Tash's Events, Tales, Stories, Updates & Notes

2003-06-19T01:55:00.000Z

Police clamp down on outbreak of peace

I thought you would be interested in this; written by a party organiser about their busted event on Friday :

Words cannot express how we feel, it’s hard to know where to begin. The time, effort and money of so many people wasted. Everyone involved put their heart and soul into our summer gathering. What happened has left us all in shock and absolutely gutted.
But don’t worry we will bounce back! The Frogz will keep on hopping!
Our private members only party was stopped in a way which we believe to be illegal. At 12:04pm on Friday 13th June, Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was signed by Assistant Chief Constable Steve Mortimore. We were then served with it at about 2:00pm.
Friday 13th lived up to its name, what an awful morning. After more than 2 weeks of gathering and moving decoration, lighting, geodomes, marquees, carpets, firewood and a mountain of other equipment. Followed by a week of constructing and building, we had made such a beautiful outdoor environment that was ready to go!
We thought we had thought of everything in putting on our summer gathering, our annual private members party (which was also celebrating 3 birthdays of members of our tribe) and that we were completely legal. We had full permission from the farmer who owned the land, who trusted us and understood what we were trying to do. We had visited all the local people, spoken to them personally about the gathering and gave them personal invites so that they could come along and a telephone number to call if there were any problems.
A lot of time was spent researching information used in the planning of our private party. Everything from the amount of toilets recommended by health and safety, fire points, medical staff and stewarding thru to the licensing and legal implications of the party.
Under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, the Licensing Section undertakes the licensing of Entertainment at premises within the borough of South Somerset.
An Entertainment Licence is required for Public Music, Public Dancing and Indoor Sports.
There are certain exemptions for not having a licence, these are as follows:-
 If the premises holds a liquor licence issued by the Magistrates Court under the Licensing Act 1968, the licensee is entitled to have two performers on at any time with that period of opening. This could be a D.J playing music or a duo.
 If the function is a private party, then an entertainment licence is not required
 Any music (1) in a place of public religious worship or (2) performed as an incident of a religious meeting or service
 Entertainment held in a pleasure fair
 An entertainment which takes place wholly or mainly in the open air.

As you can see we were exempted from having a public entertainment license by the fact that we were putting on a private party by personal invitation only, with 24 hour security there to keep it that way.
The police said that they had grounds to serve Section 63 because we “could not guarantee that a member of the public (i.e. an non-tribe member) could not gain entry to the private party” It is absolutely impossible to guarantee that something won’t happen. So by their thinking it is impossible to have a private party.
We will be contacting the council to confirm that we did not need a party entertainment license as soon as they open on Monday morning.
When we were served the Section 63 (see below) we were ordered to leave the land and the surrounding area by 6pm, giving us 4 hours to dismantle something that had taken many people over a week to put together. we are talking about 8 geodesic domes, 3 circus round tents, 4 marquees, a pond, 100 hay bails, solar showers, sauna, 20ft x 16ft x 18ft scaffolding stage, pyramid, solar cinema, market stalls, food stalls, stone carving workshop, children’s area, over half a mile of water piping, 250 litre water bowsers, fire extinguishers, lasers, lights, safety fencing, flushing toilet blocks, firewood etc. etc.) If we didn’t remove our vehicles, equipment and property we could be arrested. At this point a yawning gapping chasm opened up in our stomachs. Absolutely gutted. Exhausted from all the work putting it all together and getting only 2-3 hours sleep each night, we tried to piece ourselves back together, still reeling in the shock we began the sickening process of packing up something that we had only just finished putting together.
At about 5pm we had taken down quite a bit of our stuff, but the police were back and this time they were stating that they were now searching for any sound equipment and generators and would be confiscating them!! Because they had read on the message board of our website that we were encouraging people to meet in preparation to move to an alternative site. We immediately stated that this was not true and took steps to stop things going any further by closing down the message board and replacing it with a message saying that “there will be absolutely no summer gathering taking place”. The police had already taken the license plate numbers of all the vehicles on the site, but now they were searching the vehicles too.
The sound equipment and generators were seized and loaded into some of the 6 police riot vans that were on the scene. (There were more police there than there were of us!)
The police were informed that we had no intentions of moving else where and that our message board was open to free speech and did not necessarily reflect the tribes opinions or intentions as a whole. We also informed them that we felt that they were breaching the original agreement if we cleared the site and move away we would be left alone.
We really really wanted to have our gathering, we even offered the compromise of allowing the police to impound all sound and power equipment for the duration of our gathering so that our tribe, our family could be allowed to camp together in a field that we had permission to be in. They would not even consider this offer and repeated that we had to leave the site and surrounding area and not return within 7 days.
If you paid for full membership with tribe of frog and feel that our private summer gathering should have been allowed and would like to let the authorities know then you can contact the man that signed the Section 63 order that stopped it from happening, at this address below;
Steve Mortimore
Assistant Chief Constable
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
PO Box 37
Portishead
Bristol
BS20 8QJ

We have a lot of work to do to sort out the mess that this has left behind. The hiring of all the scaffolding, sound systems, generators, water bowsers, toilets, fencing, etc. etc. is an unavoidable cost that has to be paid for out of our collective membership fees. We will refund money to any one which wishes to cancel their membership. If you would like to get a refund of your membership fee then send an email to; refunds@tribeoffrog.com and we will contact you with details of what to do. For those of you that wish to remain a full paid up member, your personal invitation will remain valid for our next party/gathering.
We can’t express enough to everyone how sorry we are that this happened, we are sorry for all the wasted time, the wasted days people took off work to get there and the wasted journeys too. It’s awful :(
We are seeking legal advice. It would be great if there was someone in tribe out there that could help. Are you or friend or member of your family a solicitor that is willing to help?, if so please get in touch with us.

*** PHOTOS & FILM FOOTAGE REQUEST ***
The police did a lot of filming while they were there, we are going to ask for copies of all the tapes made. We would also like to collect together any video and photos you have. if you took pictures and recorded the event in anyway please get in touch.
It is still legal to hold private parties and private gatherings in this countries, at least for now, but we should all be aware of a new bill that the government is trying to make law, you can read it here

Under the current wording of this proposed bill there could be a £20,000 fine and up to 6 months in prison for some of the following breaches of the new law if it is passed:
 Any private wedding, corporate reception or party that employs a musician to perform would need a licence - failure to obtain one could put the organisers in the dock.
 Do you run a recording or a broadcast studio? Better get a licence, or the police will be banging on the door.
 Are you going bell ringing or carol singing? Think twice about it if you don’t have a licence.

And if you want proof that the authorities will use this sort of power once they have it at their disposal then you just have to read this excerpt from a letter sent to the landlord of a London Pub, fined thousands of pounds for breaching the current rules that ban dancing in pubs that don’t have a “dancing licence”.
“Dancing could be described as the rhythmic moving of the legs, arms and body usually changing positions within the floor space available and whether or not accompanied by musical support.”
Using this definition of criminal behaviour the authorities observed customers swaying around in the pub in question on several separate occasions, and a hefty fine soon came through the letter box.
Seems a little mad to us!
We must not let these laws to infringe on our rights to gather peacefully at safe children-friendly family orientated private social events.

2003-01-29T21:58:00.000Z

‘What Past? Whose Past - Who Owns Stonehenge?
University of Reading: School of Continuing Education: Town Hall Lectures 2003:

This is one of the many lectures, organised by the University of Reading: School of Continuing Education, spring Season

Have contributed the use of a photograph of 'stonehenge and barbed wire' for use in the publisitity for this event. Flyers posters etc.

I am so glad that there continues to be such debate about these subjects. Our heritage is under continued threat, from those authorities that feel we have few rights over antiquaties and ' OUR ' history.

http://www.extra.rdg.ac.uk/events/displays/publectur.asp

Title: The Town Hall Lectures 2003: ‘What Past? Whose Past’

Description: Professor Barbara Bender of University College London and author of ‘Stonehenge: Making Space’ and ‘Landscape: Politics and Perspectives’ will discuss how the study of key sites, including Stonehenge, can lead to conflict or, sometimes, reconciliation in ‘What Past? Whose Past?’

Location: The Town Hall, Reading Start time: 7.30pm

Date: 17:3:2003

Ticket Price: Ticket Price Concession: -

Contact: Hexagon Box Office Phone: 0118 960 6060

Intended audience: This event is open to members of the public

http://www.reading.ac.uk

Stonehenge Yahoo Groups, about all this .......

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stonehengeentertainmentsdiscussion

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stonehenge2003Celebration

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stonehengepeace

2003-01-23T10:56:00.000Z

An account of the march to Geaorges Hill, Surrey, on Saturday the 3rd of April 1999, to commenerate Gerard Winnstanley and the 350th Anniversary of the Diggers, (1st April 1649)

“The work we are going about is this, to dig up George hill and the waste ground there abouts, and to sow Corn, and to our breads together by the sweat of our brows.”
Gerard Winnstanley & 14 others.
The true Levellers standard advance, April 1649

The Diggers march set out from Walton-on-Thames at just after 12:30pm on saturday. The point of the march was to comemerate the 350th Anniversary of the Diggers who first set out to “claimthe land as a common treaury for all”. And to erect a stone, in honour of Gerard Winstanley, at George Hill in Surrey (just outside London) which is currently claimed by ‘St Georges golf course’.
At 12:30. the Town Crier of Brighton and Hove rang her bell, and in clear tones quoted Gerard Winstanely from his “New Years gift for Parliament and armie” in 1650.
“Yet my mind was not at rest, because nothing was acted, and thoughts did run in me, that words and writings were all nothing and, must die, for action is the life of all, and if thou does not act, thou dost nothing.”
And with this the event was in motion. People met and talked, and told each other new thing, and the stone which we were to erect was there, laid out on a very adequate and solid cart. “The cart was built especially for the purpose”, the craftman told me, as I joined the cart pullers in taking the stone to the gathering point just round the corner. Though the stone is quite narrow, the cart was made out of what looked like a wheel base from a Morris Minor, and so we had to take it on the road as it wouldn’t fit on the pavement. We stood in the street and waited for the mass of the march to assemble in the road. The banners were raised and the motorists calmed down. We set off on to the main rod leading to Georges’ hill.
Spirits were high, and the march set off on the four mile walk with a sense of purpose. I counted about 280 marchers present (281 first count, 282 second count). Many people dressed in ‘traditional costume’ and quite a few carried shovels. There was a wide variety of people walking. Miles Halliwell was also present. He played the part of Gerard Winstanley in the movie about the Diggers movent in the middle of the 1600’s.
There were a two small arguments with motorists on the course of the march, both were resolved amicably once the motorists were made aware of the purpose of the walk, but other than this the march went without insident, and ecery body was very freindly and positive.
The police directed the traffic.
We arrived at our destination at 15:45. The gates were unlocked and there was minimalsecurity presence. Tthere were several police vans on the far side of the green, they stayed where they were while we strode confidently onto the land we were claiming and the police and security left those assembled alone and we assembled next to wooded glade ‘on some one elses bit !
It was difficult work pulling that cart, and it had been a privelidge to participate in taking that monument to its’ proposed site. It gave me enough time to soak up what I have been learning, research, and living recently, and to reflect on the significance of our actions today. We struggled together to pull the monument to the site, but how the original Diggers must have struggled when they gave us a reason to celebrate and commerate their noble and visionary cause.
I assisted in the final act of up-ending the cart in order to display the monument to those gathered. And once the stonecarver had balanced the monument, the Town Crier called our attention with more words also said to be from Gerald Winstanley from ‘a bill of account of the most remarkeable sufferings that the Diggers have met with from the 1st April 1649....
“ ......And here I end, having put my arm as far as my strength will go to advance Righteousness; I have writ, I have acted, I have peace; now I must wait to see the spirit do his work in the hearts of others, and whether England shall be the first land, or some others, wherein truth shall sit down in triumph”.
And then other people were invited to sing and ‘rattle on’. The first to speak was a man who was concerned with the issues surrounding todays’ action. We were all disappointed to here that the stone would not be dug in today because it probably would not be very long before the St. Georges’ golf course would have it removed or trashed or both. The golf course ‘allowing’ the stone to stand would probably present the possibilty that people may visit the monument, and this might present a problem to the ‘owners’ of ‘non-members’ demanding access to the land on a more regular basis, and I don’t think that they would stand for that(!) Our spirits were lifted though on the news that the stone will be going to West Horsley, which is apparently the town of Parson Platts’, who gave the Diggers a bloody hard time during the land reclaimation, he is said to have had a lot to do with the hatred of the church toward the Diggers. And would probably turn in his grave if he knew that the memorial stone commemerating his rival was to stand in his ‘home town’. But he need not turn for too long because the stone will only be there temporarily before it moves to (hopefully) a permanent position at George hill site.
The speaker also told us how letters will be sent to the St. Georges hill residents association to try to recieve their approval on the placing of the stone, because it is not the golf course who object to the memorial but the residents association. And not suprisingly so, because they probably aware of how they can be seen as the ‘modern day’ equivelant of the wealthy land owners in the time of Winstanley....Does much truly change over time?
Other speakers also had their word, and the crowd listened intently, even through the battery powered p.a.system which had been brought along by a very ‘up for it’ individual (it was having problems with the damp enviroment, but warmed up after a while - nice one J). There was a very audible resitle by Miles Halliwell of the words and quotes of Gerard Winstanley. There were mentions on the ruling of Lord Irvine (House of Lords, 4th march ‘99) relating to “using the highway for the action of passing and re-passing and anything incidental to that action”. There were songs, and people met and talked.
Soon the time came for this action to finish. Some people then left Georges hill while over half of the group went further into the estate, and into the residential area in order to re-claim some of the land ‘owned’ by the wealthy locals, where they hoped to set up a Diggers camp.
I did not follow straight away but stopped to carry on my conversations with some of the new freinds that I had met. And then I also set off into the Birch woods and the golf greens to find the Diggers camp.
I was ‘gob-smacked’ by the place. What a beautiful area, and an especially beautiful area to live in if ‘one’ can afford to. I hadn’t realised how large the area was. I ran across the greens and through the woods, sweating but not tired, and passed by golfers who looked at me as though I was an alien or something out of the ordinary (which I suppose I was, especially if ‘one’ was to look at my shoes, which revealed my life on the bread line). As I ran passed the golfers I politely said my “Good afternoons” and my “How do you do?”(es), but was ignored. If they don’t show me that they noticed me, then obviously I don’t exist in their eyes. Not one of them returned my polite enquiries - I generally find that snobs are rude and ignorant, so I didn’t take offence at their problem.
“Excuse me, sir”, I said to a golfer roughly of my own age group, “I don’t suppose you’ve seen a bunch of ‘hippies’ come passed here in the last ten minutes?”.
“Yes”, he replied, pointing towards the car park of the ‘tea house’, “I saw a large group of people going up that way”.
I said my thanks to him, and before running on I paused to say something to a woman who I can only presume was his mother, “It must be so wonderful for you to be able to come and play golf here, it’s very beautiful. There’s nowhere like this to play golf where I come from. You are very lucky !”. I sid this to her in the vague hope that she might notice the difference in perseption between us, but she didn’t look at me, and said quite simply, “Yes we are, aren’t we!”
Maybe I wouldn’t see her as a stuck up cow if she had only looked at me and seen me smiling at her in a freindly manner. My attention was drawn to a few people who were calling me from the club house and gesturing off into the trees passed the car park. As I approached them I could here that they were shouting, “Through the car park, turn right, up the hill, and turn left!”. I went in the direction that they had told me to go, wondering whether they were actually sending me to the main exit. These thoughts very quickly left my mind, and my running slowed to a walk as I used the private road to go up the hill that I had been directed up. I found myself walking through a ‘residential utopia’, the likes of which I had never seen before. The area looked very familiar but only in the sense that it reminded me of the type of place which I would like to think that we should all be able to live in, a clean space with some nature around, with houses big enough to allow communal living, each house could be an alternative centre in its’ own right in this type of setting.
It is a quite place. No cars. Trees full of bird song. It’s a shame that only the select few get to see this place, let alone live in it ! So I pressed on, now more determined to find the camp.
I came to the top of the hill where the road forks left and right, I was unsure which way to go for fear of being ‘captured’ and booted back into ‘the outside world’. Within seconds of arriving at the junction I saw a car coming my way, and I could make out that this was a St. Georges security car. For a moment I thought that ‘they’ would escort me to the exit, but on flagging down the driver and enquiring as to the whereabouts of the camp, to my suprise the security guard said, “Hop in, I’ll give you a lift there”, so in I hopped, and suddenly there I was.....at the gateway to the Diggers camp.
Drawing on my youth experience I climbed under the gate, being sure not to cause any ‘criminal damage’ on my way in, and found to my joy that tents and yurts (don’t know how to spell that one) and a large kitchen were already being erected. A fire was just being started, and the mood was very freindly and relaxed. I had expected that by now, what with my late arrival, I would arrive to see people being turfed off by the security and plod. Not so. In fact quite the opposite. Just a couple of police and security and well over a hundred people ‘digging in’.
We formed a human chain to move supplies and possesions in quickly, whilst people began preparing food in the by now built kitchen area, and others sang songs around the by now roaring fire.
At 17:40 two inspectors turned up to check it out. They pointed out that damage may be occuring to the gate, and so some people found some materials to create a makeshift stile. That (I think) was about all they had to grumble about, and they were gone within ten minutes. Later on a ‘local’ man turned up at the gate and exchanged pleasentries with his new neighbours. The whole scene was a very relaxed atmosphere, and as it came closer to darkness I felt that I really didn’t want to leave the site, and would have liked to stay for at least a couple of days.
Unfortunately though this was not possible, and it was sonn time for me and my friend to leave. We left the camp at 19:55, as the fire began to roar and the merriments continued. We managed to get a lift back to the start point of the march from where we made our way back home.......What an enlightening day. The event made such a lot of sense to me, and through participating in the action I am left feeling closer to and with a clearer understanding of the reasons for it, and not only a clearer picture of the historical events, but also a greater understanding of the relevance of our action.
It seems true to me that social issues and struggles that were alive in the 1600’s are still relevant in society today, without knowing what has gone before in history I only have an understanding, but after participating in the action that we did today and learning more about the history of the land and its’ people I feel like that understanding is growing and the new kknowledge that I have has (again raised my confidence and awareness.
After todays action I feel inspired, and am thirsty for more knowledge, understanding, and action. And I thank everyone who took part for the passive nature of the demonstration, nice one everyone !!

