against the looming shadow of the Cold Holtom has been honoured with a blue plaque on the wall of Hillside Street in Hythe where he lived for over 20 years, from 1962 until his death in said Mr Holtom's legacy is "part of Hythe's rich history" and that celebrating his work was appropriate "with the situation in the world as it is". Sally Chesters, one of the project leaders, said: "Amongst all of the famous people who have lived in Hythe he might be the most special."With the situation in the world as it is its particularly appropriate now and perhaps people are thinking more about it."Paul Naylor, chair of the Hythe Civic Society, added: "We felt publicising what he achieved would be an important part of Hythe's history."Designed for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958, the symbol is said to represent a stick person holding out their arms in lines also represents the semaphore symbols for the letters N and D, for nuclear Holtom's daughter, Rebecca, said: "Growing up knowing that my father made a design as an activist seemed very normal for me."It was only in young adolescence in the 1970s that I started understand the complete importance and strength of his work."I really hope my father will be remembered for his strong, clear and undaunted activism."The blue plaque was unveiled at a ceremony in Hillside Street in Hythe on Friday, 28 February.
The Guardian
29-01-2025
- The Guardian
Rick Seccombe obituary
My partner Rick Seccombe, who has died of oesophageal cancer aged 74, lived his life according to his convictions and was known for his kindness and generosity. He was a radical bookseller and community activist, committed to working to bring about change. He campaigned for CND and supported nonviolent direct action against American cruise missiles stationed in the UK in the 1980s. In 1990 he co-founded the One World festival in New Mills, Derbyshire, dedicated to international peace and environmental issues. Until recently he was a trustee of the Omega Research Foundation, which tracks the development and trade of weapons and equipment misused for torture. He was also a staunch environmentalist long before the world started talking about climate change, recycling and sustainability. A vegetarian, Rick gardened organically for decades and was involved in local initiatives, including setting up and becoming the first secretary of the New Mills Allotment and Gardening Society in 2005. Rick was born in Manchester, to Mary (nee Chrisp), a teacher, and Geoffrey Seccombe, an electrical engineer. He went to De La Salle grammar school in Salford, and then to St Ignatius school in Stamford Hill, London; while he was a student at Manchester University, studying chemistry and metallurgy in the late 1960s, he was inspired by progressive ideas. We met in Manchester in the 80s. After university Rick worked in co-operatives and not-for-profit organisations. In the 70s he became involved in the collective that developed the Grass Roots radical bookshop in Manchester, which was a regional leader in addressing race, gender and class politics. Grass Roots became the largest such establishment outside London. He later joined the Scottish and Northern Book Distribution co-operative and in 1990 he co-founded Frontline Books in Manchester. In 2019 he also co-founded the Radical History Bookselling Project. In 1988 we settled in New Mills, Derbyshire. Rick worked for more than 20 years as the administrator at both High Peak Community Arts in New Mills and the Manchester Area Resource Centre, community organisations that rely on excellent business skills to survive. He was described as 'the rock around which others could safely navigate the highs and lows', keeping the show on the road through challenging times. Rick led an active life. He enjoyed reading, cycling and walking. After receiving a terminal diagnosis, it was a measure of his outlook on life that in the year that followed he said he felt fortunate to have reached the age he had in good health. He is survived by me, our children, Nic and Isla, and his brother, Pete.
BBC News
29-11-2024
- BBC News
Olive Gibbs: Campaigning Oxford councillor celebrated in documentary
The life of a campaigning councillor credited with helping to break down class divides in Oxford is being celebrated in a new Gibbs, who died aged 77 in 1995, twice served as the city's lord mayor, was an influential voice in the anti-nuclear weapons movement and fought to save community also supported the 1950s demolition of Oxford's infamous Cutteslowe Walls, which had spikes on top and separated a council estate from private documentary is called Olive Gibbs: A Remarkable Woman and will be screened at St Barnabas Church in Jericho on Saturday. Christopher Baines, who made the film alongside Helen Sheppard, told the BBC they were inspired to make the documentary after seeing a photography exhibition about her at Weston Library in 2021. "She had the most incredible face staring out of a photograph," he recalled."We decided to look into her life and discovered she had the most amazing story." They collected material and memories from her sons, residents and local historians. The documentary is told through her own voice using an interview recorded in the 1960s found when her sons gave them "huge boxes full of photographs, family albums and letters","She was twice a popular and well respected Lord Mayor of Oxford, a peace campaigner and the first woman chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)," Mr Baines Baines said the Labour councillor's influence on bringing down the Cutteslowe Walls was also an important part of her were built in 1934, were over 6ft 6ins (2m) high and topped with lethal divided the city council's Cutteslowe estate from private housing to the west that was developed by Clive Saxton of the Urban Housing Saxton was afraid his housing would not sell if so-called "slum dwellers" were going to be neighbours, and the walls were built to separate them. The council made numerous efforts to bring the walls down, but it was not until 1959 when Gibbs and her councillor husband Edmund finally succeeded in leading the fight to get them was also credited with saving Oxford neighbourhood Jericho from demolition and helping to thwart plans for a motorway to be built through Christ Church Meadow, leading to her being expelled from the Labour group on the was made an Honorary Freeman of Oxford, a Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and received the Frank Cousins' Peace Award for her work as a founding member of the CND. Mr Baines said Gibbs also talked about the environment when "it really wasn't nearly as popular a word is it is now", as well as her struggles with depression "at a time when it really wasn't the normal thing to do". But it was her "incredibly warm character" that had inspired them to make the documentary, he said."She had a passion throughout her life for Oxford from the people of Oxford," he said. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
