Summary
Clare Balding marks the eightieth anniversary of the Jarrow crusade, when two hundred men walked from Tyneside to London to petition the British government to bring back industry to their town. The the closure of the main employer, Palmer's shipyard. in 1934 had led to most of the population of Jarrow being plunged into poverty.Clare has three companions on this walk ; Robert Colls, professor of Cultural History at de Montfort university who explains the role marching has played in modern politics , Helen Antrobus from the People Museum in Manchester , who tells the story of the one woman allowed on the march, the indomitable local MP, Ellen Wilkinson and local walker Margaret Laurenson, who devised the route they take. in the programme we also hear archive recording of one of the marchers talking about the overwhelming reception they received in the mainly Tory town of Harrogate. Producer: Lucy Lunt.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is a BBC Radio 4 download. You're listening to me, Claire Balding, with another edition of Ramblings. |
| 0:08.8 | Today on Ramblings, we are walking in the footsteps of history. |
| 0:12.5 | To remember a group of 200 men who marched almost exactly 80 years ago this week, from Jarrow on Tynside to London. |
| 0:23.6 | And they did so to draw attention to their plight. They had all of them lost their jobs because of the closing of a big shipyard. |
| 0:27.6 | It was called the Jarrow March and I have with me three people who can shed light in their different ways on what those men must have been going through and the impact indeed of the march itself. |
| 0:36.6 | Robert Coles, who is Professor of Cultural History at De Montfort University. |
| 0:41.4 | All right, Robert, you've got your waterproofs on because we both know it's going to rain soon. |
| 0:45.5 | It's been a blue-gray morning, but I think it's going to be a dark grey afternoon. |
| 0:49.8 | It is, but we shall march on, because they would have had two times. Margaret Lawrenson, who's from the Rippin-Ramblers, |
| 0:55.5 | because we're starting just south of Rippon, |
| 0:57.4 | and we're going to walk to Ripley. |
| 0:59.3 | And it's probably not the exact route that the Jarrow marches took. |
| 1:03.6 | No, because I believe they went on the road, |
| 1:06.0 | and we're going on a selection of country paths. |
| 1:08.8 | I'm quite glad we're not going on the A61. It's busy, indeed. |
| 1:12.6 | And Helen Antrobus, who is from the People's History Museum. |
| 1:16.4 | And this, you've long had an interest in this, |
| 1:18.9 | but particularly because of the MP who was involved in it. |
| 1:22.0 | Yeah, Ellen Wilkinson. |
| 1:23.3 | So she didn't lead the march, |
| 1:25.6 | but she went on the march with the men. |
| 1:27.8 | She was Jarrow's MP and she was passionate about getting their rights heard in Parliament. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.