“They hang the man and flog the woman
that steal the goose from off the common,
But let the greater villain loose
that steal the common from the goose.” (traditional rhyme)

2003-01-23T01:42:00.000Z

drugs and clubs: (a rough guide to your rights)

Entering the club
Clubs have the right to search anyone entering their premises, and must provide searchers of both sexes. They can refuse entry to anyone who refuses a search and can only insist on searching outside clothes, pockets or bags.

They must conduct the search in a decent manner and with respect to the individual. They cannot insist on a more intimate search without your permission. Legally, they can only conduct strip searches and searches inside clothes with your permission in private with an independent witness.

Only the police or customs and excise officials are empowered to search you without agreement - if a door supervisor searches inside your clothes or performs a strip search without your permission they may be charged with assault.

Inside the Club:
Some clubs are reknowned for having a 'blind-eye' approach to soft drug taking. Don't abuse this privilege - skin up somewhere discreet and don't flaunt it around - it'll only get the club closed otherwise. Other clubs will hound you out like you're a mass murderer, so check it out first. Remember, even if you're only smoking a spliff it is illegal and you might face being arrested as well as being thrown out of the club.

Commercial Clubs:
What you'll find inside varies considerably, depending on the clubs and the ruthlessness of the owners. Some commercial clubs will do everything they can to extract as much money from the punters as possible, while others treat clubbers with respect.

If you don't find all the below provided we'd suggest you take your custom elsewhere or complain to the club and relevant authorities (details below):

Cheap bottled water available at the bar with free unrestricted access to cold drinking. Some clubs have been known to charge up to £3 for a bottle of water while turning the cold water taps off, or reducing them to a warm trickle. Avoid them and report them - they are endangering people's lives.

Adequate ventilation and a chill-out space. Some clubs have been known to turn off the air conditioning to boost drinks sales, or to overcrowd the dancefloors. Avoid.

Provide a competent first aider on the premises. If something goes wrong you want to feel that there is help at hand.

Cheap, secure cloakrooms. It's important to be able to have somewhere safe to keep clothes while you dance. Watch out for clubs that charge exorbitant amounts or keep you queuing all night.

Trained, registered door and security staff, preferably wearing name tags. Expect to be treated with civility and friendliness and to see a notice displaying the club's searching and complaints policy.

Complaining:
If you feel you have been ill-treated at a club, try to take down all the details as soon as possible, noting down the names/numbers/description of the people involved and the time of the incident.

If you are unhappy with a search, contact Release who will complain on your behalf.

If the club is failing to provide free water, is overcrowded or has insufficient safety and first aid facilities, complain to the management or get in touch with your local council's Environmental Health Department. Also write in to the club/DJ magazines, post up on the internet and tell your friends - if these clubs are treating people badly it's important to get the word out.

Drugs and Clubs
If you're intending to take drugs when you're out clubbing, try and learn as much as possible about the drugs and the possible risks. If you're trying out a new drug, it's best to do it a club where you feel safe and secure and have friends around. Drugs can effect you differently depending on your physical and mental state.

Try and wear cool clothes for dancing but have some warm clothes for the chilling out and the journey home later. Try and eat before you go out as the food will give you energy for dancing and help line the stomach.

Tell your friends what drugs you're taking and look out for each other - and remember to keep drinking at least a pint of non-alcoholic fluid when you're dancing.

Try not to buy drugs from strangers in clubs - not only is there a great chance you'll get ripped off, but it could be dodgy gear or stuff that's a lot stronger than you're used to.

Be careful if you're mixing your drugs - there's no way to predict how they'll react together and some combinations can be unexpectedly powerful. It's best to stick with one drug and not mix'n'match - and that includes alcohol. If you do take more than one drug, remember that the effects are cumulative and can mount up over the hours.

If you're already on prescribed drugs be careful - some drugs may react strongly with each other.

Some drugs can send you in a shag frenzy, increasing your chances of catching HIV and other sexual transmitted diseased. Use a condom! If you're pregnant, some drugs may have unexpected side-effects and possibly damage your child.

If you're injecting, never inject alone.

Leave the motor at home. Some drugs will still be kicking in hours after you've taken them and your judgement could be at risk. Also bear in mind that the police have recently been targeting people leaving rave clubs.

London Dance Safety produce an excellent free booklet for ravers and are organising awareness events. Call 0207 394 5678 for details.

Related links:
Safer Clubbing Guide - Home Office Guide, 7th March 2002
http://www.drugs.gov.uk/newsandevents/news/clubbing_n/view

Safety on the dancefloor - BBC report, Mar 2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1860000/1860119.stm

2003-01-17T10:07:00.000Z

Eric Mattocks, squatters’ activist,

born may 30 1928; died January 18, 1999

By Steve Platt. Tuesday February 2, 1999. The Guardian

Eric Mattocks, who has died suddenly in his sleep aged 70, was one of the liveliest and best-loved characters in the London squatting movement. A rough, roguish, huge-hearted man, he was a stalwart of the Islington-based Advisory Service for Squatters (ASS) for almost 25 years.
There were few squatting campaigns in that period that did not bear the mark of his practical activism or echo with the sound of his unforgettable laugh.
Brought up in working-class Hackney before and during the second world war, Eric never departed from his roots in London’s East End. He had been a burglar before he was a squatter, and turned the skills he learned in that earlier profession to good use when his own experience of homelessness persuaded him that no one should remain homeless while houses stood empty.
On the few occasions that he could be persuaded to speak about his housebreaking past, he was quick to insist that it was strictly confined to ‘rich people’s houses Kent, Surrey and Blackheath’. He despised ‘nicking off the working class’ and the rise of that sort of mean crime on the estates of Hackney and elsewhere.
There was little that he would not do to help the many vulnerable people who turned to the squatting movement when all else had failed. For his 50th birthday Eric was presented by his squatter friends with the ‘Order of the Golden Crowbar’ (actually a gold spray-painted crowbar) in recognition of the number of squats he had opened up.
The squatting movement of the 1970s and 1980s was at the heart of the political and cultural turbulence that produced, among much else, punks and punk rock. Although described as a ‘proto-punk’ for his anarchic politics and spikey ways by one of his younger fellow activists at ASS, Eric was never a fan of that particular music scene.
At squatters’ benefits he was often to be found taking the money on the door, where, equipped with industrial ear protectors, he would question the eager punters’ sanity in ‘paying good money for that bleedin’ ‘orrible racket’.
He was also legendary in some music circles for once forcing Joe Strummer and his mates in the Clash, then on their way to stardom, to clean up the rubbish outside their squat. It was ‘giving squatters a bad name. I don’t care what bloody pop group they are.’
Mattocks had first become involved in the organised squatting movement around the time of the eviction of the Elgin Avenue squatters in the summer of 1975, when barely a day passed without news of one squat or another hitting the headlines. He became treasurer of the London Squatters Union and was one of the founders of ASS, which he also served as treasurer until his death.
When ASS hit one of its periodic financial crises, it was Eric who raised the money to keep it going; when the organisation was firebombed in 1981, it was Eric who got an emergency telephone line installed and had the centre back in action the next day. He did all this while working as a school gardener for the Inner London Education Authority, where he was an active trade unionist and shop steward.
Perhaps Eric’s greatest triumph was the Greater London Council’s squatters’ amnesty in 1977-78, when some 12,000 squatters in GLC properties were given authorised occupancies. Eric had found a kindred spirit at the GLC in John Snowcill, the senior official with responsibility for squatted properties. The two discovered they had attended the same primary school and formed a close friendship, which was to culminate in the plan for an amnesty. Eric played an essential role in its implementation chewed over with Snowcill at regular Friday sessions in a Waterloo pub.
Among those who turned up to a London Squatters Union meeting in the late 1970s was Catherine, with whom Eric was to form a relationship that lasted for the rest of his life. Their two young children have lost their father, who loved them as dearly as he was loved by others, far too soon.

2003-01-08T18:48:00.000Z

Licensing Bill 2003

You'll all know of the changes in law, that have generally fucked up, our gatherings outside, Public order act CJA etc …….

Then there was the club licensing rules …… drugs etc and the 'Barry Legg' Act ………

And now, here comes the next one: The Licensing Bill 2003

This is a great overview
http://www.musiclovers.ukart.com/pels.htm

Local Government Association Info
http://www.lga.gov.uk/Briefing.asp?lsection=0&id=SXEF99-A7813934
http://www.lga.gov.uk/Briefing.asp?lsection=0&id=SXEF99-A7814395

Licensing Bill: Summary of key points
http://www.info4local.gov.uk/searchreport.asp?id=13063&frompage=subjects&subject=5

Licensing Bill: Ten archaic laws that will be repealed
http://www.info4local.gov.uk/searchreport.asp?id=13064&frompage=subjects&subject=5

Licensing Bill: Comparison - Existing and new
http://www.info4local.gov.uk/searchreport.asp?id=13065&frompage=subjects&subject=5

Licensing of Live Music in England and Wales
Carol singers will be criminals - without a licence - sign the petition!
http://www.wgma.org.uk/licensing.html

The "Blair Bans Morris" poster page
http://www.beerfordbury.com/BBTWTA/Banmorris.htm

THREAT TO LIVE MUSIC

The Government includes the Licensing Bill in its programme of legislation for the coming session and part of this bill relates to the issue of Public Entertainment Licences. Despite 233 MPs having signed David Heath's Early Day Motion calling for the protection of live music, the proposed measures are draconian to say the least. Hamish Birchall is the advisor to the Musicians Union on public entertainment licensing reform. This is his analysis of the proposed legislation.

Licensing reform and live music

The broad aims of the Licensing Bill are to be welcomed, of course. Deregulation of opening times is likely to reduce binge-drinking, and alcohol-related crime and disorder. However, if all the provisions of this otherwise liberalising Bill were enacted, this would represent the biggest increase in licensing control of live music for over 100 years:

* 110,000 on-licensed premises in England and Wales would lose their automatic right to allow one or two musicians to work. A form of this limited exemption from licensing control dates back to at least 1899.
* Churches outside London would lose their licensing exemption for public concerts.
* Thousands of private events, hitherto exempt, become licensable if 'for consideration and with a view to profit'.
* The same applies to any private performance raising money for charity.
* A new licensing criterion is introduced: the provision of 'entertainment facilities'. This could mean professional rehearsal studios, broadcasting studios etc will be illegal unless first licensed.
* Musicians could be guilty of a criminal offence if they don't check first that premises hold the appropriate authorisation for their performance.
* Likewise someone organising a karaoke night in a pub.
* Buskers similarly potential criminals - unless they perform under a licensing authorisation.
* Church bell ringing could be licensable.
* But... broadcast entertainment on satellite or terrestrial TV, or radio, is to be exempt from licensing under this Bill.

The licensing rationale, where live music is concerned, is essentially to prevent overcrowding and noise nuisance. The government claims their reforms will usher in a licensing regime fit for the 21st century. But surely 21st century planning, safety, noise and crime and disorder legislation can deal effectively with most of the problems associated with live music? Not according to Culture Minister Kim Howells. He says the swingeing increase in regulation is necessary because 'one musician with modern amplification can make more noise than three without'.

Of course, it is true that amplification can make one musician louder than another playing without amplification. But that was true when the two performer exemption was introduced in 1961 and had been true for many years before that. The important question is: does live music present a serious problem for local authorities? Does it justify such an increase in control? The answer is no. The Noise Abatement Society has confirmed that over 80% of noise complaints about pubs are caused by noisy people outside the premises. The remaining percentage is mostly down to noisy recorded music or noisy machinery. In fact, while noisy bands can be a problem, complaints about live music are relatively rare.

In any case, local authorities have powerful legislation to tackle noise breakout from premises. All local authorities can seize noisy equipment, and they can serve anticipatory noise abatement notices. Camden used a noise abatement notice to close the West End musical Umoja earlier this year. One resident's complaints were enough. And the police can close noisy pubs immediately for up to 24 hours. The trouble is, many complainants perceive the legislation as inadequate because their local authority doesn't enforce it effectively.

It looks as if musicians are being made the scapegoat for a problem that is nothing to do with live music. Certainly abolition of the two-performer licensing exemption will do nothing to reduce noise from people outside premises. Rather late in the day, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has just commissioned a study into the noise nuisance potential of the licensing reforms - but the study won't be completed until the Spring of 2003 at the earliest. A classic case of shutting the stable door...

The government says that standardising licensing fees, with no premium for entertainment, removes the disincentive to provide live music. This change is welcome. However, fees are only half the problem. The other half is the potential for unnecessary local authority licence conditions. Earlier this year, Kim Howells warned the Musicians' Union that if it were to lobby for satellite TV to become a licensable entertainment, this would be 'resisted robustly' by the leisure industry. He did not say why, but the reasons are clear.

The industry does not believe government assurances that local authorities will adhere to published guidance over future licence conditions. They fear the cost implications of conditions such as monitored safe capacities, and CCTV. (Two years ago the Home Office warned all local authorities not to impose disproportionate conditions. Few, if any, took notice). Genuine 21st century reform for live music, particularly small-scale performance in pubs and bars, would see England and Wales brought into line with Scotland and Ireland, continental Europe.

Scotland is a good example because public safety and noise is regulated by UK-wide legislation. In that country a typical bar or pub can host live music automatically during permitted hours, provided the music is ancillary to the main business. In New York City, premises of capacity 200 or less are likewise free of a requirement to seek prior authorisation for live music. Noise breakout is strictly monitored by street patrols. In Germany, Finland and Denmark the provision of some live music is assumed when the equivalent of an on-licence is granted. In rural Ireland no permission is need for live music in a pub, and customers would think it very odd to suggest that it be a criminal offence unless first licensed.

The Musicians' Union has argued for reform along Scottish lines for some time. But the government has rejected this option. Our campaign for more live music, particularly in small venues, is supported by the Arts Council, the Church of England, Equity, the English Folk Dance and Song Society and many others. The Union recognises that premises specialising in music, or music and dance (like nightclubs) need the additional controls that licensing provide. But if live music of all kinds is to thrive in small community venues like pubs, an automatic permission, within certain parameters, is essential. We should not treat all musicians as potential criminals. That doesn't sit well with the participation and access agenda of the DCMS.

What you can do

You can write to your MP expressing your concerns at the following address:

House of Commons,
London SW1A 0AA

Sign the petition against the proposed legislation. You can either do so online at http://www.musiclovers.ukart.com or look out for a paper version of the same petition at your local club or session.

and

Some of us in England and Wales who hold the making of music important, rather badly need the active support of all those that care for music. Our Government has not listened to us, they may very well listen to the views of potential overseas tourists. Especially as the Bill in question is quite bizarrely coming from the Department of CULTURE, media and sport, which is the same department that deals with promoting TOURISM. It would be a great help if you could inform your media, of this discrimination of all (but only) LIVE music, taking place, not by the Taliban but in the 'mother of all Parliaments', it could prove most helpful and be much appreciated.

