Suffragette City: what it was really like to be a stone-throwing Suffragette

It feels like there was a sea-change for International Women’s Day this year, the noise coming from women was louder and stronger. I was slightly taken aback when my sons said they were ‘looking forward to IWD” and youngestson, currently interning for Giles Peterson’s World Wide FM told me how he was excited to hear the day long celebration of women’s music on the channel (you can still listen to it here) and how Colleen Murphy was doing a month long celebration of women’s favourite albums. I’m pretty sure last year’s IWD completely passed them by.

I celebrated the day by becoming an actual Suffragette, courtesy of The National Trust as part of its Women and Power project. For an afternoon, I swapped current London for the less female-friendly 1912 version, and became a fully fledged member of the Women’s Social and Political Union.

Hidden away below the London Pavilion, behind a secret green door, slightly scary women (all actors) dressed in period costume spoke with clipped British accents and signed us up for ‘missions’.

I painted rocks to throw through selected store windows with militant messages – Deeds Not Words! – in the purple green and white colours of the movement, A bit like today’s Instagram mantras only slightly more aggressive.

After we’d done the artsy-crafty bit of painting banners and making rosettes, we were sent out onto the actual streets of Piccadilly to cause as much mayhem as we possibly could armed with sticks of coloured chalk each, which was surprisingly nerve-wracking for for my group of cheery, well-behaved womenfolk. Tourists gave us strange looks and I was actually shouted at by a taxi driver as I wrote ‘Equal Pay For Equal Jobs’ on the pavement.

And then we got arrested, imprisoned (in a fantastically decorated space within Piccadilly Circus Tube Station) and verbally abused by some terrifying policemen. Just like the real Suffragettes. Only difference being our policemen were actors and we were not subjected to the physical abuse and long term imprisonment our Suffragette sisters suffered.

The entire immersive theatre experience – fantastically designed, directed and produced by Helen Scarlett O’Neill and Harry Ross  – was based on an actual testimony by Lillian Ball, a dressmaker from Tooting who took part in the window smashing campaign of 2012, and for which she served two months hard labour.

When we finally returned to HQ our arrest was celebrated with whoops from other Suffragettes and we were treated to a nice cup of tea (obvs). It was a brilliant way to spend an afternoon, we learned so much and it shone a little light on how we might have performed  in similar circumstances, I was more than a little scared of the policemen, and they were actors! I’m not sure how I would have reacted in real life, I came away understanding so much more about the suffering and abuse these brave women went through, and how utterly frustrated and determined they must have been.

The Suffragette City experience is on until March 25th and I urge you to go. It’s a hoot and an education all wrapped up in a purple, green and white hand stitched banner. And you get tea and a rosette. A friend of mine organised the ticket for me from New York (impressive, right?) and it was the best present I’ve had for ages. More details here, but hurry as it’s selling out fast.

34 Comments

  • Margaret Gibson says:

    The window smashing campaign was in 1912.

  • Solar says:

    It feels like there was a sea-change for International Women’s Day this year, the noise coming from women was louder and stronger.

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  • athleticsdewick says:

    I left with a deeper understanding of the suffering and abuse these courageous women endured, and the sheer frustration and determination schoolboy runaway they must have felt in their fight for equality.

  • stoppertinent says:

    Geweldige manier om de suffragette-geschiedenis tot leven te brengen—leerzaam, inspirerend en meeslepend!
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  • Hazel David says:

    It showcases the bravery of women who stood their ground for change. Much like a red leather jacket today represents boldness and defiance, the defiance of ongoing change demonstrated by women in the suffragette era defines the era and gives context to the movement.

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  • chery says:

    Powerful experience — and beautifully told. Amazing how reenactments can reveal just a fraction of the courage those women truly had Slope Rider

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  • I found this experience very vivid and highly educational — recreating the life of a suffragette helps people today gain a deeper understanding of their fears, determination, and fighting spirit for women’s suffrage.

