Archive of the Month: 1926 Women’s Peacemakers Pilgrimage Report, 99 years ago this May

99 years ago this month, over May-June 1926 the “Women’s Peacemakers Pilgrimage” marched from N & S Wales and each corner of the UK, uniting tens of thousands under the banner of ‘HEDD NID CLEDD’ / ‘LAW NOT WAR’.

View full Report on People’s Collection Wales

This report from the Temple of Peace and Health Archives of the Welsh League of Nations Union (WLNU), digitised via People’s Collection Wales, records this remarkable campaign UK-wide, with particular profile given to the North Wales Peace Pilgrimage which set off from Penygroes, Caernarfonshire on 27 May 1926:

“For the number, size and enthusiasm of its meetings, the palm must be awarded to #NorthWales. Started by a small group in Bangor, with a few shillings, the North Wales ‘tributary’ speedily swelled to the proportions of a river, and embraced over fifty towns and villages. To the first meeting at Penygroes in South Carnarvonshire, five streams of pilgrims came winding down the hillsides with blue and white pennons. Over two thousand people gathered in the market square from villages near and far.

A wonderful meeting took place in the beautiful historic ruins of Conway Castle, and the audiences at Holywell and Colwyn Bay numbered from three to four thousand. As befits a nation of singers, hymns, Welsh and English, were sung along the route to Chester, where the North Wales and Carlisle routes converged.”

A number of peace activists and historians have explored the story of the North Wales Peace Pilgrimage – see blog links below. However, little is yet known about the South Wales Pilgrimage, which marched through Swansea and Cardiff; this could make a lovely ‘hidden history’ for a student or budding community historian to uncover ahead of next year’s 2026 centenary (please contact craigowen@wcia.org.uk if you would be interested in researching and writing a short feature on the South Wales Peace March).

The Peace Pilgrimage on Film

Pathe Film Footage of the Women’s Peace Pilgrimage, includes clip from 0.47 to 1.07 of the march processing past Caernarfon Castle along Cae Llechi (the Slate Quay), where in 2016 a memorial stone was laid to commemorate the event.

2016 90th Anniversary Re-enactment

In May 2016, Gwynedd women’s groups and peace activists organised a 90th Anniversary ‘Re-enactment March’ (supported by WCIA’s ‘Wales for Peace’ project), following the original route around the walls of Caernarfon Castle. A commemorative slate was laid to mark the occasion in Cae Llechi, the old Slate Quay, to keep the story alive for future generations. This was widely reported on by the BBC and other local media.

The 90th Anniversary March of May 2016 passes Caernarfon Castle, retracing the steps of the 1926 women (above)
The memorial stone laid in Cae Llechi, Caernarfon in May 2016, alongside the 1923-24 Welsh Women’s Peace Petition (following that items display in Storiel, Bangor during Summer 2019). View on People’s Collection Wales

Explore More…

‘At the Front of the March’ blog feature by Jane Tooby, 2014:
https://armingallsides.org.uk/case_studies/at-the-front-of-the-march/

WCIA Voices volunteer blog feature, 2016:
https://wciavoices.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/north-wales-womens-peace-march-1926/