How The “Geordie Boys” Tried To Save Jarrow!

In this video I take a look at the historic town of Jarrow. Home of the Venerable Bede, a Viking invasion, Jarrow Elvis and the largest shipyard in Britain (Palmers). In the early 1930’s at the height of the Great Depression, the shipyard closed, meaning thousands of men lost their jobs. In 1936 200 of them marched to London in protest, with a petition. I describe this amazing story which also became a famous song called ‘The Jarrow Song’ by Alan Price, formerly of The Animals. He sings about the ‘Geordie Boys’, marching to London.

Jarrow was also home to 54 pubs but now only has 3! Walking around Jarrow is another eye opener and must see video!

in this video we’re heading to jar town on the South Bank of the river TI in South IDE nestled in between heaven and South Shields first we need to get this Metro and I’ll see you [Music] there welcome back it’s Eddie here from TSI life here I am in jar it’s a fascinating place and you’re going to absolutely love this video and learn tons about it not least because of that uh plaque on the other side of the platform there The jarro Crusade I’ll talk about that a little bit later on so anyway let’s head into the Town Center so the first thing you met with when you arrive at jar there’s a bus station a bus stepo the Palmer community hospital and home bargain and this is just across the road from what we’re going to see a little bit later on the Town Center shopping center which is called the Viking Center now like a lot of areas these days Jar’s new different on T side has been socially and economically deprived there is a lot of poverty around here there are residents and families who have to rely on food banks to feed themselves which is really sad these days it’s uh it’s hard to get your head round being in 21st century Britain and your families on food banks so here we are right smack bang in the middle of jarat town center behind behind me there’s their shopping center the biking center now you may not know but Jarrett is absolutely steeped in Rich history going back to Anglo-Saxon times and the venerable bead but we’ll talk a little bit more about the history as we go through this video before we do that let’s take a little look around the town center so I’m not going to profess to be an expert on on Jara I do know a little bit you know the jovians are very very proud jwy people and from personal knowledge I do know the vast majority of the people around here on Newcastle uned fans there’ll be a few strugglers who have wandered off the script and have become Sunland fans for some strange reason but it’s a very proud area built on like I said cool mining and then ship building and have went through some awful times so the the decline of the ship building Industries and then the’ 70s and ‘ 80s and now probably it’s fair to say it’s you know it’s suffering now towns like jar uh a lot of these premises will just be taken over and back in the day at the height of their Industries there was about 54 pubs in Jara it was a thriving place to come and drink even up until the ‘ 80s my understanding is you know it was a really good night out in jar today there is one or possibly only two pubs open in Jara and that’s absolutely shocking to hear and just a measure of how how difficult things are you know for pubs in general to keep open through these difficult times I know the smoking B in 2007 uh had a big hit and I know that lockdowns have also had a big hit in the cost of living crisis and energy cost s spiral and it’s all took its tool and had a a deep impact on decent hardworking normal people like the ones in J Wan North Shield gated we’re all the same we’re all jordis we’re all trying to figure a away to be happy and get by so talking about some of the pubs that used to be here back in the day let’s take a look at some of them [Music] [Music] this sculpture behind me here a memorial is called the spirit of Jar going back to the Crusade the march of 1936 let’s learn a little bit more about exactly what that’s all about in 1851 Palmer’s Shipyard in Iron Works was open this replac coal mining as the major source of employment and for 80 years Palmer built around a thousand Navy ships jaru Shipyard became the largest of its kind in the country and providing high employment levels for the men in the surrounding area unfortunately after the first world War orders began to drop and Palmers had overestimated their orders the Great Depression hit in the early 1930s and this was to become the final straw for the shipyard which employed around 8,000 locals it finally closed in 1934 with mass unemployment and jaru and families struggling to feed themselves it was decided to organize a protest march to Parliament some 286 mi from Jara this March was organized and partially participated in by local MP Ellen Wilkinson and local counselor David Riley 200 men were selected after being deemed fit to be able to carry out this uous walk they set off on the 5th of October 1936 and it took 26 days to reach Parliament on the 31st of October you can only imagine how difficult the walk was without modern clothing and Footwear we enjoy today in cold and wet conditions on the 4th of November 1936 MP Ellen Wilkinson addressed Parliament and stated that jaru was a town had been murdered she went on to say that during the last 15 years jaru has passed through a period of industrial depression without parallel in the town’s history its Shipyard is closed its steelworks have been denied the right to reopen where formerly 8,000 people many of them skilled workers were employed only 100 men are now employed on a temporary scheme the town cannot be left derelict despite sympathetic responses the petition and protest fell on deas and the men of jaru were forced to return home Ellen Wilkinson would later release a book called the town that was murdered that’s just fascinating stuff you just can’t imagine what it must have been like in those early 1930s through the Great Depression when they didn’t have a welfare state like would do today people would have had vouchers for rations to queue up to get food malnutrition was like a real thing back in the day in the early 1930s when all these thousands of workers lost their jobs when the Palmer Shipyard I Works eventually had to close it must be must have been desperately hard times and that story I think is just amazing as well and what struck me as well is the the dog that followed them all the way down there there’s a you can see the statue of them just behind us there it was a black labrador called patty just breaks my heart that uh these men and and this dog just marched all the way down to London soak and wet freezing cold fighting for a cause and then just for it all to Fallen de when they got to Parliament and the laber government at the time it’s my understanding is they give them train tickets to get themselves back up to jar unbelievable there