I’ve wanted to get to this event for a number of years, but with many things these days, other commitments or events inevitably get in the way, so it was great to finally get to the Newport Rising Torch Lit March on Friday 4th November 2022.

The torchlit march remembers and celebrates the Chartist Uprising also known as the Newport Rising that happened back on an infamous night in 1839. By replicating the journey made by the many thousands of Chartists, it gives people a sense of the importance of the rebellion made by the many and the sacrifices that many had to endure.

Effectively it was a very important journey on the way to modern democracy, as they were fighting for the right of the common people to vote and have their own say in society. Here is a bit more background about the original Newport rising from the vaults of Wikipedia.

The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rising in Wales, by Chartists whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot. On Monday 4 November 1839, approximately 4,000 Chartist sympathisers, under the leadership of John Frost, marched on the town of Newport, En route, some Newport chartists were arrested by police and held prisoner at the Westgate Hotel in central Newport. Chartists from industrial towns outside of Newport, including many coal-miners, some with home-made arms, were intent on liberating their fellow Chartists. Fighting began, and soldiers of the 45th Regiment of Foot, deployed in the protection of the police, were ordered to open fire. About 10-24 Chartists were confirmed killed, whilst reports of perhaps a further 50 injured. 4 soldiers were reported as injured, as well as the mayor of Newport who was within the hotel. Subsequently, the leaders of the rising were convicted of treason and were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

The modern event is a non profit, mainly volunteer led weekend of events that aims to keep the story alive, by educating new listeners about Newports past, and also to remember the many scarifices people had to make, but also the progress that came out of this historic moment in Welsh history.

I hope you enjoy viewing this small set of images that I captured on Friday 4th November 2022. These photographs were captured on my Canon R6 coupled with the EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 L IS USM lens. I felt I needed some extra reach for some of these shots to get in amongst the action, but perhaps the 70-200mm might have performed better and been a better option with the extra stops of light, but I opted for the extra 100mm of reach which the 70-300mm provided. The light conditions were pretty challenging, but I feel that motion blur adds to the atmosphere in some shots and the R6 definitely performed very well at high ISO, with some shots taken here at 8200 / 12000 ISO.

After the crowd descended on their final destination at the Westgate Hotel, I moved onto another location and took in the opening night at Ffoto Newport to check out the Nat Simpson photography exhibition. All in all a great night of events and art in the heart of Newport City Centre. Which in my opinion is a great thing to celebrate!