Collections Online

Postcard, in Russian ‘Death to World Imperialism'. Message on back to Siân and Martin James from Derek Hughes. Undated, possibly around 1987/88.

Siân describes Derek "This was our very best LGSM friend – Derek Hughes. He was half Welsh, with his dad being from the Bridgend/Porthcawl area. His dad had worked in Wyndham/Western mine but went to work at Fords Dagenham after the war. Derek and his brother were born in London and they and their dad were lifelong members of the Communist Party. Derek was a Cambridge graduate and taught English and Drama in Catford. He died of HIV in 1988 and he was a true comrade and friend. We visited him regularly as a family and he came to stay with us. It was a privilege to know him. He appears in the bottom left of the famous picture of us all dancing in Coelbren Club. It’s the picture that inspired the dance scene in the film Pride".