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  • Melinda Oliver says:

    Melinda Oliver says:
    This was such a brilliant take on their true grit. It really made me think about how much we overlook the personal stakes. What do you think was the biggest misconception about them? Found some cool poki games recently!

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  • level devil says:

    What a riveting exploration of the Suffragette movement! Your vivid storytelling really brings to life the grit and determination of those brave women. Thank you for shedding light on such an important chapter in history!

  • flux3 says:

    This immersive Suffragette experience sounds like a powerful way to connect with history. It’s one thing to read about the window-smashing campaigns, but actually stepping into those shoes—even safely—must give you a visceral sense of the courage it took. The detail about being scared of the actors playing policemen really drives home how terrifying the real thing must have been. Tools like Flux AI can help us visualize these historical moments, but nothing beats the empathy gained from living history. Thanks for sharing this vivid account.

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  • MiniMax H3 says:

    I loved reading about your immersive Suffragette experience—it sounds both thrilling and sobering to step into those shoes, even briefly. The detail about being shouted at by a taxi driver while chalking “Equal Pay For Equal Jobs” really brings home how little has changed in some ways. It’s fascinating how interactive history can make you feel the fear and frustration more viscerally than any textbook. For anyone inspired to explore similar themes through modern media, tools like context-aware video generation could help bring such historical moments to life in new ways. Thanks for sharing this unique afternoon—I wish I’d caught it before it ended!

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  • stage timer says:

    Loved reading about the shift in International Women’s Day buzz and how your sons are now excited for the celebrations—especially the World Wide FM music marathon. It’s inspiring to see the next generation engaging with women’s stories and music.

  • I loved how the post connects the historic bravery of stone‑throwing suffragettes to today’s louder International Women’s Day celebrations. It’s inspiring to see younger generations getting excited about women’s music and stories.

  • I loved reading about how International Women’s Day felt different this year, especially hearing your sons’ excitement for the music celebrations on World Wide FM—it’s great to see the next generation engaging with women’s stories and music.

  • Bimg AI says:

    An immersive Suffragette experience where you actually get arrested? That’s next-level history education. The “Deeds Not Words” rocks and chalk protests sound so powerful. I used Bimg AI to generate some protest poster visuals for a history project—really captured that militant spirit.

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  • What an incredible immersive experience — reading about the chalk messages on Piccadilly pavements and the hand-stitched banners really brings that 1912 determination to life. It’s a powerful reminder of how far we’ve come, and how much further there is to go. Speaking of women building things today, I’ve been exploring ways to support female-led e-commerce ventures sourcing quality home and lifestyle goods for European and North American markets. Platforms like ArkSwift make it surprisingly straightforward to access vetted suppliers and local fulfilment without the usual overhead. The suffragettes fought for agency; modern tools help us exercise it commercially. Thanks for sharing this vivid piece of history.

  • Keeppin says:

    The contrast between painting “Deeds Not Words!” rocks and then feeling genuinely nervous writing “Equal Pay For Equal Jobs” in chalk makes the experience sound surprisingly effective. Linking it to Lillian Ball’s testimony also gives the theatrical arrests real historical weight. On a related note, I use pinterest downloader when I need to save Pinterest visuals without a watermark.

  • The detail about Lillian Ball serving two months hard labour for window smashing really drives home how much riskier actual activism was—the immersive experience brilliantly recreates the adrenaline, but without the real brutality those women endured. What struck me most was your nervousness chalking slogans on pavement versus their conviction facing actual imprisonment. I use a free online VIN decoder occasionally when checking vehicle histories, and I found myself thinking how documentation like court records from that era preserve these stories in ways we can access now—but the lived experience of fear and determination clearly can’t be fully captured until you’re standing there yourself. Also, Decode the VIN has been useful lately.

  • Dont Wordle says:

    The immersive recreation of the 1912 window-smashing campaign sounds like a powerful way to connect with history, especially the moment of being shouted at by a taxi driver. It makes me wonder how much of that public hostility and fear would still be familiar to activists today.

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