The Licensing Reform Bill can be found on the UK Parliamentary site. http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/pabills.htm

Government Minister Tessa Jowell, in the press release and at the launch of the Bill. "In short this is a Bill for the public, a Bill for industry and a Bill for commonsense."

Can the introduction of measures in a Bill, that 'can be argued', such as the Schedule 1 definitions of what is 'entertainment'- in a Bill we were all looking to finally settle such long-running arguments - really be described by the Minister in charge as "commonsense"? Schedule 1. Definitions of what is licensable - i.e. 'entertainment' that will be not be 'permitted' without the exact nature of the 'entertainment' specified in advance and official local authority permission being obtained. I'm sure that if you have looked at this it will all be perfectly clear now? SIGH..

I would also draw your attention to clause 134 (1)(a) of the main Bill, which will make criminal any musician who performs anywhere without first checking that the place is licensed/authorised for the performance. Clause 137 allows a defence of 'due diligence', but basically it means that if the musician doesn't check first he/she could face heavy fines and a jail sentence.

The following from Hamish Birchall Musicians' Union adviser - public entertainment licensing reform 020 7267 7700, 07973 519245

Yesterday the government published the Licensing Bill which, if enacted, would make criminal the provision of most live music in England and Wales, unless first licensed. As predicted, broadcast entertainment on satellite or terrestrial TV is exempt i.e. MTV. The proposals represent the most significant increase in live music licensing for over 100 years.

According to Culture Minister Kim Howells, this is necessary because 'one musician with modern amplification can make more noise than three without'. But since most noise complaints are nothing to do with music (acoustic or amplified), and even one unamplified performer would become illegal unless licensed, this rationale doesn't quite hang together.

Schedule 1, 'Provision of Regulated Entertainment', lists and defines what constitutes licensable live music and much more besides.
Temporary permissions are covered in Part 5.
Premises licences, which include the option for licensable entertainments, are dealt with in Part 3.
No fees have been published yet, but guidance notes available on the DCMS website repeat the estimates contained in the licensing White Paper of April 2000.

Neither the extensive media coverage or Parliamentary support for reform has influenced the small clique of senior civil servants and Ministers responsible for this legislation. Both the Musicians' Union and the Arts Council argued forcibly against the huge increase in licensing control, and jointly submitted amendments to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in the recent consultation on the draft legislation. But the DCMS rejected them. In that respect lobbying has failed. It may yet succeed, however, if sympathetic Lords support these amendments (the Bill is going first to the House of Lords).

All my efforts, those of the Arts Council working party, and those of supporting organisations, will now be focussed on this. In practical terms, this is what the Licensing Bill proposes for live music:
Pubs, bars, restaurants etc 110,000 licensed premises lose their automatic right to host one or two live musicians. A form of this licensing exemption can be traced back to 1899. Regular performance by even one musician, professional or amateur, amplified or unamplified, to be illegal without licensing permission.
Permission requires approval by police, fire service, environmental health dept, and local residents.
Local authority grants authorisation as part of 'premises licence' and may impose 'necessary' conditions (for public safety, crime and disorder, prevention of nuisance, and protection of children from harm).
If granted, the permission lasts for lifetime of business but may be revoked if noise/crime and disorder problems.
Licence fees to be standardised (at lower levels than now) and set centrally by Secretary of State. Fee to be no different if licensable entertainment provided.
If live music not authorised, live music to be illegal (save spontaneous renditions of Happy Birthday etc) - but see above -ed
Licence terms may be varied later if live music not chosen at outset. Variation process essentially the same as initial application (see above). A fee will be chargeable. Where live music not allowed under terms of premises licence, there is an option for up to 5 temporary permissions in a year, granted by a simple notification process (for a fee) provided under 500 people attend.
Private functions The distinction between public and private events is blurred. Until now most private gigs have been exempt from public entertainment licensing. Most gigs on public land have been exempt. This would no longer be the case. Many, if not most, performances in this context would become illegal unless licensed, either via the premises licence, a club premises certificate, or a temporary event notice. The wording of the Bill suggests that if a musician is hired to perform at a private event, this alone is sufficient to trigger the licensing requirement (this was hinted at in letters from Howells to MPs: 'it is clear that if a performer is paid, then the performance is public'.)
Any hitherto private performance 'with a view to raising money for charity' to become illegal unless licensed.
Live music in private clubs no longer exempt.
Churches All public concerts in churches to become illegal unless licensed. This provision extends legislation that currently applies only in London to the rest of England and Wales. This is very strange, because the London legislation dates from 1963, while the outside London legislation dates from 1982. Music 'for the purposes of, or for purposes incidental to a religious meeting or service' is exempt.
New concept of 'entertainment facilities' as licensing criterion. This is another strange provision. It seems that providing 'facilities for enabling persons to take part in entertainment', such as making music and/or dancing, is now to be illegal unless licensed. It is a confusing part of the Bill, but my reading of this is that recording studios, rehearsal studios, or practice rooms may be caught. It might also include musical instruments, record decks, microphones, amplifiers, PAs etc etc. I am seeking clarification from licensing lawyers on this one.
Bandwagons exempt! Curiouser and curiouser: live music performed in, or presumably on, moving vehicles is exempt! Recorded music - limited exemption Recorded music is legal without being licensed 'to the extent that it is incidental to some other activity which is not itself - (a) a description of entertainment falling within paragraph 2, or (b) the provision of entertainment facilities'. In other words, I think pub jukeboxes would be exempt, provided they weren't next to a dance floor (but how do you define a dance floor???)
If you can find time to read the legislation, particularly Schedule 1, I would be very grateful for your comments.
Any musician lawyers out there: your input could be particularly valuable.
Roger Gall

Sign a petition at: http://www.musiclovers.ukart.com

A Musician's Reaction

This Bill affects every performer, organiser, folk-dancer, singer & musician in the UK. You may think this bloke Roger (below) is being a bit extreme - in any case unlicenced jams & sing-arounds are illegal in many areas of England already. What upsets me a bit is that the strings are now being pulled very tight.

This new legislation will NOT STOP squat raves (recently in the news in the south-east)- those are illegal now, frequently involve a lot of property damage and are excellent places to buy skunk & E's (it is alleged ...). They take place unmolested because they are too big for police to break up.

What this law WILL do is to allow local councils to persecute folk clubs and stamp out jams & sing-arounds, free weekends and anything else that you have not given two weeks notice of and paid the right fee with the correct form in respect of.

The definition of entertainment you have to get permision for is now very wide - "... to any extent for members of the public .." and there is a widely-drafted list of definitions in Schedule 1 paragraph 2. One ray of hope is that Lord's Amendments tabled 2nd December seek remove religious and educational institutions from the overall definition, and plays, indoor sporting events and live music from the list - so someone's taking this seriously.

I have been pulled up on my assertion that even children's entertainers at a birthday party will need a licence. True, you couldn't call this a "Play" any more that you would call a stand-up comic or after dinner speaker a "Play" - BUT performers frequently use and make music & dance - getting the kids to sing & dance is all part of the fun. There is a "entertainment of a similar nature" provision just in case there's any doubt. Entertainers also play a "role" although I doubt if you could call what they do a Dramatic Piece, but on balance I stand by my opinion.

As to speakers and comics, I will accept that I've gone a bit over the top. It would take an effort of imagination to expand the definitions to fit them (but you never know) .....

If you feel strongly about this, please do write / mail to your MP NOW - also any of their Lordships that may appear relevant to you.

The draft Bill (PDF format) can be found at: http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld200203/ldbills/001/2003001.htm

http://www.beerfordbury.com/BBTWTA/EntAct.htm

2003-01-07T15:11:00.000Z

Two in a bar to none in a bar - the Licensing Bill

You'll all know of the changes in law, that have generally fucked up, our gatherings outside, Public order act CJA etc .

Then there was the club licensing rules, drugs etc and the 'Barry Legg' Act.

And now, here comes the next one

Licensing Bill 2003

http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/articles/two_in_a_bar02.shtml

On 15 November 2002 the government published the Licensing Bill. It was launched as a 'central plank in the government's drive to tackle antisocial behaviour'. This comprehensive overhaul of liquor and public entertainment licensing proposes, among other things, to deregulate pub opening times. However, it also dramatically increases the licensing of live music performance, and replaces the 'two in a bar rule' with a 'none in a bar rule'.

The Musicians' Union welcomes the broad aim of the Licensing Bill insofar as deregulation of opening times may reduce binge-drinking, and alcohol-related crime and disorder. However, we oppose key elements of the reforms as they apply to live music. if all the provisions of this otherwise liberalising Bill were enacted, it would represent the biggest increase in licensing control of live music for over 100 years:

110,000 on-licensed premises in England and Wales (pubs, bars, restaurants etc) would lose their right to allow one or two musicians to perform. A form of this limited exemption from licensing control dates back to at least 1899.

Broadcast entertainment on satellite or terrestrial tv, or radio, is to be exempt from licensing under this Bill.

15,500 Churches outside London would lose their licensing exemption for public concerts.

5,000 registered members clubs lose their licensing exemption for public entertainment.

The very wide definitions in the Bill would cover carol singing and bell ringing (unless incidental to a religious meeting or service).

Thousands of private events, hitherto exempt, become licensable if 'for consideration and with a view to profit'.

The same applies to any private performance raising money for charity.

Tens of thousands of private wedding receptions, parties, and corporate functions would become illegal unless licensed (the wording of the Bill suggests that payment to musicians triggers the licensing requirement).

A new licensing criterion is introduced: the provision of 'entertainment facilities'. This could mean professional rehearsal studios, broadasting studios etc will be illegal unless licensed.

Musicians could be guilty of a criminal offence if they don't check first that premises hold the appropriate authorisation for their performance.

Buskers similarly potential criminals - unless they perform under a licensing authorisation.

The maximum penalty for unlicensed performance remains a £20,000 fine and six months in prison.

2003-01-04T12:33:00.000Z

Story from a Reading Party

Got into the party about 3am. It turned out that a police helicopter had spent about 90 minutes flying low over the party site (which probably made more noise than the rig did!). Now for the nasty bit.
Some folks had tried to make it in across the field, only to find that TVP had a dog unit, and the pigs unleashed their hounds on a group of 6 munters. The dogs took down several ppl, to be backed up by some thuggish ossifers, who laid into one of the blokes who was lying on the ground, still being savaged by the dog. Four ossifers joined their canine companion, booting the poor guy, whilst one pig repeatedly coshed him over the head with a torch. A small young woman tried to intervene, only for the pigs to
start on her. They literally dragged her, kicking and screaming, across the field. I saw this girl later on the Sunday afternoon when she had been released. She was covered in bruises, and had some nasty cuff-burns on her wrists, where the police had twisted her arms up her back whilst she was cuffed. Apparently, she'd told them, at the point that the first ossifer had grabbed her, that she'd come quietly and peacefully - but they continued to beat her for some time. The police had removed their badges so that their numbers couldn't be taken. In total 5 or 6 people were arrested - for criminal damage (to the crops in this muddy field) caused by them peacefully walking across the field! Also police had been picking off cars around the party site, and searching them with dogs. At one stage TVP threatened to raid the party and strip-search everyone on site, and the system crew barricaded themselves into the main party building (a barn with a hunting lodge attached to the side), to keep the pigs (and their dogs, that they'd brought up on site, to chase munters around the site with) out.
The police then eventually left - having failed to stop the party - and there was no sign of Babylon presence after about 5am - until they showed up again later in the morning.

and to finish .........By this time the party had acquired a new cannon in its arsenal - a photography student rumoured to be from Reading, who was making a video documentary for her finals project.
She began filming, and interviewing them (successfully bluffing them
that she was an ITN journo!). At this stage the pigs attitude changed, and they backed off ... not to be seen again. The party finished at 4pm
Sunday afternoon (it was starting to get dark ...) - and there was no police presence on the way out.

Its worth mentioning that the only trouble or violence at this party was that executed by Thames Valley Police. The crowd was a safe one,
with lots of happy, friendly people, who just wanted to have a good party. Despite the police intimidation and violence (or perhaps, because of
it?) this was a real banging party that had the dancefloor full until they switched the music off late Sunday afternoon, with everyone determined
to make the best of it - and continue in defiance.

2003-01-01T12:14:00.000Z

Thought I would start the New Year with a quote, to get us going .......

Advice from Monty Python, on life

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,
That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned,
A sun that is the source of all our power.
The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour,
Of the galaxy we call the 'Milky Way'.
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars.
It's a hundred thousand light years side to side.
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,
But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide.
We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point.
We go 'round every two hundred million years,
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.

Life of Brian - Monty Python
Eric Idle

2002-12-14T17:20:00.000Z

Glastonbury refused licence - Michael Eavis to appeal

http://www.festivals.co.uk/news/021212c.shtml

Back at Mendip District Council for another marathon Glastonbury Public Entertainments Licence (PEL) hearing. It's becoming like a second home.

Michael EavisMichael Eavis arrived just before the 6pm start, and there was the chance for a quick word. When asked what he felt the chances were the reply was "50-50".

It's the Regulatory Board that decides on the granting of the PEL. After the introductions and the obligatory bureaucratic legalese, it was down to business.

For the applicant – Glastonbury Festivals (2003) Ltd (which is Glastonbury Festivals (2002) Ltd after a rename) – Mark Cann ran through the application.

He started by stating the successes of this year: the new management structure; dealing with the New Age Travellers; the marketing plan – getting the "No Ticket – No Festival" message across; the fence and the numbers on site; the safety management; operations control. These were all things demanded at the licence hearing for 2002, and successfully delivered.

There had also been tri-partate agreements made with Avon & Somerset Constabulary (ASC) and the Council, with co-operation creating solutions. To ensure the successes aren't short lived, they are continuing to work together to solve problems that exist in other areas – the main one being the crime and general annoyance suffered by those living around the Festival site, in particular Pilton.

To ensure the security measures continue to work, there's to be new and extra security measures on the tickets, as well as a new pass system. The fence is to stay much the same, but security is to have an increase in personnel size of 35%, and there'll be additional security control, car park security & lighting, as well as more CCTV. For obvious reasons, the details weren't disclosed.

An area of concern after this year was the campervan fields: they're to be properly and securely enclosed, but still off the main site. However, a secure route to the site will be made.

The "No Ticket – No Festival" message is to be continued, but with "You've helped save the Festival now give it a future" added. It's important for its continuance that no one comes without a ticket. Mark stated that he believed that the "fence jumper" culture had been broken.

The traffic exit plan is to be improved, to speed up the Monday getaway. To help, the production de-rig is to be delayed until late on Monday, and the traders discouraged from leaving.

Public transport coped well, and the car parks easily accommodated the 26,000 cars. In fact, with a capacity of 40,000, they are spaces to accommodate the increased numbers expected in 2003 – the licence application is for 150,000 (that's 112,500 weekend tickets for sale, 3,500 Sunday tickets and 34,000 staff/performers, etc. That's no increase in staff/performers, which isn't fantastic news I feel). The ticket price has yet to be set.

Noise from the site is a nuisance to those living nearby, but this will be lessened because there's to be one less venue (which wasn't disclosed – we presume it's the Experience Tent), and the cinema is to be moved.

There was a lot of pollution to the water courses around the site – DON'T PISS IN THE HEDGES! To help improve things, they'll be fencing along streams, a PR campaign, more urinals (although they already exceed industry standards) and the long-drop toilets are to be made watertight. There was a leak this year, and that was the major cause of the pollution. The amazing amount of litter produced (but no more than we'd produce at home – I think one councillor thought we create no rubbish when at home) is to be better managed - including a review of the free on-site newspaper as that causes a litter problem.

The main concern though was what was happening outside the fence. GFL recognise the problems, and are having ongoing discussions with the surrounding villages to come up with the right solutions. GFL have promised to provide 24 hour cover (in 3 shifts) of a police sergeant and 6 PCs to be stationed in Pilton (over and above what the police themselves consider necessary) as well as other extra security measures.

As the meeting progresses, it becomes evident that there is a small group – about 15 – of locals present who are fed up with the problems the Festival causes them. As Mark tries to continue through the extra village measures, their moaning becomes ever louder. As Mark tries to finish off with "it was always a great festival and now it's a well managed and well planned festival" a voice is clearly heard to say "you don't give a stuff and you never have". Mark insists that they "can work together to solve outstanding problems".

It becomes clear that the villagers present were not happy with the security personel this year, and demand extra police rather than private security.

