Jarrow March’s 90th anniversary set to be commemorated with a four-day long events programme

A South Tyneside people’s organisation built on caring and sharing is going back to basics to pay a heartfelt tribute to Jarrow’s famous marchers of 1936.

The Jarrow and Gateshead East Co-op Party branch will commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Jarrow March with events spread over four days.

One will be a pub meal of ‘frugal fare’, which organisers say those who set out on the ‘crusade’ to London may have recognised.

The menu is expected to be a starter of soup, a main course of mince and dumplings, and bread and butter pudding to finish.

It takes place from 6.30pm on Friday, October 2, three days before the official October 5 start date of the march, at the Lakeside pub in Jarrow, and there is room for up to 80 diners.

A programme of events

Guest speakers are Labour MPs Kate Osborne, who represents Jarrow and Gateshead East, and Ian Lavery, for Blyth and Ashington.

Ms Osborne said she was honoured to be there as the first woman MP representing the constituency since Ellen Wilkinson at the time of the march.

At 10am the following day, the Co-op branch will lay a wreath of remembrance at the brass plaque on the wall of Jarrow Town Hall.

After a short walk, further wreaths will be laid at ‘The Spirit of Jarrow’ artwork – created to celebrate the marchers - in Morrison’s supermarket car park.

That will be followed by refreshments at the Jarrow Focus sports hub, where there will be a short address by local author Tom Kelly, whose uncle was on the march.

And at 1pm on Monday (Note - October 5), branch members, congregation members and the public will support the Revd Dr Ian Somasundram in a memorial service at Christ Church, in Grange Road.

The church is where the crusaders assembled before setting out on their protest against unemployment and poverty.

‘There are some parallels to today’

Former South Tyneside Labour councillor Wilf Flynn, the Chair of Jarrow and Gateshead East Co-op Party branch, said it was important the marchers were remembered.

Mr Flynn, 73, said: “The march was not a hunger march but a march for jobs on the back of the Palmers shipyard being closed.

“There are some parallels to today, in that there are pockets of unemployment around the country.

“It doesn’t seem to matter where you go but when you tell someone you’re from Jarrow, they say, ‘Did you walk here?’

“The marchers were successful in that they put Jarrow on the map, but they didn’t achieve what they wanted.”

Of her participation, Ms Osborne added: “It is so important to pay tribute to the enduring legacy of the Crusade, which continues to inspire pride in Jarrow and has secured the town a lasting place in the history of social justice, and the fight for the right to work.

“Our history should be celebrated and I am proud to attend many commemorative events in our constituency as well as lead parliamentary commemorations later in October.”

Details on how to attend the meal are available by emailing [email protected].