PERFECT INFORMATIONS: Trade union banners

In the United Kingdom the first of these banners were sometimes painted by local signwriters coachpainters or decorators. More often than not they were made by a member of the local branch who was considered to be artistic. However from onwards more than three quarters were made by the firm of George Tutill of Chesham in Buckinghamshire. All their banners were made from pure silk woven by Huguenots in London. At the height of banner production there were said to be looms in operation.The silk was stretched taut over a wooden frame and coated with India rubber and the oil colours applied to it were old i.e. had been standing around for a while. This allowed the paint to dry quickly and to make it more pliant or elastic.There were many designs from the Bible e.g.David slaying Goliath from heraldry or from popular tradition e.g. the allseeing eye or symbols of truth hope or justice.With the advent of Conservative governments in Britain after the general election trades union banners lost their popularity and many languished in damp cellars or lofts. Additionally the large number of trade union mergers see for example UNISON and Amicus meant that many banners no longer had the correct union name on and became obsolete. In the last years or so the interest in these banners has been rekindled and many books videos postcards and the like have been produced to help people rediscover and celebrate this part of the history of working men and women.
There are special museums which restore preserve and exhibit trade union banners e.g. the Pump House Peoples History Museum in Manchester and Beamish Museum in the North East.

Chesham is a market town in the Chiltern Hills Buckinghamshire England. It is the fourth largest town in the county of Buckinghamshire with a population of some people behind High Wycombe with and Aylesbury with . It is situated in the picturesque Chess Valley and surrounded by farmland as well as being bordered on one side by Amersham and Chesham Bois. Despite once having a thriving set of industries including beer brushes boots and watercress these have declined with only the brush factory remaining and the town has become a largely commuter town.The first recorded reference to Chesham or Cestreham was in the will of Lady Elgiva an AngloSaxon Queen. There is archaeological evidence of a Roman villa downstream at Latimer and the planting of grapevines near the Balks.Chesham is mentioned in AD as Cæstæleshamm which is AngloSaxon for the rivermeadow at the pile of stones. Contrary to popular belief the town is not named after the river rather the river is named after the town.Chesham formed an urban district under the Local Government Act and continued as such until the Local Government Act came into effect on April . Chesham became a civil parish with a town council within the Chiltern district.Chesham has appeared in some popular television series including Inspector Morse and Midsomer Murders.