Huddersfield’s rich heritage of radical politics will be revealed in two guided walks this weekend.

Starting from the Harold Wilson statue in St George’s Square, the walks will visit sites associated with the Luddites and Chartists, the early days of the Labour Party, the anti-war movement during World War One and less celebrated groups such as Owenite socialists and secularists.

The walks are based on the Radical Heritage Trail developed by local historians Cyril Pearce and Alan Brooke from Huddersfield Local History Society and published by Discover Huddersfield.

They will be led by Cyril, whose book Comrades in Conscience on Huddersfield’s conscientious objectors was relaunched last month.

He said: “From the 1790s to the present day there hasn’t been a radical social or political movement that’s gone unrepresented in Huddersfield.

“These walks are just a beginning — there is much more to learn.”

Saturday’s walk will start at 10am, returning to St George’s Square by 11.30am in time for a re-enactment of Harold Wilson’s famous 1964 election speech on the ‘white heat of technology’ which kicks off the day’s events in the Huddersfield Histories Festival.

Sunday’s walk will start at 11am, again from the Harold Wilson statue.

Nearby at the open market in Brook Street the Local History Society will have a stall at the Pennine Rotary Club Fair from 9.30am to 3.30pm, offering a wide range of new and second-hand local publications and the opportunity to raise your local history queries.

Further information about the Local History Society can be found at www.huddersfieldhistory.org.uk

Comrades In Conscience book cover by Cyril Pearce