Video: 75 years on, a new generation of Jarrow marchers descend on Ripon

The 200-strong group were a long way from the shipyards of the north east, the closure of which sparked their demonstration, and still hundreds of miles from their final destination - the Houses of Parliament.

Tired and bedraggled, the men were kitted out with new socks, cigarettes and egg and salmon sandwiches by the similarly down at heel North Yorkshire communities they met along the way.

The outpouring of public support led one reporter at the time to describe it is, “an example of civic spirit probably without parallel anywhere else in the country”.

Nearly eight decades on, the latest incarnation of the Jarrow Marchers are still enjoying the best of Yorkshire hospitality.

Last night (thurs), the group of around a dozen youngsters walking the same route to highlight youth unemployment, marched through the wind and rain to Harrogate, where on October 13, 1936, a banner was raised to welcome their predecessors.

Earlier in the day, they had been taken in for lunch at Ripon Cathedral by a host of church dignitaries.

At the event and hungrily munching a ham sandwich, 19-year-old marcher Ryan Preston, of Leeds, told the Yorkshire Post that just 60 miles in to the 300-mile trek, they had already been overwhelmed by the kindness they had received.

“People are just being incredibly supportive and it is fantastic,” he said.

“On Wednesday we were near Northallerton and we had been going for about 13 miles and we were all really flagging.

“Then a woman just stopped her car at the side of the road handed us £100 and drove off.

“People have been doing things like that all along the way.

“To be invited to lunch in Ripon Cathedral is quite a humbling experience really - it is amazing to think people like this care and support us.”

So far, the walkers have been sleeping in church halls and pub floors, and despite their torn anoraks and muddy shoes, they look a long way away from the previous Jarrow marchers who suffered unemployment rates of up to 80 per cent and were so emaciated that many were said to have put on weight during the walk due to the regular food handouts they were receiving.

Yet with youth unemployment now soaring, 27 per cent of all claimants in North Yorkshire are under the age of 24, the latest generation are equally committed to raising awareness of their plight.

Many of the marchers talk now of being unable to find even the most rudimentary low paid work, with employers refusing to hire them often citing a lack of experience.

The Dean of Ripon, Keith Jukes, who helped arrange the lunch yesterday, told the Yorkshire Post he applauded the youngsters for making a stand.

“I am very concerned at their situation and really delighted that these young people are bringing these issues to light in a very peaceful way,” he said.

“My predecessor 75 years ago invited the original Jarrow marchers to Ripon and it seemed to me important that we did the same thing.

“I have worked in areas of very high unemployment and have seen some of the issues that spring up because of that.

“We have all got a responsibility, as a church, as a Government and as a society, to really look at these issues and assess what we can do in partnership.

“These are really complex issues and I do think that everybody is trying to resolve them, but I firmly believe we will only find the solution by working together.”

Demonstrator Lizi Gray, 17, is among those campaigning for better jobs, education and training, but has also been inspired to join to follow in the footsteps of her great-grandfather Michael McLaughlin, one of the original Jarrow marchers.

The march is the brainchild of Youth Fight for Jobs, the trade-union backed organisation which wants action to help the near one million 16 to 24-year-olds who are out of work.

The group set off from Jarrow, South Tyneside, last Saturday, and will pass through Leeds on Saturday and Sheffield on Wednesday October 12 before heading down south.

The marchers hope to arrive in Westminster on November 5.