The Council's own officer – Chris Malcolmson – now delivers his report. His responsibility is ensuring compliance of any laws as well as any specific PEL conditions. He believes that the "issues of the villagers have been addressed in the application, or will be in the licence", and sees no reason to refuse the PEL. He believes that the vast majority of non-ticket holders were intent on crime rather than getting inside the site, and says that if the unofficial car parks were stopped then there would be nowhere for the criminals to park. GFL are attempting to come to arrangements with those involved, but there is then some discussion on what measures could be taken against those operators. The words used to explain the Police refusal to comment I understood to mean they believed that those operators could be committing an offence for which they could be prosecuted.

Chief Superintendent John Buckley (of ASC) wasn't very supportive of the 2002 application. I remember sitting through about an hour and a half of his concerns at the beginning of the year. The change now is astounding. He is brief, and generally supportive. A very good summary was given: "If we felt these measures were inadequate we would be objecting". From a man who hates to commit to anything, that's as strong words of support as he's ever likely to give.

Of the ticket-less outside, he believes that the majority were intent on crime. He mentions that there are 5 police forces around the country that suffer similarly from criminals at large events, and they are starting to plan joint action to tackle it.

Although there is good support from the Police, the Council's compliance officer and others such as the Fire Service, during questions and discussions it's becoming clear that there is stronger and more confident opposition from some members of the Regulatory Board. I'm starting to get worried about which way it will go.

It's the public's chance to express their concerns next. They are reminded that each new speaker is not to cover ground raised by previous speakers. They're aware of this, and all but one speak from pre-prepared notes. This is obviously a concerted campaign.

These people are obviously very unhappy about the problems the Festival cause them, and I'm sure have good reasons for their unhappiness. But for most, I'm not convinced that any measures would be enough – they want shot of the festival, for good, and suggestions are made that it should find another site (where exactly? I don't think anywhere new would be welcoming of a festival even half its size.)

Here are some quotes (these are VERY typical – not choice selections!): "a war-zone" "a very real threat to public order" "to approve the application would be a mockery ... elected members don't really represent those who elected them" "has the Council considered that the Festival would be offensive to Muslims ..." [not some Muslims, all of them, apparently – ed] "... and as such would be the target for a terrorist attack". [Because of course, all Muslims are terrorists, aren’t they? - ed] "we are not going to remain victims of this Festival – we will fight back" "significant environmental damage"

These are such a lovely bunch of people, I wish I was married to them. One lady in the gallery was heard to say "hippies" with total disgust ... but I'm convinced she'd be welcoming of those of a different skin colour.

In the end, the major discussion was about Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. It appeared those against had been doing a LOT of homework. This law places a poorly defined (if the words used in the hearing were accurate) obligation on a council to ensure it doesn't do things to increase crime in its area. The Council's own solicitor seemed to think the Council would not be breaking Section 17 by granting a PEL, whilst the objectors did. Although other legal reasons to refuse the PEL were tossed around – such as the fitness of the applicant to run the event (including a rather underhand attempt to have Michael Eavis branded a criminal), and the environmental damage, this was the one used with the fullest force.

When it came to the vote a motion was put to refuse the PEL. It went 5-4 for the motion, and against the Festival. Michael immediately left the room, and missed a second vote, also carried 5-4; that they'd welcome another application from GFL, but for a different site. Quite why they didn't get on the horse themselves to run Michael out of town I don’t know.

After a few minutes to compose himself, Michael emerged to state that an appeal (which is heard by magistrates – essentially to see if the Regulatory Board had given proper legal reasons for refusal) would be lodged in the morning. The Festival has been refused a licence before, has always appealed, and has always won. (The licence application wasn't heard in 2001 - it was withdrawn when it became obvious that it would be legitimately refused.)

On speaking to some of those involved – all off the record (but not just those close to GFL) there was a very strong opinion that the Festival has very strong grounds for an appeal. I think it unlikely that a magistrate would believe the Regulatory Board's grounds that Pilton couldn't be properly policed when the Police themselves believe it can.

GFL has put in extraordinary efforts over the last year and did everything expected and requested in putting on the 2002 Festival. It feels unfair in the extreme that it is now penalised for aspects reasonably outside of its control - certainly much of it outside the licenced area - while at the same time it is willing to put in the necessary effort - and funds - to resolve those problems this time around.

2002-12-12T16:10:00.000Z

A-spire squat in Headingley

A-Spire V - Wonderful Party/Police Raid

"I went to the party at the latest A-spire squat in Headingley on Saturday night. Whilst there I was inspired to write this article about what a positive experience I had, unfortunately I now have to also write about the police raiding and everything going horribly wrong..

I've been to A-spire before and was really inspired by such an organised, positive place with so much going on in a short space of time. I'll refer you to their website (http://www.a-spire.org.uk) for more details, but basically A-spire are a group of people who sometimes squat buildings in Leeds for a few weeks, not just to live in but to run a free shop, café, dozens of events and generally "provide a place where people can go during the day or night and socialise away from the buy, buy, buy mentality that is present day capitalism." (from A-spire website) To me it's both a refreshing break for those of us who feel surrounded by a world/system/culture which we don't really connect with, and also a powerful coming together of all kinds of political, social, protest, environmental movements/campaigns/groups/people.

The most recent A-spire in Headingley was open from November 14-24, taking over a disused building to create a phenomenally busy, well organised and creative space for 10 days which provided a home for talks, workshops, open mic nights, bands, kids' activities, alternative health/healing, protest meetings etc. etc. etc. To me, a community centre in its truest sense. Having been unable to go all week I was really looking forward to going to the final night party this Saturday..

We walked into the huge building to be greeted by a cheerful man on the door collecting donations and spent a few minutes getting our bearings - what a place! A huge amount of care and energy had obviously been put into making this a special place: everything from an indoor skate ramp, to a glow in the dark decoration-adorned rave room, to a room full of information on what had been happening during the week and the activities of the many and various groups who have been involved (Rising Tide, Peat Alert etc.). There were even fully functional and very clean toilets - better than I've seen in many places I paid a fortune to get into. The whole thing was clearly well run, well organised and the result of a lot of hard work - instantly dismissing the stereotypes of shambolic, disorganised hippies/crusties (not my view I might add!). Obviously filling a largely unventilated building with few windows and exits full of people might be a bit dangerous, but this had clearly been considered as a crowd of people were waiting (peacefully) outside having been told the building was full. I felt considerably safer than I have in many supposedly safe night-clubs etc. - both in physical terms and a million times more so in emotional/spiritual terms.

Which was the main reason I had such an amazing night, I'm not a person to quickly feel comfortable anywhere but within minutes I felt completely at home, safe and comfortable in every sense. It appeared everyone else did too, even those who had clearly wandered in not knowing what to expect, been a bit freaked out, but then realised just what a special place this was. We spent 5 hours sitting around in various rooms, having lovely chats with complete strangers, watching everyone else having as good a time as we were, dancing to fantastic music, smiling, laughing and surrounded by more positive energy than I think I've ever felt in one place.

And that's where this article should have ended, but I'm sorry to say it doesn't….

One minute there I am dancing with a crowd of wonderful, happy people, feeling utterly content and free and hoping this won't end for a VERY long time, when suddenly my friend runs into the room, panicking and screaming at me that 'we have to get out, they've gassed us'. Then an announcement comes over the sound system that the police have broken in (smashing the front window) and we are all to leave quietly.

It was a testament to the atmosphere of the place and the attitude of all involved that there was absolutely no panic, no pushing, we all just left, confused and a little scared but very peaceful, and walked out the door to one of the most bizarre and unnecessary sights I have ever seen - the main road (Otley Road) completely blocked by at least 20 police cars, several vans and at least 50 police officers.

I'm sad to say that I then witnessed something which, although I've read about it so many times, I didn't quite believe happened just this way - blatant, unprovoked and unjustified provocation of violence by the police. I watched as they randomly picked on people, treating them in a violent and frankly inhumane manner (by inhumane I mean without any regard whatsoever for people as human, thinking, emotional, spiritual beings as opposed to objects to be moved, disposed of/punished) and throwing them into vans. As we all stood on the road trying to find our friends (again a testament to the spirit of the night that we weren't with the friends we came with because everyone was making new friends) and find out why exactly this had happened, suddenly a row of police clad in full bullet proof black gear (believe me, this is VERY intimidating and scary in itself before any action is taken) marched up to the Headingley end of the area of blocked road and started shoving people in the opposite direction, yelling at us to move - no consideration, no polite request, they just shoved us. Our crime? Standing quietly in the middle of a road block caused by the police. Everything was designed to confuse - rows of flashing lights, cold faced police people, being so quickly ejected from a building into the freezing cold night and shoved around with no explanation, not knowing where to go - I know the area like the back of my hand but many people didn't and had no idea where their friends were or how they were going to get home. I didn't realise how confused and dazed I was until today when I wondered why I hadn't talked to more people, found out what was happening, gathered information for this article. The whole operation (and I call it that because it was clearly very well organised and planned) was certainly very effective in turning a happy, friendly bunch of people into a mass of confused, upset and occasionally angry souls with no idea of quite what was going on.

I had a strange mixture of feelings, no anger though, just sadness: sadness that this can happen in a 'civilised' society; sadness that the police, who are human beings just like you and me, could treat other human beings in such a barbaric way; and sadness that just a few minutes earlier I had been surrounded by such positivity but that this is somehow unacceptable. This positive spirit still continued despite the confusion as we walked away - I stayed for a while and did not see one scrap of violent or aggressive behaviour that was not initiated by the police.

I can only hope that there were enough police left over in the city to deal with the rapes, beatings up, abuse, drink driving, speeding and other violent crimes that were no doubt occurring at the same time as a few hundred peaceful souls were being treated like objects.

What I find so strange is that on Saturday night I broke several laws, I could very easily have been arrested if the policemen I talked to, trying to explain what a peaceful event this was, had taken a dislike to me or I'd been caught up in one of the skirmishes, and I could in theory as a result have lost my job as a teacher. Why? Because I chose, along with many and various others, to reject the money-oriented, negative, mistrusting society we find ourselves in for one night, and celebrate an alternative with people who feel the same way as me in a united, peaceful, positive, open and overall HAPPY space. I live most of my life surrounded by people whose lifestyles, opinions and beliefs I find odd (sometimes downright crazy and wrong) but accept completely (everyone has their own choice), but given the rare chance to be around people who feel just like me (in a very broad sense - there were a huge variety of people there), for just a few hours, I am treated as if I am behaving wrongly and unacceptably (where's my choice?). I am a tolerant, decent, open minded member of society, I wouldn't harm a soul and I'm certain that nothing I or anyone else at A-spire did on Saturday night did, what exactly have we done that is so wrong? Please let me know 'cos I can't figure it out.

I have yet to discover why the police raid happened and what their justification was - as soon as I do I'll add to this article. The only news report I've found was on teletext - they reported that 12 people had been arrested (four later charged of affray) at a 'party' in Headingley. If you have any further info/opinions please send them to: freedom@leeds365.co.uk. (ed: or forward them to info@leedsef.org.uk)

I sincerely hope that I've written nothing in this article which might misrepresent or offend anyone involved in A-spire or anyone who was there on Saturday - please please let me know if I have, or if you want me to add/remove information from this article." - Catherine Tonge (Monday November 25th)

thanks to Catherine, and Emyln @ www.leeds365.com, for this article.

2002-12-11T23:21:00.000Z

Stonehenge Solstice Celebration 2003: News just in ......!

PRESS RELEASE

December 2002

Stonehenge Solstice Celebration 2003

The Stonehenge Solstice Celebration Co Ltd has been set up to administer a legal, not-for-profit celebration of life, love and unity over the Summer Solstice period in 2003.

This celebration is designed to complement the existing ‘Managed Open Access’ at Stonehenge itself, which has been running successfully for three years. Proposals for a celebration, at some distance from Stonehenge, have repeatedly been encouraged at meetings this year by both the Police and English Heritage, to fulfil the need and desire for a Midsummer celebration in the community at large.

It is proposed that the celebration will last for a week, and will be free at the point of entry, although a charge per vehicle will be levied for parking, to assist the sustainability of the project. It will be community-based and will operate to the highest possible ecological standards. We are looking at alternative energy sources, full recycling, and a minimal use of plastics on site.

‘Be the change that you want to see in this world’ is our guiding principle, to quote Mahatma Gandhi.

It is our goal to:

- integrate the spirit of community with a rich mixture of culture, music, art, spiritual values, healing, ecology and education

- bridge the gap between the people and the authorities across the whole generational, cultural and ethnic spectrum

- provide a platform for mutual respect and the development of communication skills

- restore peace and harmony to our world through the enrichment of all our lives

We will be inviting applications from a wide range of high-quality, organic food vendors and other stall-holders. Artists, performers and teachers everywhere are encouraged to participate, as well as representatives of charities and other organizations committed to making the world a better place. We intend to involve the local community as fully as possible, and to create an event that will be family-friendly. All are welcomed who come in peace.

This initial press release is intended to communicate the current status of the project and to aid the search for a suitable venue for the celebration, so that the myriad groups interested in its manifestation can begin a major fund-raising operation, as well as preparing and submitting the necessary permit applications.

The proposed Stonehenge Solstice Celebration is unlike anything that has ever been done before. We anticipate that fundraising will come from the unlikeliest sources, people that none of us may yet know who have also been carrying the prospect of a Stonehenge Solstice Celebration in their hearts for all these years. For the last three decades in particular, people from all walks of life have celebrated Stonehenge and carried its significance into social, spiritual and political arenas of extraordinary diversity.

To conclude, this celebration, like 'Managed Open Access', is about a particular time and place - Stonehenge and the Summer Solstice. Midsummer celebrations, centred on the solstice, have a long and illustrious history. The Summer Solstice is the centrepiece of a solar year that was of the utmost importance to the builders of Stonehenge, who raised their sarsen temple towards it over 4,000 years ago, in a landscape that has been sacred for 10,000 years. We don’t know what they did there, but we can infer that the celebrations focused on an endlessly repeating seasonal cycle that is in stark contrast to the modern world of linear time and the wanton exploitation of nature. Stonehenge takes us back in time to that place, and renews that promise every Midsummer.

And it’s worth noting that we’re also reviving a celebration that has manifested itself in various forms at other times. Throughout recorded history, fire festivals and symbolic representations of the turning of the solar year, including burning wheels and bonfires, were widespread at the Summer Solstice, and there are records of Midsummer celebrations taking place at Stonehenge at various times from the 13th to the 19th centuries, long before the Druids, pagans or any of us turned up, and long before the free festival.

We are part of a bigger picture.

2002-11-16T19:46:00.000Z

Bristol Party Attacked; Appeal for witnesses

Originally posted on DirtyCircus by Penelope Pitstop:
Ive been asked to post some more info about the police attack against party peeps on the 20th July at the Cumberland Basin, Bristol. Call for witnesses as injured partygoers sue police

Most of those on the receiving end of this "public order" policing in the early hours of 21st July 2002 were young women. Many were traumatised by co-ordinated police violence. Now several people are taking legal action against Avon and Somerset Constabulary. Several women have been approached by an Inspector Voisey of Portishead Police H.Q. He is part of the Police Complaints Authority and appears eager to arrange interviews. When one woman who received a bad beating on the night refused to meet him, he suggested maybe he could send round some plain clothes officers for a chat. He told another woman who declined to give him her files on the incident, " We do have the power of seizure". Hardly the language you would expect from the supposedly objective and understanding PCA. Could it be that the PCA are more interested in finding any words or ways to justify the actions of the riot police on 21st July? Perhaps Voisey and friends could consider a name change to Police Cover-up Authority.

3 PEOPLE STILL FACING SERIOUS PUBLIC ORDER CHARGES FROM POLICE RIOT AT FREE PARTY (21ST JULY). INJURED PARTYGOERS ARE SUING AVON AND SOMERSET CONSTABULARY. WITNESS STATEMENTS NEEDED.

