Remembering the General Strike in Cumbria 100 years on

On May 4 1926 workers across the country came out in solidarity with miners who were facing wage cuts and increased hours.

For Cumbrians, this was no different, and workers downed tools throughout the region.

So we're remembering how the General Strike played out in Cumbria 100 years on.

On 7 May 1926 striking workers gathered to march through Kendal.

The demonstration was led by the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) with railway clerks, print workers, and others joining in.

A mass meeting in Market Square followed and the demonstrators were addressed by NUR and Labour Party speakers.

Meanwhile, on 9 May 1926, approximately 12,000 people are thought to have demonstrated through Carlisle in support of the striking workers.

May 10 1926 saw newspaper reports that between 500 and 600 trains were stopped by the strike.

Thousands of strikers and demonstrators met up at Lord Street before marching to the Victoria Park area of Bitts Park.

Only one train passed through Appleby with just eight passengers on board and roads were almost empty of traffic.

10,000 strikers marched through Carlisle, and it's said only one tram operated that day with the permission of the local strike committee to transport children to school.

Several major factories in Carlisle were also operating on short time, including Carr’s biscuits and Morton’s fabrics.

Earlier in the week, a strike committee in Wigton had been appointed with representation from the Miners' Federation, Transport & General Workers' Union, the National Union of Railwaymen, and the Railway Clerks' Association.

The committee arranged a room on Market Hill where strikers could sign on and communications could be sent to the strike committee in Carlisle from.

Part of Market Hill is now a car park.

On 11 May 1926, a lead miner from Shap called Alexander Auld was sentenced to three months' hard labour in prison.

Auld was a local secretary of the National Union of General Workers and was sentenced after publishing a notice asking workers not to join the Special Constabulary, a volunteer brigade supporting the police.

Belfast Telegraph reported that Auld described the Special Constabulary as “a Government measure for the repression of organised labour”.

One of the UK's first Labour MPs and trade union activist Will Thorne brought Auld's case up in Parliament asking the sentence to be shorted, but his request was dismissed.

On May 12 1926 the General Strike was called off by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) with no clear conclusion.

The TUC asked the government to call on employers to reinstate strikers who had been laid off, but the government said they had no powers to make them do so.

Miners across the country continued to strike for several months and for many who lost their jobs, conditions worsened.

The General Strike is now largely considered to have been an unsuccessful protest.