Our Chartist Heritage

Museum

Explorer Tom

At 170 Commercial Street, Our Chartist Heritage gives Newport's nineteenth-century fight for political rights a present-day address. Come for a listed talk, exhibition or Newport Rising event and the story moves from old petitions into a busy room full of people still asking who gets a voice. In November 1839, thousands of Chartists marched from the South Wales Valleys towards Newport. They were pressing for the People's Charter, with demands including a wider vote for men, secret ballots and payment for members of Parliament. The march ended in bloodshed at the Westgate Hotel. Our Chartist Heritage is the charity that now shares this history through education, events and the Newport Rising Festival. Its central Newport hub hosts heritage activity and gatherings, with the programme changing through the year. I suspect the Chartists would have asked for a very detailed explanation of my voting habits before allowing me near a banner; fair enough, lads. The real questions they raised about representation have travelled a long way beyond that November morning. A visit to the hub can be a useful beginning before walking Newport's Chartist places, including the Westgate site and the museum's displays. Check the charity's current events and book any ticketed activity before going to Commercial Street. The hub hosts programmed visits, talks and exhibitions; it should not be treated as a museum with guaranteed daily opening. This is also a working community space, so follow the arrangements for the event you choose. Take the story out into Newport afterwards and see how much of the city still remembers the people who marched for a say.