REPETITIVE BEATS
July 21st, Cumberland Basin, Bristol. A free party organised by the Mutant Dance collective began just after midnight. As people arrived from all directions, many from the Ashton court festival, there was no sign of trouble. The site has been used for free parties for years without any problems. Half a dozen cops stood by, talking into their radios and watching the partygoers arrive. The crowd quickly grew and the atmosphere was friendly. People were up for a laugh and a night of dancing. At around 1 am over 10 riot vans appeared and hoardes of cops began putting on their riot gear as the police helicopter circled overhead. Attempts were made by several partygoers to communicate with the police and to prevent any aggro. One organiser offered to move the party elsewhere if there was a problem with this site. He was arrested for "Conspiracy to cause a public nuisance" (charges later dropped). The only responses given to partygoers asking about police intentions were "Go away, I have nothing to say to you", and "If you're down there you're going to get hurt". There was no attempt by officers to address the crowd and at no point did they make it clear that the party was illegal. Instead, at 2am, around 30 officers in full riot gear came to attack the party. By this time word had gone around, and many people formed a human chain around the DJs and sound systems to protect them. Many officers wore masks and no I.D. numbers - no comeback for cracking heads. They drew batons and assaulted a few people but did not break through the lines of people standing their ground. The strength and unity of the crowd was impressive in the face of unprovoked police aggression. But one person was dragged away, under a rain of baton blows as people shouted at the police to leave. After a stand off the order was given to withdraw, and the crowd cheered.

People were shaken up but the party continued until sunrise. Then the police came back, en masse and with dogs. This is when the worst attack began. Cops came from both sides of the party and began trashing the sound system and indiscriminately beating people. One eyewitness recounts :
"The police charged at everyone hitting them with their truncheons and trampling anyone in the way.

I saw at least 15 people being hit with truncheons, some were young females doing
absolutely nothing. I saw one young female around 18 years old being hit while on the floor by at least 5 police officers with truncheons"

Injuries ranged from bruises and bleeding noses to neck injuries, fractured wrists and broken arms. Most of those on the receiving end of this "public order" policing were young women. Many were traumatised by sickening police violence. Some are now taking legal action against Avon and Somerset constabulary. Several women have been approached by an Inspector Voisey of Portishead Police H.Q. He is part of the Police Complaints Authority and appears eager to arrange interviews. When one woman who received a bad beating on the night refused to meet him, he suggested maybe he could send round some plain clothes officers for a chat. He told another woman who declined to give him her files on the incident, " We do have the power of seizure". Hardly the language you would expect from the supposedly objective and understanding PCA. Could it be that the PCA are more interested in finding any words or ways to justify the actions of the riot police on 21st July? Perhaps Voisey and friends could consider a name change to Police Cover-up Authority.
A big benefit night in October raised enough money to replace the damaged sound kit. Clearly, people refuse to be intimidated and will carry on partying. The party crews will continue to regularly organise unlicensed, free gatherings. Bristol has a strong network of sound systems up for organising entertainment on our own terms, without profit and controls. It is widely believed that this police attack was planned as revenge for failing to stop a massive free festival which took place in the summer at Steart, near Bridgewater. Police were powerless to stop thousands of up-for-it people and around thirty sound systems converging for a huge all-weekend party. Plenty more where that came from!!

URGENT WITNESS REQUEST
There is an urgent need for witness statements about the police attack on the free party. Police are attempting to deny charges of brutality, claiming that they were attacked by ravers. 3 people are still facing public order charges and could face prison sentences. We can't let the authorities make an example of these people to the rest of us. For legal action to be effective, we need as many detailed statements as possible. If you or anyone you know were assaulted or arrested, or witnessed police attacking or arresting anyone else, we need to hear from you.

Writing a statement might take just 20 minutes of your time. It could be crucial for anyone facing charges or with a case against the police. By sticking together and looking after each other, we can expose the truth of the police violence, prevent police fit-ups of partygoers, and make Avon and Somerset Constabulary pay compensation. So we need as many statements as possible from people at the party.

We encourage people to go through the police complaints procedure. This will make stronger cases for those suing the police. We are in touch with solicitors who specialise in suing the police. You or someone you know may have a good case against the police and you're not alone, as others are determined to take legal action.

We cannot let them get away with this violence. If we do nothing and resign ourselves to it all, the police will have carte blanche to attack more free parties. Also, when they have to pay out thousands of pounds, it is likely to make them a bit more sensible and open to negotiation next time. Please contact us with any information. Send witness statements complete with contact details to disruptive@dangerous-minds.com. PARTY ON. STAY SOLID.

Police violence against free party - an account from a woman on the receiving end of "public
order policing"

Account from woman beaten up by police at the free party on 21st July.
Got to party around 1:30 -2am. Walked from Coronation Road to Hotwells under the motorway. On arrival seen police on top of motorway but as they were at a distance I did not pay much attention to them. As the day had been very chilled and relaxed at Ashton court I decided to totally enjoy myself and went straight to the sound system for a dance. Shortly after arriving at the party someone said the police were going to come and take the sound system. I stayed dancing and didn't see any police so I presumed the party was allowed to go ahead. Very pleasant evening. Nice people. Nice music. No trouble. As it was getting bright word had it that the sound system was going to be taken. I didn't pay much attention again as rumours had been going around all night. Then all of a sudden they were everywhere. I was standing behind the system. A police man came up and told me to get out of the way. I ignored him and stayed standing where I was. He pushed me and I fell to the ground. Then two of them began hitting me on the legs with their batons. This made me extremely angry. Even though my legs were aching I stood back up with the rest of the crowd. At this point I was quite loudly saying stuff like " You can't make me stop dancing", and just dancing while the police began to retreat. They backed away down to one corner of the park which the motorway runs over. At this point I thought they would just leave it but they didn't. Instead they charged at the crowd. I don't remember much apart from being knocked to the ground and repeatedly hit on my calves, thighs, stomach and chest. As I was at the front of the crowd I did not see what happened to other people, but I do remember standing up and seeing a girl near me on the ground getting the same treatment. I was in shock at this stage so I wasn't paying much attention to what the police were doing after this.

My feelings about the incident are not good. I do not think I posed any threat and definitely did not deserve the beating I got from fully equipped riot policemen. I am eight and a half stone and it should not take three heavy weight policemen to control me. If I was doing wrong why didn't they bundle me into a police van and place me under arrest. As far as I could see they were determined to give people a beating. They were not civil and they weren't doing what we pay them to do, which is supposedly to protect us from danger.

2002-11-08T22:59:00.000Z

Announcing the new website of the travellers / techno community in Orgiva, Granada Province, Southern Spain

http://partyvibe.com/conspiracy/

I did this website for my son, Sam, and hosted it on Fortunecity for the last few months to get it all, of the ground. However, the advertising winds a user up!!

So, I hassled the Partyvibe / Network 23 folks for space and have just transfered the pages.
Sam is a man working with the likes of Total Resistance and Desert Storm etc. So is in good company on the ISP have moved him to.

His Mobile : 0034 (0)617 903586 & E-mail: samconspiracy@hotmail.com

Network 23: http://www.network23.org

Partyvibe: http://partyvibe.com

Just to show you some of my family snaps, These piccys are from the site I made for my DJ-type son, he hangs out with 'Total Resistance, Desert Storm etc, in the South of Spain. Orgiva in fact......

http://partyvibe.com/conspiracy

Anyway, his name is Sam, and i love him .......

The other one, my daughter, is called Siri, she did live in Spain, where she meet her boyfriend, Geoff. Now moved to England, and living in Bath. Guess what? I love her to.

Just sent the following about, to promote this work:

hello each

'cos of the anti party / festival measures, in the UK and elsewhere, many travellers, party-persons, squatters etc etc .... have set up in South of Spain.

So, there are festivals, parties and communities were folks from all over have gathered and live all the year round. One such place is ORGIVA. In the Province of Granada, Southern Spain.

It all started in Alex's garden about 5 years ago, everyone gathering with fire-wood, instruments, records, fire-staffs, booze and masses of enthusiasm. The dragon flag was hoisted above the proceedings and the festival was born.
Fifty or so people from Cigarrones, Tablones and El Morreon celebrating the Equinox, dancing, prancing, howling, stomping, their way into the Spring. From that moment it was set to become a regular event , since then it has under gone a quite colossal metamorphosis, may be only to be expected of a Spring celebration of fertility, new growth and change. Not only the buds and bellies of goats are enchanted into life and multiplication by the lengthening sunny days and sweet whiff of honeysuckle but none other than our own sweet DRAGON.

The festival is developing and drawing immense amounts of creative inspiration out of this community and beginning to reach further, to draw attention to the threats of greedy corporations who see potential in the lush water-filled valleys of the Alpujarras. The water is worth a fortune to them, golf courses and hotels need vast quantities to keep up with the ever increasing tourism on the coast, not to mention the countless hectares of plastic covered genetically modified vegetables. Unbelievably after all the Euro-blar about encouraging sustainable development, grants are being awarded here to strip the area of it's water supply to a subterranean level, this will completely destroy the ecosystem and the independence of this area interms of water and production of food.

And so what exactly has the Dragon got to do with this impending arrival of the water husslers, backed by the Euro grants legitimised by officaldom and accountable to only themselves? Wasn't there some lose talk about alternatives lifestyles, not being part of their system because we have better ideas, sure it was more than a more than a quite life in our sleepy Spanish backwater.

Between us here there is an incredible amount of ingenuity, recycling, clean energy, solar, wind, turbine, veggie oil engines/generators, alternative education, sustainability, ...........

What is the Dragon Fest?: is one of the high spots of the year:

What it is;
We asked this question to 100 people and these were the most popular answers.

The Annual party in Cigarrones
A real Celebration
A Gathering of the Clans
A Proper Free Festival
A chance to be creative

Ritual magic

Party of the Year
A Taste of Freedom
What parties are supposed to be like
Totally excellent
A Bloody OUTRAGE!
All inclusive
Wicked
A Forum for Frocks
On the Edge
Everybodies Carnival
Playtime for Kids of all Ages
It is a really good laugh!

*
*
*

What the Dragon Fest isn't?:

We asked this question to A group of Dis-organisers and this is what they said.

It's not a teknival.

Nor a profit making venture for individuals.

An ecological threat to the riverbed.

An opportunity to flex your ego-K sound system.

News just in: The Dragon event moving ....... to: A l m e r i a
[bit further along the coast ...... check the site for further details.]

----------------------------------------------------------
http://partyvibe.com/conspiracy
E-mail: samconspiracy@hotmail.com
or Mobile + txt: 0034 (0)617 903586

earlier post:
http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_10_13_tash_lodge_archive.html#83074865

2002-10-15T23:56:00.000Z

This is what we now have for Peace and Reconcilliation for the Stonehenge situation !!

Stonehenge Peace and Reconciliation Process http://www.greenleaf.demon.co.uk/padras.htm

Now, just how is it exectly, that I am being reconcilled ??

* * * * *

From: George Firsoff george@greenleaf.demon.co.uk
Date: Tue Oct 15, 2002 5:51 pm
Subject: Re: [stonehengepeace] Re: Stonehenge Solstice Festival Revival.

Yahoo! Groups : stonehengepeace Messages : Message 2217 of 2226

QUOTE:
What I was trying to get across was not that I am against the Free Festival so much as that I consider it such a waste of time and energy thinking about and discussing it beceause it does not have a bat in hell's chance of coming off!

Like those SILLY people who ended up in the Beanfield thought they couldtake on what they called "The State" and they could win!
That was not true. Now since then there are even more laws and rules that will be enforced to stop you doing what you want.

Every year the police have prevented sound systems coming to Stonehenge and setting up in different parts of Wiltshire. You might have scored one night of activity in 2001? before being shut down.

I think there is a dividing point, which is, are you more interested in making things unpleasant for the authorities, or are you more interested in enjoying your music, legally?

* * * * *

This is my account of what actually happened during this period.
http://tash.gn.apc.org/sh_bean.htm

and, my 'cell notes', written while locked up after ther attack
http://tash.gn.apc.org/sh_bean-notes1.htm

Also, Operation Solstice
http://tash.gn.apc.org/op_solstice.htm

I minority group containing many families, attacked, while trying to stand up for their civil rights "SILLY". Blast his eyes and a curse on his ....... AHHHH!

I didn't know, of this Yahoo group: Yahoo! Groups : stonehengepeace

But I did know of the Stonehenge peace and reconciliation commission, George Firsoff, and Tim Ingle-Abbot etc.

I am not with them. I disagree quite fundamentally what is going on there.

I am for peace, as well as the next man. The Beanfield was horrible, and I don't wish a re-run on anyone. BUT, what the outcome of their meetings appears to be, is a complete acquiescence to the police and authorities ideas, on how to run a managed event. It seem so long as they get to be all pagan, and wave an oak leaf at each other, in the stones in the middle of the night, it is considered progress.

Well this anarchist is not religious, Christian, Moslem or Pagan. Never was. But I do claim a right to gather, with me and mine, that goes back to the stone age, right there as we have always done.. Really, why should I put that on hold, because of a temporary bit of law, which, when viewed from that length of history, doesn't seen to stand up. For such attitudes, you may know that I'm still an 'injuncted person' and can be arrested for being in an area, 'delineated on a map therein between dates around the solstice.' This order by Lord Justice Morland, has never been rescinded.

My interest is, and always was the gathering of the tribes, to follow this tradition. If you look at some of the photos I put there especially the aerial shots, you'll see 20,000, on one side of the road at a festival on the solstice, many listening to Hawkwind etc, with a couple of hundred of us, going over the road for a celebration of a few hours, to return back to the festival, before it got dark.

Recent years, after all the nonsense, the focus has shifted to the stones.
This is a shame, THEY should have left it all alone! The whole issue, would not now be under such great pressure.

The legal justification, for putting us down, was damage. It informed the injunctions. But, I've always thought that there is a difference between 'damage' and 'wear and tear', like what you get during its 'use'. Left to the authorities, it would be put in a glass case and air-conditioned as a museum piece, rather than 'living history'. Do you see, we come from different planets :)

Because of the way, this has all panned-out. I did not go to the event this year, have been every year since 1972! But am so disappointed by the way stuff is turning out. The temporary gathering in the middle of the night under rules, is not what this old foggy thought we were doing. I find it hard to account for what is going on, and why folks have put up with it!

You might also be interested to know, that I've not been to a Glastonbury for years either, last 1992. I think that there is a difference between a 'festival' and an 'outside concert'. Just not what I thought we were doing, when I set out on all this.

Others however, understand the significance of this action. Am helping making a Radio4 documentary for transmission on the 27th November, describing some of this, called : In Living Memory"

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_07_21_tash_lodge_archive.html#79296253

Jolyon Jenkins
BBC Bristol
Fri 19/07/02 14:19
Hello
I'm making part of a series for Radio 4 called "In Living Memory" in which we revisit events of the not-too-distant past which have been half forgotten, and ask what the aftermath was. I've been wondering about doing something on the travellers' convoys of 1985-7 and maybe the Battle of the Beanfield in particular. I came across your excellent website.
Could I have a chat with you about it?
Jolyon Jenkins: Producer, network features

* * * * *

2002-10-08T14:09:00.000Z

Oh Crumbs, its all happened again!
Further stories of the police attack, Moot of the Mist party in Oxfordshire.

Really, any event that I've been to ever, and that I've enjoyed and had it like I wanted it, has just never been with someones / anyones permission.!

Have always had to take it. The consequences of such action, however had been felt by party folks at the Moot in Oxfordshire this last weekend.
[ Hence the need for welfare / first aid / legal aid, negotiations etc . all the stuff I've been telling you about, and that has now collapsed ] .

Release is in trouble, again:

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_09_29_tash_lodge_archive.html#82384277

I guess this behaviour is going to put many off, from standing up to the authorities, who now feel strong enough, to say no, to everything.

Just thought it worth reminding all that this is where we came in! I was first hit round the head with a stick, by a Thames Valley Police Officer in Windsor Great Park. [some might say that I've never been the same, since!].

They have hurt me, most years since. Nothing like the kinds of gatherings we want have never been offered [well only once, Watchfield in 1975, never been repeated]. Have only happened 'cos sufficient number got together, and took it.

These reports from Guilfin http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1436

Dirty Circus Boards http://www.dirtycircus.com/board/replylist.asp?TID=8016&recordno=0

Police attend Moot of the Mist 05.10.02...- some eye-witness accounts

kryogen
RE: What The Fuck Happened Message:

Hard for anyone to makea full account cos it was hard to know what was going on being dark and surrounded by trees/people

babylon turned up in large numbers dogs horses and riot gear they approached the party not sure what time as they got up close to the party everyone sat down in front of the police line nobody was violent towards the police in any way rows of ravers peacefully stood firm and showed our unity

from what i remember next thing police line advanced without warning into the rows of party people that had sat down in protest huge horses storming towards peaceful people riot police hitting throwing pushing everyone in their way

from then on not sure exactly what happened basically ended up with rigs being escorted home i think and ravers forced off site after being searched and having cars checked on the way out cos they lost one of their batons and were determined to find who had it!

probably lots of gaps in what happened but theres a rough idea

respect everyone that stood up for our right to party

----------------------------------

Fushion Julz
Subject: RE: What The Fuck Happened Message:

Perhaps not the full story but....

