Today [TUES], hundreds of school children will march down Stow Hill to the Westgate Hotel in the footsteps of the Chartists who did so 174 years ago. LAURA LEA finds out why education must be at the heart of remembering this extraordinary piece of local history.

On November 4, 1839, thousands of Chartists led by former Newport mayor, John Frost, marched to the Westgate hotel, where fellow chartists were being kept imprisoned.

Soldiers opened fire on the protestors, killing 22 chartists. Many more were arrested and all three main leaders of the march, John Frost, Zephaniah Williams, and William Jones, were found guilty of high treason.

Today, that march will be re-enacted by hundreds of schoolchildren - all the more poignant this year as Chartism has been in the headlines following the demolition of the Chartist Mural.

And Hollywood star MIchael Sheen is now considering whether to become involved in a committee to look at a replacement memorial for those who died or were transported after the Uprising.

Patrick Drewett is chairman of the Chartist anniversary committee and has been involved in the schools march since it began. Before Mr Drewett retired, he was a school teacher and Chartism was one of the subjects he taught.

“When I retired, I thought let’s carry on. So we started the schools’ Chartists march,” he said.

This year marks a major development for the march, which has been passed on to Newport Museum. Communities First have funded a large part of this year’s project.

“It needs to expand and to expand it needs council input,” Mr Drewett explained.

“It’s good that they are organising it and recognising the importance of heritage.”

This year marks the 174th anniversary of the Chartist rising and marking the event, around 300 school children will recreate the march by dressing up, walking down Stow Hill waving flags, carrying banners and chanting for the “Right To Vote”.

When the crowd arrive outside the Westgate hotel the six points of the people’s charter will be read out and then a poem by Ernest Jones will be performed by the school children.

The march has been choreographed by local actor Jamie Jarvis from the CAST Theatre School, as part of a wider educational drama project.

“Drama teachers are going into schools so that school children can learn about history through drama. It’s part of the curriculum,” Mr Drewett explained.

“The children learn about history in an interactive way. It makes them proud of where they are and because of that, they tend to value Newport more. It gives them a sense of pride in their city.

“The teachers also enjoy it because the children are enjoying themselves and they recognise that it’s a very valuable part of the curriculum.”

Jamie Jarvis was approached by Newport council to take part in the project. Mr Jarvis has been going into various schools across Newport over the last five weeks. Each school gets four one hour sessions before the march.

Mr Jarvis said: “It’s a great opportunity for children to learn about their history in a fun way. They’ve been great – with so much energy.

“They’re coming to it with little to no knowledge of the history, but by then end they’ve got a really firm grasp of what happened.

“The teachers have been really proactive and supportive. It’s clearly something they enjoy as well.”

The project has involved children from years five and six, as well as A-level students from Monmouth Boys school.

“Some kids are really verbal and up for it but others aren’t as comfortable. But we play games to try and get them loosened up. After a few warm-ups we get straight into it – and they fly with it,” Mr Jarvis explained.

“I honestly believe it’s a great activity and the kids love it. Hopefully it’s something they won’t forget.”

During the march, the children will be shouting, cheering and actually playing the role of the Chartists.

Mr Jarvis said: “I hope the march will evolve and more schools will become involved and different activities will get added to it. It would be great to sing some songs down there and dress up and explore it further.

“But the kids are loving it and that’s the main thing.”

This project isn’t just for Newport – but for all of Gwent.

“We are expanding what’s happening, with the number of schools taking part. We are also looking to see how the Welsh language schools can get involved – as many of the chartists spoke Welsh,” said Mr Drewett.

“We want to get the educational services in Gwent to push the study of Chartism and encourage schools to study it more.”

Mr Drewett is now hoping to bring teachers into the Chartists group that meets every month to organise events such as these. The group is voluntary based.

“Next year is the 175th anniversary of the rising. Hopefully by that time, there will be something to replace the mural,” said Mr Drewett.

The loss of the city's mural is still felt keenly in some quarters.

Hollywood actor Mr Sheen, who wrote an open letter to the people of Newport, condemning the actions of the council, was in the city on Saturday afternoon discussing a new chartist ‘symbol’ for the city.

Mr Drewett said: “Out of something bad, a lot of interest in the Chartists has been generated. We have to be positive about the future. This is an opportunity to get people engaged.”

“The mural is gone, but it’s the heritage the Chartists have left us that is important and we need to find new and exciting ways to remember them.”

Education, Mr Drewett believes, is one of these ways.

“Through education we can ensure our children don’t forget, but there’s also the aspect of increasing revenue to the city. That needs to link up with other aspects of heritage. We have a huge wealth of it that needs to be linked together in a coherent way,” he said.

“Heritage lead regeneration is key. That’s what we need here – tourists attractions in Newport based on heritage.

“We need to get these buildings like the Westgate hotel back into use.”

But Chartism is not just confined to history lessons, for it branches into citizenship with regard to voting and the right to protest.

“It’s hugely current”, said Mr Jarvis.

“Schools need to learn about their local area and Chartism because it was the movement to get the vote and that is still important today – and using the vote that the Chartists won for us is even more important,” Mr Drewett added.

“Heritage brings communities together. Newport is quite a diverse community and anyone or anything that can bring communities together is good,” said Mr Drewett.

The march begins at 1.30pm today. [TUES]