was a a famous song written by Alan Price who was of the animals the group of the animals 1974 I think called um the jarus song I can’t put the song on I’m absolutely gutted because I’d get a copyright strike but if you get a minute put it on it’s fabulous fabulous song so I’ve just found this lovely Cafe in the Viking Center in jar it’s uh described as the PA from Morrison’s the only Proper Cafe in Jara it’s the rosies Cafe in the vant center Lake I said lovely inside I’ve just missed rush hour so it’s lovely and quiet we’ve got a huge selection of food staff really friendly big smiles on the faces value for money not bad at all with the prices and I’ve just ordered myself for tuna jacket Tedy kind of wait to get stuck in thirsty work all this so yeah if you’re in town check Rosy’s Cafe out so I’ve just been stopped by a lad called Steve chers Steve he’s been living in jar for about 10 years he was living in walk app before that he’s been given us a little bit of history of the pubs around here the Royal orc is now unfortunately shut its nickname was the long B had one of those oldfashioned traditional long bars he uh has told me that there’s probably only three bars left in jarown Center there’s one down here called the Golden LI or nickname Johnny’s and one by the side of Morrison somewhere by the church which I’m going to check out in a minute but that’s shocking if there’s only three pubs left from 54 there we go behind Morrison’s we have the Crown and Anchor Pub and kitchen look at that it’s even got the old blue star outside the PB looks like it might be open I’m going to see if anybody’s inside so there you again crowning Anor still open one of the oldest pubs in jar just been chatting to one or two two of the locals and Andrea the girl who manages the pub who’s too shy to come on and tell us a bit more about the I did notice mun’s best scotch on draft my drink when I started drinking beautiful love seeing that I don’t know how clear the image is in front of us now but you probably know some of you might not but jaru has an entrance to The Pedestrian tin tunnel goes underneath the river T there’s only about 100 m of water separates Jara and Howen on the other side and the T tunnel four pedestrians and there’s a separate site tunnel as well was opened in 1951 and it was a provided a vital link to work as on the jarus side of the river T to be able to get across to the north side and work in the shipyards like Swan Hunters it was absolutely crucial of course with the decline of those Industries through the 70s 80s and ’90s that demand for work has stopped so has the the busyness of the T tunnel but I’m not going to go inside I have been through there quite a few times in me time if you want us to do a separate video on The Time Tunnel let us know in the comments down below so there we go the albian 1885 gin and Ale House it’s not looking promising so far let’s H check it out around the side oh that’s a shame look at them tiles it’s obviously very old Pub but it was dead popular back in the day that’s a shame so I wonder when it did shut the last own Public House of the Jara Brewery 2002 to 2015 look at this old building here the Jara Civic Hall it’s a gym now huh and we a soft player Center function room license Cafe the jar Civic Hall and just right next to it there is the Ben laurand probably the biggest Pub in the area I’m going to pop in two open and see what the crack is you need you need any makeup on you fcking do enjoy your day girls hi I’m jackob manager Ben lman uh we do cheap food cheap drink um familyfriendly do events do parties do DJ nights come and try us out great place people are fantastic everybody’s friendly but unfortunately where the government that it’s j it’s like everywhere is going downhill big style you got the shops over there half them are shot I mean say this bar good bar but obviously were Financial things gas electricity food prices people are find that difficult to come out we have come 72 in November this is like the Hub of the community you come out to say your friends socialize and that R and sit in the house I mean good Pub but there’s less people getting in all the time there you go cheers Jack cheers Allan telling us a little bit about what the Ben Ben Luman is like and life in jar sad to hear about the decline obviously there from Allen Pub first open in 1888 it looks lovely inside first time I’ve ever been in um the menu looks good cheap friendly if you’re in the snake of the woods get yourself in look at this beautiful old town hall building it’s now South tinside Council and South tinside homes with this is the very spot where they gathered and met for that march on the 5th of October 1936 there’s a plaque on the wall there in dedication to Joseph Simmons U who was one of the organizers and directly across the Road there is a statue that thousands of people just probably walk past every day and might not even know who it is but that is Sir Charles Mark Palmer baronet born in sou Shields 1822 founder of the Palmer works of the town of jarro who was first mayor in 1875 the Palmer shipyards s of very very powerful and influential man back in the day and it was the shipyards which are responsible for building h HMS resolution now I didn’t know of that that’s fascinating that block of flats just over there I don’t know if you can see but that’s Ellen Court and this is Wilkinson Court obviously if you put the um join the dots together MP Ellen Wilkinson local MP one of the organizers of the jaram marel I never knew that two blocks of flats named after her one Ellen one Wilkinson fascinating man and nearly forgot to mention one of the other most famous personalities and celebrities of Jar you might have heard of Jara Elvis a local poin Club Elvis impersonator back in the 70s ‘ 80s into the ’90s Jared Elvis He was made even more famous in 1992 when BBC did a documentary about them if you got time to watch that yeah so he he was clearly another fascinating and probably a bit of an unusual character as well Jarett Elvis for those of you from from here who else was famous in jerich course I don’t know everything I’m just I’m just walking around giving you a a snapshot of uh what life is like in this area you see plenty new Cass a’t the church you didn’t see any sundland shirts but yeah leave a comment down below let us know any important information I’ve missed out about this famous area I should mention as well uh if you want to learn more about the history of Jarrett and uh venerable bead in particular there is a a bead Museum and Visitor Center down by the the monastery in St Paul’s Church down by um where the river Dawn meets the river time go down there check it out check the website out in their opening times Etc very fascinating indeed so I hope you enjoyed the video gives a thumbs up if you did don’t forget to subscribe and if you want to learn more about life on IDE why don’t you check this video out