We headed for the first site planning to arrive at 10.45pm....we were on-the-dot, too, but were blocked from entering by the police with a van and several of them in attendance. (apparantly they had also blocked entrance to a few other sites in the area).

So we headed for the backup....stopped at the services on the M40 just south of Oxford where there was a "Police Operation in progress" sign, but no sign of any around. Arrived at the 2nd site about 11.45ish where Storm and Deviant (I think) were already setting up. Not many ravers at that time, but they started arriving shortly after.

Started setting up and was finished and running by 1amish (shortly after Storm).

Reasonable number of people arrived, some reporting a big police presence at the end of the track. About 2.30am the first 12 officers, including an Inspector, arrived...ordered a shut-down under sec63, but refused to give me the name of the Superintendent who signed the order (which they must do).
They took many photos and video taped for several minuites and then after a couple of cans were throwm at them, they retreated and said they would be back to deal with the situation. After a brief discussion we decided to continue (Storm continued the whole time, but I don't think the police got to speak to them).

Reports, then, of a huge presence massing in the lane, but people still arriving over the fields...Then about 4am the OB returned with some mounted (6 or 7) and about 70 other officers, some with dogs. They stopped our gennys and slung the leads over the hedge into the field! Then they ordered everyone to move back in a line in front of the police to the level of Storms rig.....Here people got a little organised and stood firm....a little
discussion took place with the inspector and he offered the last chance to shut down. Storm did so, but th police were unprepared for a third rig still playing and mounted a violent attempt to break through to reach them some way down the track.

At some point, they also were stopped and , Storm were threatned with police help" if they didn't start clearing up and the mounted officers herded most of the people away from the rigs and down the track.

As they were leaving, one of the sergeants (I think) gave us his consent to stay till it was light to clear the rubbish and pack away the marquees... pretty much everyone was gone by 5.30am, but we stayed till 3pm and cleared the site.

--------------------------------------

Subject:
RE: What The Fuck Happened Message: well, heres my account anyway....

We got to the first site but it had been pigged so we hung about waiting for the phone line to change message and then headed to the other site. Got there and spent about 30 mins trying to park the car then went down to the site. That nice polis helicopter did me a great favour by lighting up the track for me all the way down to the party, saved me breaking an ankle before I even got there, thanks.

About 4am I was just mooting away when someone told me the pigs had arrived.
I went for a look and sure enough, there was a whole line of coppers standing there with full riot gear, no numbers on and a few mounties as well

It all started off quite peaceful like, but some of the mooters decided to start huring abuse, rocks, anything they could find really. It was then that I jumped over the fence near the middle rig.

I'm all up for standing by the rig and protecting it, but I'm not up for a full on fight with the polis. If you look at the picture above you'll understand why. Peaceful protest yes, all out war no.

Things were turning from bad to worse, but in my opinion the polis were aggrevated into having to use their batons. There was one fuck wit at the front who just wouldn't let it go, he got a battering. All of his mates (?) were shouting to him to stop and trying to hole him back but he took no notice and antagonised then even more.

It was at that point that me and the lads I was with decided to make a sharp exit over the fields and many others were doing the same.

We got half way up the track towards the entrance and saw a polis road block with searchlight etc. We sent the driver on ahead with nothing on him and sure enough he got searched and his car got searched. That left me and the other two to tab cross-country, over numerous barbed wire fences, bushes and fields to get to the M40 where we met up with the driver.

It was clear from the moment the polis had rocks thrown at them that this was one party that had ended and was never gonna take off again. There was no way it would be a peaceful protest so why hang about (unless you like violence?).

If you pitch a load of coppers against some fucked up mooters, whose gonna win? They have a clear head, armour, weapons and back up, what do we have?
We are never gonna win when it come to fighting and I'm not sure we want to either. Therefore it needs to remain peaceful, agree or disagree?

----------------------------------

Mooter

Subject: RE: What The Fuck Happened

Bit spaced this morning - I kinda agree with you, but could the police justify the beatings they gave if no one was chucking stuff at them first? No, not really. They can't just wade into a load of peaceful munters and start battering them, they need provocation.

From where I was standing they were provoked. They were just standing in a line, doing nothing. Then all of a sudden people start chucking all sorts of crap at them, what did we expect?

I know I'm not going to be the most liked person on this board for having this view but I'm still gonna say what I'm thinking and post under my usual ID to do so.

I still believe that if everyone had sat down, chilled out and not chucked anything at the old bill the outcome might have been a bit different.

----------------------------------

DiscoPete
Subject: RE: What The Fuck Happened

It's my beliefe that the OB are under the impression that if they show us their serious and can stop a party that we'll stop trying to have them, and that the huge amount of budget money spent in the short term will result in no more parties.

WRONG!

It'd be a sad day if a rig decided it wasn't going to go out just because there's a good chance of getting raided, and the same is true for punters - if anything they have less to lose.

Question - How long do you think the police finance executives will continue to support the cost of helecopter/equestrian/dog/riot operations on an ongoing basis?

By being calm and persistant, every time a party gets shut down at a vast expense -> we win.

For the record, I also do not condone any action that could result in an asult charge. Throwing stones and bottles or verbal abuse does not achieve anything. A randomly thrown rock has as much chance of hitting a punter, punters car, van or rig as the intended target.

A violent situation is predictable. The OB are trained to control and restrain. When faced with someone who calmly would like to just talk about it, they have no clue what to do, and that made me smile.

I was first aproached and agressivly directed to step away from the decks, i complied and they walked me round to the front of the van. They then asked me to turn off the rig, somethig I could have much more easily done from where I was standing behind the decks :)

One final observation -> did anyone else notice how scared the WPC in the front line was? She was bricking it :) Obviously throwing her weight about and acting like a thug helped her to feel in control of the situation.

Nice to meet more DC people, especially the morning crew, it turned into a chilled sunny Sunday morning.

DiscoPete
--Just add caffine (with some water)

----------------------------------

gimly son of thorin oakenshield
Subject: RE: What The Fuck Happened

I was there too and there was a stone thrown so I hear but it didn’t hit the police it hit a raver, there may have been be more but I didn’t see any and I was in the thick of it all the time. I did see some beer sprayed at them cos it went over me as well.
To say that that gave them the excuse is wrong. Having a few objects, and it certainly was only a few because I didn’t see any, is no excuse to hit and ride over innocent people, one hit in the wrong place can be very serious.

To those that sat down in front of them you were brave but foolish if you thought that would stop them, sure it will for a while until they get orders. For example the ones sitting at the front were offering no violence and it didn’t stop the police horses trying to walk over you when they saw there chance, which was when those standing at the back moved to stop the police that were moving behind the van, in my opinion it was only the combination of those standing at the back that stopped them from walking over you in the first place.

If you think the police were justified well that’s understandable as well we are conditioned to behave its just we are treated so badly some people are a bit fucked.

I saw the police push and shove people first, I also saw them assault some girls and some blokes get hit trying to stop it. It’s understandable that someone is going to be outraged enough to get violent but nearly everyone else restrained himself or herself.

I could hear the attack the storm rig and see the police hitting people as I moved nearer with my camera two horse police tried to ride me down and pinned me to the hedge trying to hit me with his stick I restrained myself but one hit with a truncheon in the wrong place and it can kill or seriously disable you, so I kicked the horse in the leg and put my hand over one of the horses eyes, that gave me the chance to get out of there while he got control of his horse.

In my opinion if the police hadn’t been so aggressive it would of been peaceful.

Stand up for the police if you want, I think if everyone had of just sat down the outcome would of been the same some people would of still got hurt they were having none of it. I am proud of everyone and I mean EVERYONE except those that stood up for the police.

You must remember the police weren’t here to stop a violent group; they were armed to the teeth to stop people who just wanted to listen to music and dance in the middle of nowhere.

I know some people wont like this but if the police new they could just walk all over
us they would more often.

And no way was there 70 of them

In my opinion defending the police in this case is worse than whoever threw something.

----------------------------------

Of course, this is not the first time. This sort of violence been going on since i can remember. The last one, I know about though, was the Mutant Dance Party at Ashton Court, Bristol, back in July. Here is the link, to read all about that:

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_07_21_tash_lodge_archive.html#79299422

2002-10-06T13:36:00.000Z

stonehengeentertaimentsdiscussion / Stonehenge Group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stonehengeentertaimentsdiscussion

This list has been set up to debate and perhaps even work something out in relation to having Solstice Celebrations that include the possibility of amplified music in the Wiltshire area and near Stonehenge if at all possible!

To join this group, please state what your interest in the group actually is and perhaps what kind of event you would like to see at or near Stonehenge.

There are several other discussion group lists on the Stonehenge / gathering subject: here, some more links:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stonehengepeace/

&

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stonehenge2003Celebration/

Here is an edit, of one my first contributions to this list:

I didn't know, of the other groups you mention. But I did know of the Stonehenge peace and reconciliation commission etc.

I am not with them. I disagree quite fundamentally what is going on there.

I am for peace, as well as the next man. The Beanfield was horrible, and I don't wish a re-run on anyone. BUT, what the outcome of their meetings appears to be, is a complete acquiescence to the police and authorities ideas, on how to run a managed event. It seem so long as they get to be all pagan, and wave an oak leaf at each other, in the stones in the middle of the night, it is considered progress.

Well this anarchist is not religious, Christian, Moslem or Pagan. Never was. But I do claim a right to gather, with me and mine, that goes back to the stone age, right there as we have always done.. Really, why should I put that on hold, because of a temporary bit of law, which, when viewed from that length of history, doesn't seen to stand up. For such attitudes, you may know that I'm still an 'injuncted person' and can be arrested for being in an area, 'delineated on a map therein between dates around the solstice.' This order by Lord Justice Morland, has never been rescinded.

My interest is, and always was the gathering of the tribes, to follow this tradition. If you look at some of the photos I put there especially the aerial shots, you'll see 20,000, on one side of the road at a festival on the solstice, many listening to Hawkwind etc, with a couple of hundred of us, going over the road for a celebration of a few hours, to return back to the festival, before it got dark.

Recent years, after all the nonsense, the focus has shifted to the stones. This is a shame, THEY should have left it all alone! The whole issue, would not now be under such great pressure.

The legal justification, for putting us down, was damage. It informed the injunctions. But, I've always thought that there is a difference between 'damage' and 'wear and tear', like what you get during its 'use'. Left to the authorities, it would be put in a glass case and air-conditioned as a museum piece, rather than 'living history'. Do you see, we come from different planets :)

Because of the way, this has all panned-out. I did not go to the event this year, have been every year since 1972! But am so disappointed by the way stuff is turning out. The temporary gathering in the middle of the night under rules, is not what this old foggy thought we were doing. I find it hard to account for what is going on, and why folks have put up with it! You might also be interested to know, that I've not been to a Glastonbury for years either, last 1992. I think that there is a difference between a 'festival' and an 'outside concert'. Just not what I thought we were doing, when I set out on all this.

The key to having a festival, ANYwhere in the district, is the Ministry of Defence. Oh god! Am so tired.

How many times have we been round all this. National Trust own immediate fields around it, English Heritage own it, and the fields the stones are on. Several thousand acres from Larkhill north, east and west are the MOD. Every year, we ask for some, every year they say no, with similar excuses. Need for army training, unexploded ordinance, Some of this is true, especially with war coming round again. But it is not true for somewhere like Barton Stacy, A303 between Andover and Amesbury. They have political masters, and also, don't want to be viewed as an easy touch for accommodating hippies. This has many implications for elsewhere in the country! Policeman say they're upholding laws, and incidentally, don't have any land. And so, it all goes round again .........!

Farmers are not just farmers in this district, but are huge conglomerates like Countess Farms etc. This is important, since in other places, we have manages to slip an 'economically challenged farmer' a few quid, to be
abroad or something. So, in the absence of a suitable farmer, and co-operation of MOD.
The merry dance just continues.

I am turning into a commudginly old git! Think folks in the younger generation, have grown up with the belief that you pay for stuff, to get a service. But the ethic of free festivals was / is

Bring what you expect to find
If not you, who,
If not here, where,
If not now, when.

We cannot have such free gatherings, without the shift in 'headspace' that gets people to ask what they can do, for the maintenance of the tribe / event. This is why I went off about Release and such going down.
Personally, I was so impressed by some of the early gatherings, that I asked myself, what can I do to sustain all this. I went away, and joined the London Ambulance Service and got a training that I applied with the welfare team, and release. I met hundreds of others, with similar commitment. And by such input, sustain events that would not have happened otherwise.

Some of you may know, that, in 'party mode', in advance of the CJA etc. I was involved yet again, in organising resistance.

All Systems: http://tash.gn.apc.org/allsystm.htm

However, this time round, found many folks just thanked you very much, and watched, while other did work.!! Thus, missing the point.

This is just so different from few years before, when folks did things, and others watched, identified need, and offered to learn and help. Do folks see what I'm getting at? There is now such a mis-match between needs, and
available folks.

I have remarked before " people now have the festival / party/ events /
they deserve, discuss!"

Gosh, got carried away, sorry, going to bed now.

I hope we can work something out, but have no idea what :- )

Love. tash

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stonehengeentertaimentsdiscussion/message/19

2002-09-27T22:02:00.000Z

Punk Bands - Newtown, Wales

A little ancient history. These snaps from the early 1980's.
Have recently heard from one of these chaps, Tranny, and reminded me that you should see some of these styles. Was quite involved at the time, and helped to get and run a space for the youth of the town, to get space to practice and make a some noise. The local youth service hated it, and, needless to say, they tried to be quite obstructive.

Newtown, Powys. Mid-Wales. This is the region I and my family lived, before I came to Nottingham, to do my Photo-degree at University here. Look forward to getting in touch again.

Harry and Jack at the Montgomery Festival

And these shots of "The Subversives" and Tranny, performing in the Cowshed, Upper Weeg, Dolfor and the Bunker in Newtown, Powys.

As I said in starting, these picture were taken in the early 1980's. Gosh! 20years ago now.

Have just done an internet search, and see they are not "The Subversives" any more, but, have transmogrified into "Smoke Like a Fish"

http://www.smokelikeafish.co.uk

A brief history of SLAF (written circa 1999)
Smoke Like a Fish are a skapunky collaboration that pumps the offbeat religiously behind the storming harmony vocals and catchy tunes.
They were originally formed a few years back (about seven i think) in Newtown, Mid-Wales
and enjoyed a classic 3 years or so of magical manic gigs up and down the country.
The line-up at that time after initial tinkering was fronted by the super energetic MAXPOTATO-vocals,
TRANNY-guitar& backing-vocals,NICK-keyboards,STEVE-bass,T.H.PHONES- rhythym guitar & non stop bazaar dancing
and NEIL(fluff) -drums.The line-up became a seven piece later on when they came across BEARD THOMAS
an "ex" Newtown silver band failure! who was a gifted cronky trumbone player,an ancient art mastered by a few gifted individuals (mainly in Switzerland). But sadly this line-up came to an abrupt end, when MAX broke STEVES jaw at the end of a gig in their home town after an argument about the bazaar events surrounding their encore for that evening.

So, there you have it!

2002-09-27T17:47:00.000Z

Northern Arts Tactical Offensive

nATo is a banner organisation , bringing together artists working on a broad spectrum of cultural, social and political issues. We are dedicated to the production of spontaneous, independent and conscious public art.

http://www.nato.uk.net/

Jai Redman has now prepared a webspace, to describe what went on, thought I'd tell you all about it.

http://www.uhc-collective.org.uk

Here is the 'Interactive Gallery of it all.

http://www.uhc-collective.org.uk/agitate/agitategallery.htm

and here is my bit, in it all.........

http://www.uhc-collective.org.uk/agitate/pages/tash.htm

Curated by Jai Redman (UHC Collective) with guest curators Kwong Lee (Mart) and Helen Knowles (RadioHalo). Initiated by NATO (Northern Arts Tactical Offensive) as part of the Blitz festival.

Participating artists included: Angel, Mark Cooley, Steven Dickie, Jo Hudson, The Jackofficer, Yuen Fong Ling, Alan Lodge, Monkeyboy, Polyp, Duncan Ross, Squall, Seth Tobocman, Jon Trayner, UHC Collective, Gee Vaucher, Andy Wake, Justine Young.

I contribured to this part of the exhibition:
Agitate Art Exhibition
Date: 20 - 28 July
Location: Great Northern Railway Complex, Central Manchester

AgiTate - Is art the mirror by which we view the world around us, or is it the hammer that smashes the mirror?
The contributors to Agitate are in the main primarily activists and their work is an extension of their politics.

This was the pre-able, for the gig......

