From the Archives
NMRD Sticker of the Month: January 2022
Roller Derby is truly the epitome of a grassroots and volunteer led sport and a lot of passion and drive is instilled into the bouts and competitions. Often, players can assume an alter-ego or pseudonym character to play under, akin to the sport of wrestling. Players can illustrate movements and groups that they support and put their personalities on display and one way of doing this is to decorate their helmets with stickers. Above we see a sticker which states, “WE LOVE THIS GAME!” In 2022, this series of Object of the Month will delve deeply into stickers and how they are utilised in the sport.
Three Decades of Changing Minds: Marking 30 Years of Glasgow Women’s Library
Glasgow Women’s Library is thrilled to be the recipient of a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a two year project to interpret, safeguard and share our own 30-year heritage, and enable us to ‘look back to move forward’.
Join the GWL Team
We are seeking two new team members, a Project Coordinator and a Project Archivist, to help take forward Three Decades of Changing Minds: Marking 30 Years of Glasgow Women’s Library
NMRD Programme of the Month: December 2021
Season’s Greetings to all our supporters at GWL. We hope this Christmas everyone gets to see their families and that the new year brings in hope of the world opening up further and allowing for further international bouts, games, travel, and new friendships and further progression towards a socially just, open, and green world.
NMRD Programme of the Month: November 2021
As Halloween draws to a close, we commence bonfire season – so stay safe and well and don’t get mixed up in the Wrath of Hell this Guy Fawkes Night…
…Remember, remember the 5th of November.
Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group: Collectives and communities
When Camden Lesbian Centre opened its doors on Saturday 31st October 1987, it signalled the arrival of more than just a queer social venue – the Centre quickly became home […]
NMRD Programme of the Month: October 2021
It’s the month of Halloween and as roller derby has always demonstrated, there is plenty of creativity and fun to be had in this sport whether a player or a spectator. This programme takes on a popular and classic scary movie pun – a movie so popular on its release in 1976, there was a remake in 2013. The infamous scene in which pigs blood is thrown over the titular Carrie is iconic and is illustrated in the blood spatters on the cover of this bout programme
Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group: Building the UK’s first lesbian centre
Put the kettle on, will you? We’ve a group of tired women here in paint-splattered overalls, all in dire need of a cuppa! In our previous blog on Camden Lesbian […]
NMRD Programme of the month: September 2021
This is a programme dated from the 26th June 2010, for a double header between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Central Belter refers to Glasgow and Edinburgh which both lie on the central belt of Scotland and, of course, ‘belter’ is Scottish (and British) colloquialism for amazing, outstanding, and thrilling. This play on words is common throughout roller derby and their artwork, posters, and programmes.
NMRD Programme of the Month: August 2021
This programme showcases a bout between Auld Reekie Roller Derby’s Twisted Thistles and Glasgow Roller Derby’s Irn Bruisers from approximately a decade ago. The artwork illustrates the grassroots spirit of roller derby as most artwork for bout programmes is done by someone within the local roller derby community. The seductive nature of the two women present in the programme cover also help to show a typically archaic sentiment that was once attached to the sport. Sexy and tough was an aesthetic trope adopted by the roller derby girls but has since waned as the sport has become more professional and representatively inclusive.