Tower Bridge and The Monument

• The Monument is to open its doors after hours for an exclusive evening event with suffragette descendent and women’s rights campaigner Dr Helen Pankhurst in conversation with London historian Dr Matthew Green
• The event, in partnership with 5x15, will explore the history of and the enduring legacy of the suffragette movement as well as touching on the challenges to female equality worldwide today
• Takes place on Thursday 8 February 2018
• Arrive: 7pm for 7.15pm start. The event lasts approximately 1 hour
• Limited availability through Eventbrite. See website for event listings

To mark the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, through which propertied women aged over 30 years gained the vote, The Monument, one of London’s most historic attractions, is opening its doors after hours for an exclusive evening with suffragette descendant and leading women’s rights campaigner Dr Helen Pankhurst in conversation with London historian Dr Matthew Green. 

This one-off event will begin in the piazza and end on the famous viewing platform at the top of The Monument. This historic vantage point high above the London streets played its own part in the suffrage story, when on 18 April 1913 two suffragettes climbed to the top of the column to tie the distinctive purple, white and green Women’s Social and Political Union flag alongside a banner reading ‘Death or Victory’ to the railings. The two women then released hundreds of handbills promoting the Votes for Women campaign onto the crowds that had gathered in the piazza below.

Dr Pankhurst, great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, and Matthew Green will discuss this extraordinary episode in the attraction’s history, Dr. Pankhurst’s trailblazing ancestors and the enduring legacy of the suffragette movement in the UK and internationally.The Monument, designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1671-1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London, is 202ft high and stands 202ft from where the fire started in Pudding Lane. It is the tallest isolated stone column in the world and has been open to visitors for over 300 years. Today it welcomes over 200,000 visitors every year.

The exclusive series of one-off events and workshops will take place throughout the year: all from one from one of the best vantage points high above the streets of London. Further details will be announced later in the year.

Tickets are £20 per person and can be booked through www.themonument.org.uk

Visitor information: http://www.themonument.org.uk 

This event may not be suitable for those with special access needs. Contact The Monument for further information.

ENDS

Notes to Editors: 

Dr Helen Pankhurst is a women's rights activist and senior advisor to CARE International, based in the UK and in Ethiopia.  Her work in Ethiopia includes support to programme development across different sectors, focused on the interests and needs of women and girls.  In the UK she is a public speaker and writer on feminist issues. She also leads CARE International’s #March4Women event in London on International Women’s Day. Helen is the great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, leaders of the British suffragette movement. Helen Pankhurst’s latest book Deeds Not Words: the Story of Women’s Rights, Then and Now will be published in February 2018.

Dr Matthew Green graduated from the University of Oxford in 2011 with a PhD in the history of London. Since then, he has hung up his mortarboard and gown and embraced popular history, striving to bring history to life across a range of media.

He is the author of the acclaimed London: A Travel Guide Through Time (Penguin), which has been described by the Londonist as ‘easily the best social history of London for a decade’ and by William Hague as ‘an excellent and vivid work of history’, writes historical features for the Guardian, Telegraph and Financial Times, and has featured in documentaries on BBC2, BBC4, ITV and Channel 4, appearing also on Newsnight and BBC Radio London. Matthew is a passionate public speaker with a uniquely fast-paced and high-octane delivery. He has lectured at Buckingham Palace, Port Elliot Festival, Tate Britain, Google, Oxford University and the Idler Academy and is the founder of Unreal City Audio, which produces immersive, critically acclaimed tours of historic London with actors and musicians, including the hit Coffeehouse Tour as live events, apps, and audio downloads. One of his keenest interests is the history of the 17th and 18th-century coffeehouse and he has written a pamphlet entitled The Lost World of the London Coffeehouse, published by Idler Books.

5x15 is one of London’s leading cultural events companies. It curates evenings of intellectual entertainment. In addition to its signature evenings in which 5 speakers have 15 minutes each to speak, it produces experiential and long-form conversations and content. In the 8 years of its existence is has worked with some of the UK and world’s leading thinkers, activists and writers. www.5x15.com