A Commemorative Edition book has been published locally by author J. R. Betts. The title is as shown above and it can be bought at the local Raunds library. ISBN Nos: 0-9550099-0-1
Click on the above thumbnail pictures to increase the size for viewing.
Link to 'March Veteran and Vintage Cycle Club'. Pictures of the March
J. R. Betts book tells the fascinating story of how this extraordinary event that took place in 1905, from our own town, made local and national news. The story revolves round the fact that the main employment in Raunds was shoe and bootmaking, specifically for the army. However, this was not a full factory process at this time. It was largely a cottage industry where families worked as units at home to 'hand make' the footwear. Just before and at the turn of the 19th century, there was a growing union movement which wanted a decent wage for the shoe industry. Depending on demand for boots, the wages paid fluctuated and there was unrest and strike action. The Boer War from 1899 to 1902 briefly created favourable conditions and wages for the industry. However, after the end of the Boer War, demand fell, workers undercut each other so prices fell and the War Office paid less than the negotiated rate by the unions. In 2005, a strike was organised in an attempt to gain better wages and a good deal of local conflict took place around this area. Indeed there was one night of general violence which was reported as the 'Raunds Riots' by the press. As the strike dragged on, the employers held firm, the government did not take any action on behalf of the strikers and it appeared that the strike was broken as many shoemakers returned to work with no extra money.
An ex military man, turned councillor, James Gribble, had the idea to highlight the plight of the workers by organising an orderly march of 115 selected men to London. The intention was to present their case to the War Office. The amazing fact is that this was not backed by the union and was not thought a particularly good idea by many people.
In the end, the march turned out to be increasingly successful in capturing the general public's attention. Crowds turned out in force at all the towns they marched through and stopped at. In fact, all the marchers were found accommodation at all the stopovers and a lot of money was raised from the onlookers for the cause. Once in London the authorities actually did not let all the men march to the Houses of Parliament. However, a crowd of up to 10000 did assemble in Hyde Park to greet the marchers.
The men marched all the way back to Raunds, taking a different route. J. R. Betts tells us in his book that a crowd of 5000 gathered at the Square in Raunds to welcome home the marchers, which was more than the total population of the town. The date of the return was 20th May 1905.
Did the march make an impact? Well, not immediately as the strike and negotiations were ongoing for some weeks afterwards. A final settlement was eventually reached along with the setting up of a Board of Conciliation and Arbitration, which generally prevented future price fluctuations.
The anniversary fell on a beautifully sunny and mild Spring day. There was a re-enactment of the march, with 115 local people dressed in the clothes of the time, with accompanying brass band, cyclists on antique bikes and a cavalcade of steam driven vehicles and floats. There was an extremely good turnout of local people. The march didn't quite get to London and back, but made do with venturing from the outskirts of Raunds on the Hargrave side, past the town square and to Saxon Hall. Local dignitaries uncovered a special plaque commemorating the event, near the town hall. There was then a celebrate and exhibition in the new Saxon Hall building. Click on the thumbnail pictures above to view the scenes.