Natural Tys

A Moment In History

The Jarrow March/Crusade

From the many books and documents I have read, the gathering took place on a bright Autumn day, the sun shining in all its glory. Some wore suits while others, were dressed in jackets, waistcoat and trousers, heavy boots and some with the legendary flat caps that were associated with the North East of England. Others amongst them were dressed in dark coloured jackets, and lighter coloured trousers.

This then the gathering of 200 hundred soul’s bent on (one thing) taking their plight of unemployment and extreme poverty to the Capital. The day was the 5th of October 1936, a day that would go down in history, a day when 200 hundred individuals would take their place in our history books. Image Bede Gallery/Bede’s World

The global Great Depression in the 1930’s brought mean, lean years, particularly to North East England, many family/people had to tighten their belt, as unemployment, and poverty became almost the norm. No town suffered like Jarrow at one time there was more than 74% of the workforce unemployed. The latest figures issued in March by the Ministry of Labour had put the work force at a staggering 51% out of work. Many towns up and down the country were also suffering high unemployment and poverty.

Situated on the North East coast, between Newcastle Upon Tyne and South Shields, Jarrow was in the grip of high unemployment and poverty so much so that the people had decided to take action, and so it was, after a Service at Christ Church, the 200 hundred strong men, and a dog would walk the 282 miles to London to present a petition to Parliament.

To day this journey would take us about 4 hour to 5 hours by car, yet here were individuals so sick and tired of no work there were willing to walk the distance to have their voice heard. A distance of almost 300 miles (482.8) that would take them through many towns on the way arriving at Marble Arch on the 31 October almost a month after leaving their home town of Jarrow.

Their life problems were not imagined only a few years earlier the author J.B. Preistley, on a visit to Jarrow, only a few years earlier in 1933, commented on what he saw “I have seen nothing like it since the war. There is no escape anywhere from its prevailing misery. One little street may be rather more wretched than another but to the outsider they all look alike. One out of every two shops appears to be permanently closed. Wherever we went, there were men hanging about, not scores of them, but hundreds and thousands of them. The whole town looked as if it had entered a penniless bleak Sabbath.”
In the background of this pic. you can see the overhead cranes of Plamers shipyard. (1851 to 1933)
(Quote J.B. Priestly. English Journey, London 1934. page 1934)
image host webshots

Back in 1850’s when Jarrow came into being it was little more than a village (if that) brothers Charles Mark and George Palmer established their shipbuilding firm, Some years later in December of 1870 Charles Palmer would go on to build a hospital for the use of his workforce, succes upon success brought prosperity to the town so much so that by the end of the century the population had grown ten-fold. The brothers expanded their business to include iron and steel manufacture soon to be recognised worldwide. From 1851 to 1933 Palmers built 900 vessels and kept well dated records of each transaction.

Good fortune and prosperity lasted until around 1920. Slowly, but surely things went from bad to worse. In 1931 Jarrow lost its steel works followed by the loss of shipbuilding a few years later. This then was, yet another blow to the workforce and left Jarrow with nothing. The loss of the steel industry had been the first nails in her coffin lossing the shipbuilding three years later brought the workfoce to their knee’s. Poverty and deprivation brought shame and saddness to a once proud workforce who now through no fault of their making were forced to beg or ask for credit. Credit that no one knew how or when it could be repaid. This then was the forerunner, the we have had enough,… our town is dying,… we need work.