AgiTate - An art show from the political underground.

We are pleased to be able to announce that NATO has confirmed the contributors for the Blitz Festival's AgiTate show. This unique event is the perfect antidote to the corporate spectacle of the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

The artists run the full gamut of age, experience and technique: From the untrained street style of the new wave of Manchester grafitti artist, to the seminal collage work of Crass album cover designer Gee Vaucher. AgiTate will also showcase fine artists, photographers, cartoonists, performance and installation artists; as well as a number of slide show lectures, films and performances by contributors. We are also pleased to welcome Mark Cooley and Seth Tobocman over from America.

The following artists contributed:

Seth Tobocman
Polyp
Monkeyboy
UHC collective
Steven Dickie
Gee Vaucher
Alan Lodge [Tash]
The Jackofficer
Mark Cooley
Angel
Andy Wake
Jo Hudson
Nick Cobbing
Jon Trayner

Examples of work and short written statements are available for each artist.

Is art the mirror by which we view the world around us, or is it the hammer that smashes the mirror?
The contributors to Agitate are in the main primarily activists and their work is an extension of their politics. Certainly all the work included in the show is challenging, but we are not seeking to propagandise. AgiTate's aim is a simple one, we want to ask the question 'where does passive observation end and how is the particpant/protagonist awakened, in both the 'exclusive' world of fine art and the broader spectacle of everyday life?'

The show will of course raise many other interesting questions. About sponsorship in the arts (we have taken no sponsorship money from any company to pay for AgiTate). About interaction between the public and 'art': in the face of the new trend for 'culture-lite' (witness the new City Art Gallery), does greater involvement in creative activity necessitate a watering down of content?

These are some of the links, earlier in my blog, to describe the progress of work with the Blitz Festival, up there in Manchester.

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_07_07_tash_lodge_archive.html#78897980
&
http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_07_28_tash_lodge_archive.html#79699044
http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_08_18_tash_lodge_archive.html#80651676

2002-09-25T23:15:00.000Z

A scary poster:

Matt the Cat design http://www.catarax.co.uk/

BASS collective Brighton Sound Systems http://www.bass23.org/

2002-09-25T22:36:00.000Z

DEALINGS WITH THE POLICE and ARRESTS AT DEMONSTRATIONS

A. Overview
A summary of points discussed at a meeting with freelance journalists / N.U.J. members at Marlborough on Saturday, 21/04/01
The police are increasingly ignoring press cards and arresting journalists as demonstrators knowing they will miss their deadlines. Don't be afraid, GO TO THE DEMO PREPARED. And you could set a good legal precedent! Your first hour in custody after a wrongful arrest is worth £500.00 in compensation!

The following is intended to be a general overview of points relevant to freelance journalists attending demonstrations : it principally covers preparations you can make , how to respond if challenged by an officer, and what to do at the police station.

B. Your rights at demonstrations

1. Same as for an ordinary citizen - no special law protecting you re civil / criminal liability
2. However, before an officer can arrest a person he needs "reasonable suspicion" an offence is being or has been committed. If a case goes to court the officer would have to justify how he formed that reasonable suspicion. Because as a reporter you are there to report on events rather than there as an ordinary demonstrator it ought to be harder for the officer to justify to a court that he thought you were offending / had offended, and therefore a Not Guilty verdict and a successful civil claim for wrongful arrest are more likely.
3. It follows that it is most important you identify yourself as separate from the demonstrators themselves - there will be less chance of an officer being mistaken about your role.

C. What can you do to ensure you cannot be confused with the demonstrators?

1. Simply arguing it was clear you were a photographer is not enough - some demonstrators may have them for example.
2. Accreditation cards may help if shown to the police at the time, but are not always enough, eg, some officers have ignored them arguing they could be forged. If arrested though ,you ought to show the card to an officer of as high a rank as possible.
3. Distinctive clothing - may be worth considering a distinctive colour, agreeing a standard form with other journalists, clearly marking your clothing "Accredited Photographer", using "bibs", jackets, hats.
4. If you can bring yourself to do it, wear a suit in addition to the distinctive garment you decide upon to aid that aura of respectability.

D. How to respond if police try to arrest you

1. Challenge their right to arrest you , search you ,take your equipment - in other words ask them "why?". If possible, make a note of what the officer says in response, or have someone witness it. This may help avoid arrest at the time, or aid your subsequent civil claim for compensation.
2. Do all you can to point out that you are press.
3. Only challenge the police within the law! Do not make matters worse by committing a separate offence, eg, assaulting the officer or resisting arrest.
4. Again only acting within the law, object to the handing over of equipment. The officer may still remove your gear, but you may be able at a later date to argue any search was unlawful

E. How to respond at the police station

1. Ensure you are represented by a solicitor. Ideally, ask for a solicitor to attend the station. You can call a solicitor of your choice or ask the Duty solicitor to attend. At the very least you should obtain advice from a solicitor over the telephone - the Custody Sargent will arrange it and within reason you can spend as long as you need speaking to the lawyer about what you should do.
2. Do not fall for the police tactic of telling you not to bother with a lawyer because you may be waiting for a long time until he arrives.
3. For the type of offence you may commonly have been arrested for a police interview may be unnecessary anyway and the time you should be detained ought therefore to be limited.
4. Have your say. The arresting officer takes you before the Custody Officer when you arrive at the station and tells him the basis for your arrest. Ensure that description is entered in the Custody Record (A log kept during your stay at the station - you can obtain a copy of this document at a later date and it is very often helpful for evidence purposes, thereby boosting your chances of a successful compensation claim) . Any complaints you have regarding your treatment should be added to this document.
5. Be as polite as you can be - you are likely to be treated accordingly, eg, released quicker.
6. Do not be tempted by the police argument that if you admit the allegation you will receive a "Caution" rather than a criminal conviction. If cautioned, your details will remain on the police computer for up to 20 years, plus a caution will have a damaging effect upon any subsequent civil claim , false imprisonment.
7. Argue your Human Rights are being ignored. The Human Rights Act 1998 is now law - be prepared to argue - reasonably - that the police action is contrary to Freedom of Expression, and to Freedom of Assembly and Association.

Alan Wilson, Thompsons - 0161 819 3500 - http://www.thompsons.law.co.uk/

Have been maintaining a Photo-Journalist "Hassle list", check this lot out ........
http://tash.gn.apc.org/journo_hassle.htm

2002-09-20T23:38:00.000Z

Reclaim The Future - location

Programme: http://rts.gn.apc.org/diary.htm

If your looking for a Countryside Alliance 'Alternative' event. This might be it.

Check out the RTS website for details. Hamish and Indymedia folks doing a show.

The Reclaim the Future event starts this (Friday) evening - entrance is in the car park behind Aldi in High Road, Tottenham (Bruce Grove).

Where: Entrance is behind Aldi store, High Road, Tottenham

Rail: Liverpool Street - Bruce Grove - Enfield Town service

Buses: 259 King's Cross - Manor House - Bruce Grove - Edmonton 243 Wood Green - Bruce Grove - Dalston - Waterloo 149 London Br - Dalston - Bruce Grove - Ponders End etc

Get involved: We still need volunteers, artists, prop makers, & circus performers.

Reclaim the Future still requires volunteers to make it a safe, fun and cool event. If you are up for helping, please come along to a volunteers' briefing at 6pm, Friday 20 Sept at the venue (before the opening of the exhibition). The details of the venue will be publicised on indymedia.org.uk on the day. You can also ring 07931 560 569 or 07960 973 847 to find out.

E-mail: rtsparty2002@yahoo.co.uk or phone 07931 560 569 (During the weekend the backup number is 07960 973 847)

Contributions by Reclaim the Streets London, Indymedia, The Wombles, Social Centres Network, The Anarchist Youth Network and many others.

Look at this, Bastards just helping themselves again to my work. Just as weel I'm into what's going on here, but year after year, always the same presumptions...

http://rts.gn.apc.org/rtsimage/leaflets/RTFflyer1.pdf

http://rts.gn.apc.org/rtsimage/leaflets/RTFflyer2.pdf

Oh god! It would be nice, just now and again, to be credited, or / and slipped a tenner, but no. Guess that's anarchy for you ....... !!

Oh, afore I forget, Guilfin listings, on it all, at:
http://www.guilfin.net/database/showevent.php3?ev_id=evDNX166

2002-09-11T01:06:00.000Z

Cyberbuss, continued and winding up reports from the Burning Man.

http://wrybread.com/gammablablog/featured/cyberbuss.shtml
http://wrybread.com/gammablablog/featured/western-woods.shtml#9-03

Police / entrapment / cyberbuss / bloody hell! Nothing changes, same everywhere......... middle of a desert. You might think the authorities, were needed elsewhere.

http://wrybread.com/gammablablog/featured/cyberbuss.shtml#9-01

audio report, from the front:
http://wrybread.com/gammablablog/featured/endofera.shtml

Check out earlier reports, from the Burning Man, earlier on my blog at:

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_08_25_tash_lodge_archive.html#80967433

However, I hear from my spies, that there was much dis-satifaction at this years event. Complaints of commerciallisation!

Well now, where have I heard that before ........ ? Glastonbury and bloody onwards. Calls into question, what is it all about and what's it for. Me, I'm interested in alternative events. However, the only way of having those now, with a licence, is to sell out to those that would exploit me. Ho hum. Nothing changes, not really!!

2002-09-03T22:36:00.001Z

Pinhole Camera Project at Burning Man

Yet more photography of interest at this event .......

These folks at http://www.pinholecamp.org/ have produced some interesting work, that is deserving of a look. Check out their gallery at: http://www.pinholecamp.org/gallery.html where they display work form the 1999, 2000, 2001 &2002 events.

and, they have produced some plans of the device. Here is their constuction description in .pdf form at: http://www.pinholecamp.org/camera/camera.pdf

2002-09-03T22:36:00.000Z

Burning Man 2002 - Webcast from Black Rock City
The Burning Man 2002 Webcast is (supposed to be) available at the following URL:
http://dogme.burningman.com/webcast/

'Direct Link' to stream, using QuickTime.
rtsp://steam.burningman.com/live.sdp

QuickTime Player is required. Have yet to have it connect (keep getting server not found errors or, the latest RealPlayer wants to try to play it.)

2002-09-03T22:35:00.002Z

Wot Free Festivals? A further rant, from Tash
Personally, I come from a free festivals and travelling background. New Age Travellers etc. A number of sayings have helped guide my life over time. Like....

Bring what you expect to find?
If no you, who?
If not now, when?
If not here, where?

In sum, this means self-reliance. It means gigs are ALWAYS better, when people attending don't just attend , but are a main part of the act. It is obvious to all those there, when this magic happens.
This is actually where I came in. 1972 Windsor, Stonehenge etc..... These were my motives then and remain so now.
Of course the authorities have difficulty with a system that means they are not in sole charge, hence all the law and violence since the Beanfield etc......
Over time, I have been involved I raising awareness about the law changes and their implications to us all.

· Public Order Act 1986
· Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
· Noise Act
· Barry Legg MP: Places of Entertainments (Increased Penalty) Act
· Security Services Act

And now all the Acts that have been going through parliament - with the words:
"conduct by a large number of persons in pursuit of a common purpose" being a new definition of serious crime!!!
With the new definition of serious crime, that enable the use of some 'heavier' police departments to be applied against us. And will be the end of all the RTS and similar gigs.
Shame eh?
Now, in 'rave mode', I have spent time with the Velvet Revolution and All Systems gigs, I had written 'Sound Advice' and the 'Right to Party' - to try and raise these matters in peoples minds.
Well, we have lost each of the matters I'm on about here. Whoever you vote for, the government gets in!

What I am absolutely positive about though, is that people involved in the scene,

DID NOT DO ENOUGH ABOUT ANY OF IT AS IT HAPPENED AND NOW IS STILL GOING ON.

People have to realise that self-interest and their own immediate happiness ( hedonism?), is not enough to make a festival, party rave, traveller site, gathering.
Important, but not enough.
Some folks on reading this will have been too young, to have had any objection to these changes as they have happened over recent years. But many others of you will have been there, and should have been 'able'.

The way parties are now organised, between those trying to conform with some pretty onerous conditions, (ie half to 2/3 of a ticket price to 'self-police' and pay for your own public order management and drug search.!) and those involved with the 'free' end of things but at continued 'personal' rather than 'sheared' risks.

This division is of course orchestrated by the other side.

This old hippy / raver? Is now of the opinion that folk have now got the party they deserve.
Discuss........

2002-09-03T22:35:00.001Z

Burning Man Calendar of Events
To remind, the dates are: August 26 - September 2, 2002

This pages, gives an idea of what they're up to on a daily basis:
http://www.burningman.com/calendar/playa/day.php

2002-09-03T22:35:00.000Z

Time Lapse of the Burning Man Events

A Timewave Panorama of Burning Man 2002 Showing the Rise and Fall of Black Rock City

Folding-Time http://www.folding-time.com/ making preparation for a time-lapse series of photography of the event.

Installation and Technology: Technology Link Burning Man Time Navigators have installed a highly sophisticated yet ruggedized computer controlled, time-lapse photography system to capture the rolling waves of growth and destruction that are the essence of Black Rock City. Four different views capture a significant portion of citizen activity of every hour of every day for up to four weeks.

Folding-Time Video: Once recorded and edited, we will see within one hour the civilization organism emerge, grow and teem with inhabitants, and then disappear without a trace. We will see the sun and the darkness, buildings and events, storms and dust, night lights, fires and The Burn.

Folding-Time will provide spectacular and moving footage for future media use as well as an interactive artistic component that would allow Black Rock citizens the opportunity to interact and participate in Folding-Time.

With the chap doing the panoramas, I think I'm inspired! http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/#80690505

2002-09-03T22:34:00.002Z

Brad Templeton's Panoramic Photography:

And....... yet more from the Burning Man Festival. While searching around to see how the Americans do it, I came across this mans work.

http://pic.templetons.com/brad/pano/burn.html

I think that these paroramas of the event are particularly wonderful. All shot from towers, erected for the purpose and using a Canon EOS D30 digital camera.

Completly wicked work!! Here, the chap goes into the technical details: http://pic.templetons.com/brad/pano/about.html

2002-09-03T22:34:00.001Z

GammaBlaBlog Cyberbuss
Cyberbuss camp will be located at or around 250 Degrees and Abyss.
We plan to set up radio Free Wrybread/Ccyberbuss at 88.3 and play lots of music and noise we plan to introduce the Barnacle - Black rock city's smallest, simplest and laziest art car.
also there will be plenty of Olympic style games and competitions.
For virtual trippers we plan to be in comunicato via satellite phone with gametone who will post a daily C y b e r sAM One Sentence Summary (and maybe a photo or two) at da gammablog.

http://wrybread.com/gammablablog/index.shtml

You are all welcome to join/camp with uss on da buss
KEEP dA FIRE BURNING,
CYBERBUSS.

The Cyberbuss promises to strive daily to uplink the Cyberbuss One-Sentence Burning Man Summary of the Day, to the GammaBlaBlog. They are camped by a lake tonight, and arrive tomorrow. But what's their plan? "No Plan!"

The Cyberbuss goes solar when out on the Playa. They're able to keeps the music, lights and radio broadcasting going, and still leave enough power in the batteries to start up and go home. All without running the engine to charge their bank of ten batteries, like all the RVs do.

Their camp is made from junkyard finds. That's how to do it right, in that harsh alkali lake bed. Anything new you bring to this festival will be old by the time the wind, dust and heat, or mud, rain and cold get to your gear. This way, you bring trash with a little life left to it, use it up completely, and then throw it back where it came from. A fairly benign form of consumerism, I think.

This years participants come from:England, Israel, Italy, Germany, Canada, Australia, Colorado, Harbin Hot Springs, San Francisco and Point Arena. I've invited them all to send in reports, but will feel lucky if a few KB's makes it to me now and then. The bandwidth and power needed to keep the uplink is precious, and could just as likely be monopolized by some impromptu concert, radio marathon or art event. And really, once you are there, the last thing in the world you want to deal with is the outside world. But you never know.

It was on that crazy Buss for the 2000 Burn. I am hoping that the state of electronic communications is at a point, that a number of people at Bman will be able to email and upload to their websites. But this is just a guess. News out in past years came mostly from commercial sources. I need to search out some sites that might be providing breaking news and photos from the desert. Not that I expect anything earthshaking. This is just for fun.

2002-09-03T22:34:00.000Z

CYBERBUSS
Cyberbuss will be making its 6th trip to Burning Man this year. It is well rested after a year off last year.

