On this day, 13 July 1906, plumber Ben Cunningham and 14 unemployed workers marched onto a piece of unused municipal land in Plaistow, London, and began cultivating food to feed the unemployed.
They divided the area into four triangular plots, dubbing it Triangle Camp, and planted around 1000 plants which were donated to them, including cabbage, broccoli and celery. They also set up a tent structure which they called The Triangle Hotel, and put up a sign inside reading: “You are requested not to spit on the floor of this hotel”.
On July 26, police and local government officials descended on the camp, but 3 to 5000 mostly unemployed people turned up to support the occupiers, and the forces of order retreated.
Local authorities returned with police on August 4 and eventually managed to clear the camp, carrying off Cunningham and pulling down the Hotel. Cunningham was a councillor for the Social Democratic Federation, but in the wake of the occupation they kicked him out of the party.
More in this short history of unemployed agitation in West Ham in the early 20th century: https://libcom.org/history/unemployed-struggle-west-ham-1900s https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.294735704044920/2033518456833294/?type=3