Cyberbuss / Burning Man Shockwave slide show: http://www.cyberbuss.com/cyberwestern/takeaction0.htm

Cyberbuss / Burning Man 2000 Shockwave slide show: http://www.cyberbuss.com/bman00/bman2000.htm

Cyberbuss Photographic Documentary: http://www.cyberbuss.com/bus.htm

There is nothing like being here inside the Blue Burning Ham (CYBERBUSS sister buss), 26 miles from the closest town out in the vast Black Rock Desert with steaming, hot, bubbling geysers just a four minute freezing cold walk away. These geysers blow continuos hot steady streams of steamy water into the cold dry air. The water trickles down natural steps into muddy pools. Day and night us fREaKy, muddy buss people tip toe across frosty rocks and plunge our naked bodies into hot mud baths surrounded by eternal fields of cow dung.

We take cover back in the buss where fantastic meals are cooked to perfection, we shuffle around one table where you can hear the constant clatter of plastic cooking gear and embarrassing old, hard-to-tell stories that stream from us like the hot steamy water spraying from the colorful geysers.

In this clean, simple, pure Nevada environment we live largely. All the luxuries in Reno could not surpass our bussy comforts. The fluid, jazzy sounds of Chet Baker, Stan Getz and anonymous Bossa Nova tapes fill the cozy air.

At night we are greeted by a low rising spooky moon and whimpering, whiny howls of a far off coyote pack. The stars stare down on us in a strong, bright fashion exempt from city haze. Yes its wonderful to be on the buss.
c y b e r sAM

Cyberbuss Desert Panorama :
After leaving San Francisco the Cyberbuss crew camped at a lake overnight before heading over to Burning Man. Here they are in the morning.
http://wrybread.com/gametone/burningman/2000/lake.shtml

On the Cyberbuss :
http://wrybread.com/gametone/burningman/2000/ondabuss.shtml

2002-08-26T22:11:00.000Z

Where there are people like us?
This is a question, I commonly ask myself. Most proper travellers have been forced abroad, to continue the lifestyle. Some are hiding! Some forced into sub-standard housing. Some in jail. I got this very interesting email from these folks, who seem to be 'right on it'! I wish them well and hope we can find some suitable companions for them.........

Dear Tash,
Have just been looking at your website. Very interesting, but my main reason for writing to you is to find out where there are people like us?
My husband and I are 49 and 40 respectively and decided to get out of the rat-race 4 years ago. We bought an 10 year old ex-British Rail canteen van and converted it to a camper and drove 22,366 miles all the way to Kathmandu and back in 12mths. It was our honeymoon. If you would like to read about some of it, you can go to David Icke’s website, swallow the first red pill, then click on latest posting/news and scroll down to an article, “Bush and Blair want to find bin Laden, yeah sure they do, a British couple’s story....” I think you might find it most interesting. David is also putting it in his next book, “Alice in Wonderland and the WTC.”
We are strongly against errosion of civil liberties and ID cards, chipping etc, but until more people wake up and make a stand against it all there isn’t a lot we can do to stop it.
The reason for my e-mail is that we have been on the road now for 4 yrs and would love to meet others like us and travel with them. There’s loads of ‘Blue Wrinse Brigade’ members. Those who live in a very expensive motorhome and live on their pensions, and there are a few who have loads of money for one reason or another, but there seems to be few who have to live by ther wits and WORK for their money. they are the type we would like to me. Could you pass some info my way, or alternately pass my e-mail/address/phone no. onto them?
We basically work for agencies for the Summer, then head South out of the UK for the whole Winter. We don’t live in our Sherpa any more, we now have a larger ex-Council Omni minibus, converted for our next trip to Morocco. My husband Alan is a mechanic, so is a very useful person to have around.
Do you know anyone who would like to join us to Morocco. We leave UK 1st week in November. We spent the Winter in Spain last year.
I also supplement our income with some freelance journalism, mainly about our travels. I have had a number of articles published now.
Our address is c/o “Notchett” Bucknall Road, Horsington, Woodhall Spa,
Lincoln, LN10 5ET tel; 0775-2696673 e-mail theproject1998@hotmail.com
Would welcome ANY contacts.
Regards Cindy

2002-08-25T16:30:00.000Z

Burning Man Festival Nevada, United States.

Burning Man [mainsite] http://www.burningman.com/

Official list of the Burning Man Project: http://www.burningman.com/blackrockcity_yearround/contacts/jrs_lists.html

Thier 'Legal Advice Page' http://www.burningman.com/preparation/event_survival/law_enforcement.html

Location Map: http://www.burningman.com/preparation/maps/reno.gif

Burning Man is a Labor Day gathering/party/festival that began in 1986 with the torching of an 8-foot stick man on San Francisco's Baker Beach. Since 1990 it has been held in the remote Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada. For a week, the desert "playa" becomes a canvas for some of the most beautiful, fantastic, and just plain weird art this side of Oz. The festival's centerpiece now stands 40 feet tall.

Hundreds of people devote much of their lives to the festival's planning -- for little or no monetary gain whatsoever -- and thousands of people travel from all over the world to attend. Experience Burning Man once and you'll understand why.

Visit Nevada's Black Rock Desert at most any time of the year, and you won't find much there - just a barren desert formed by an ancient lake bed. But come around a week before Labor Day, and you're likely to witness a transformation as awe-inspiring as any desert bloom: the creation of Black Rock City, a counterculture metropolis otherwise known as Burning Man.

It's difficult to explain the concept of Burning Man to the uninitiated. Some call it a neo-pagan festival. Others think of it as this generation's Woodstock. In truth, it is neither. Burning Man can really only be defined by experiencing it.

Miles from the nearest town, the thousands of participants must bring everything they will need to survive in the desert. Monetary transactions are not allowed at the festival. The climate is extreme, and creature comforts are minimal limited to what people can construct in a few days from materials they have brought in themselves. The ticket to Burning Man warns that participants risk serious injury or death by attending the event.

But participants assume the risks for the chance to create something extraordinary an ideal society that exists according to its utopian vision, if only for one week. The society is defined by the rules that have been established over the years, and by the feeling of community that develops through shared creative efforts.

Many participants form camps grouped around community projects. Each camp has an interactive element, with open invitations to all who wish to participate. Art, costumes, dancing, and music dominate the playa. In recent years, technology has greatly added to the mix, and this year marks the debut of PlayaNet, a wireless high-speed network that will serve as a festival-wide intranet.

Burning Man is a marriage of art, anarchy and technology. It's a place where hippies, trendy beautiful people, brooding artists, goths and nerds can find something in common.

What impressed was that some of the art is actually good. It's mostly ephemeral - meant to be burned or certainly taken down at the end, but some people with real talent go to BM to show off.

Also impressive is the tremendous effort that goes into the camps and structures. While some just set up a minimalist camp, many camps have impressive structures that clearly were quite some work to set up. People aren't there to camp, they are there to show off what they can make.

Here you see a variety of shots of different camps. This is just a tiny sampling, and not even the most intersting. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of unusual camps. Some built giant towers or other structures

Some people, trying to get a smaller experience within what is now a large town of 15,000, build villages within the Black Rock City. They arrange a large cicular area, get common generators and other facilities and collect a group of camps. The Irrational Geographic Society and its stage are shown here on the right. "Drano" city on the left.

More strange camps, including one (Holmes on the Range) with three naked women on a giant penis. Who can resist taking a photo of that? A lot of the experience of BM is going around, enjoying the camps, and going into them, and meeting the people, perhaps offering to help out. In fact, in line with the BM "No spectators" ethic, this is almost mandatory.

All the streets were arranged in a hemicircle around the Man. In the center of that was a big cicular area called the Center camp, which included the one cafe and a stage in the middle, and some of the most established camps around it.

Near the end of the weeklong culture jam, participants burn a giant wooden effigy in a cathartic celebration that gives the event its name. And then the ephemeral city disappears, leaving no trace in the desert.

Collected links here, some really cool photography, check it out. All makes me want to go .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ..... ....... one day!

Abobe 'Special feature on Burning Man

Adobe Panorama Day1
Adobe Panorama Day2
Adobe Panorama Day3

Burning Man Message Board 2002: http://bbs.burningman.com/

The Photographic book, 'Burning Man' from Amazon.

2002-08-25T16:29:00.001Z

Black Rock Desert Poem by tanya

Black Rock Desert was the destination,
Headed for a weekend of good times and recreation.
What I got was so much more -
But, wait, we're just at the door -
These lessons take time
To infiltrate your mind.

So we'll start from the beginning:
In my head thoughts were spinning
As I gazed at the mountains afar
>From the window of my sister's red suburu car.
All that I knew of the event
Were second-hand stories from a book that had been lent.
This book, along with my ticket, to me my sister had sent,
A sort of you're-graduated-so-now-you-can-really-learn-about-life present.

She told me they call it Burning Man,
Named for the tall neon figure in the sand.
"They will burn him Saturday night," she said,
and off through the desert we sped.
After Gerlach and Empire we finally reached the place.
Turning onto the playa with my sister's smiling face,
She popped in Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians
And, laughing, together we sang like crazy demons.
Greeted by sparkling glittered insane ravers,
Drove to 8 o'clock and feet to meet our new neighbors.

My first visions didn't go past my eyes,
Which were sun and travel weary from the drive.
It wasn't really until that night
That I completely took in the sight
Of a beautiful, glowing, magical community
That laughed in the face of a made-up reality.

And after an evening of riding double
On a bicycle that tended to wobble,
Sitting in a mushroom tower,
Feeling its tremendous power,
Smoking some hash,
Visiting a shrine for Johnny Cash,
Making way for the motorized couch,
Waiting out the rain in an Elvis tent, I crouched
Thinking Toto, this is nothing like home,
And biking across the playa we roamed,
Amazed by the sculptures of chrome.
We cheered at the Thunderdome,
Got lost in a maze,
And I knew I was about to reach a new phase.
This experience was going to teach me about community,
About people, about life, about love, about beauty.
And that it did in many ways
Through energized nights and dusty days.

The people I met were what made it all work -
This experience and how it changed my whole outlook.
I first encountered the Cyberbuss folk
Who lifted the world with the energy every time they spoke.
They were friendly and offered a game of Rock-Swivel & Bob,
So we camped next to them and added to the mob.
Their names have escaped me but their faces remain,
Except Sam, Rob, and Gamitone I remember their names.

Others I met under the Central Camp dome
While sipping on frothy cappuccino foam.
Like the suspicious man who was writing to his boyfriend:
"I'm sorry to tell you, but this relationship must end."
He was sitting at a table, smoking a cigarette, and then
He smiled and finally set down his money-sign pen.

There was Rupert, who shared his nitrous with us
As we sat on the seats in his comfy RV bus.
On his hat was a patch of black and white thread,
"Give me head till I'm dead," it said.
His wife Sunny was her own rockstar
As she danced in the glowing ejaculating car.

And then there was Shad, who introduced me to these two -
I think he impacted me more than he knew
Through our long chats under the mid-morning sun
And the evenings spent together, full of good times and fun.
He had a smile that made my heart flutter,
My knees go weak and my words begin to stutter.
And before long in his arms I was held,
Into the deep pool of his eyes I fell,
And waking together to the lull of the wind,
We wondered what the coming day would bring.

Outside was my sister Jamie -
Beautiful, intelligent, the star of the family.
She was recovering from her own personal tragedy,
Pushed down by a man she had loved madly.
Almost done healing, she had learned so much -
This experience, together, brought us closer and in touch.

As we fought through traffic to get back to the city,
We discussed the experience and felt pity
That the beauty of people their heart and their soul
Can so easily be stifled by our culture's control.
And we vowed we would not return to the norms of society,
We would instead live in the world of a true reality
Full of love and compassion and people who would not shriek
When we finally decide to release our inner freak.

2002-08-25T16:29:00.000Z

2002-08-25T16:27:00.000Z

2002-08-20T09:12:00.000Z

Phd in Dance Culture
Thanks for a really interesting message. Its good to know that there are people out there with the time to read and the ears to hear.

I would really like to keep in touch with you. I used to be active in trying to stir things up a little, but have recently taken a back (academic) seat. I am currently researching a phd on dance culture and oppositional politics, and am also working on a cd-rom on the free parties (with harry from diy, who you might have come across through your involvement with All Systems Go (about which i know little, as i have only recently made the Notts connection)).

I hope that this will have some postive, practical repercussions, and i also aim to link my work up with people such as Celebrate! who are actively trying to work on these issues (although they're a little too cosy with the home office for my liking).

I would welcome a bit of a longer perspective on such struggles, and so would like to hear more about what you know about eralier festivals. I knew many people who were at Stonehenge that year, and do know people involved in the traveller scene, but my real experience comes from dance culture, and i could do with broadening my horizons.
Drew Hemment - Lancaster University

2002-08-14T18:54:00.001Z

They didn't show up!
UKCIA recieved a press release from the Portsmouth Smokey Bears before the 2002 picnc, informing the media - and hence the police, that the law against cannabis would be openly challenged.

The police annouced that they would enforce the law and arrest anyone seen smoking cannabis, which prompted the screaming headlines in the local rag. In the event, they didn't show up, in total contrast to the last few years.

It seems it's even safe to smoke cannabis openly in public in Portsmouth now. Perhaps the police could be a little clearer about how they intend to enforce Blunketts half-baked proposed reforms?

In previous years the picnic has witnessed a hemp wedding, a celebrity joint rolling contest and the arrest of special guest Howard Marks.

The Smokey Bears dismiss recent Government plans for the reclassification of cannabis as confusing, incoherent and contradictory.

One Smokey Bear commented "the only way to control Cannabis is to bring it within the law, not to continue the same old failed policy of prohibition under a different letter." Plans to downgrade cannabis from Class B to Class C does not address or deal with the fact that 40% of people aged 18-35 have smoked pot and six million do so on a regular basis (Government figures).

Smokey Bears would support Government licenced outlets with age limits where people could legally buy and smoke cannabis. Police and court time would be saved by not harassing cannabis users, and valuable tax revenue would be generated from the supply and distribution. Cannabis is not addictive, shows little or no risk to health, and cannabis users do not start fights.

Dave Bear, a local activist added "The scandal of the government's policy on cannabis is that it leaves a multi million pound business in the hands of organised crime"

2002-08-14T18:54:00.000Z

Wales and Party Stuff

Saturday night. Got some party info from one of the Desert Storm posse and after mucking around for a bit, got on the road. Police did their best to get really on top and bug out of everyone. A pretty average story, I hear of, every week.

The site that we were heading for had been going since Friday night but was now totally roadblocked. In fact the filth weren't content to just get in the way they got JCBs to drag massive rocks onto the access road. Er.. probably time to move on.

So you can imagine the scene as the Police helicopter starts to hover over the Service station near Bangor that we had pulled by chance [I thank baby Jesus that I needed to fart at that junction]. It was lucky that I did as those in the know were reassembling here to make a run for another site, some lake somewhere? Any way the general excitement and the increasing police presence at the service station exit led everyone to peel out of there. I don't know how I ended up at the front but there you go, they went round the roundabout indicating general cluelessness and by the time done this once the Police had blocked off all the exits apart from the one going back to England. Anyway faced with little alternative we truck down the A55 for 50 odd mins as the Police follow us trying to work out if we are going home or trying to find another site, if fact both the Police and everyone in the convoy were trying to work this out after 40 miles or so].

As the van at the front of the convoy finally tried to pull off, it's path was blocked by one of our friendly copper friends so after pausing for thought everyone pulled off, took the next exit, did a cross country tour to shake the rozzers and then pulled back on the A55. While Pc Plodd was the other side trying to still trying prevent us getting off the Denbeigh exit, we're on completely the other side and we've lost them!

It took forever to cover the next 30 miles as by now we're built up a real posse mentality [strength though unity] and have to wait for this beat-up ambulance to get up all the hills. Absolutely amazing buzz as we did get to a moorland/forest site, with a party already underway and the other convoys trickle in. After a while 4 sound systems get up and running! And this wasn't the only site where there was a party happening. There was one a few miles down the road and fuck know where else.

The best thing was that this wasn't really like a local Welsh party amphetamine Holyhead hardcore affair [where the atmosphere can be a bit flat], but more of a mini-festival with sound systems from all over; Reading, Chester, Bristol. And people from even further afield. A lot of people were very happy about this and the tunes were good. Cartoon acid, manic good tribal stuff, cheesey but good sounds from the deep house free party babble sound, a large reading sound system doing Drum and Bass but this was more stop and start as the generator packed up before a vibe could build and some ripping techno sounds mounted on a flatbed truck kicking out in the morning.

Small was beautiful on this day though as although I'm sure that the whole thing would have been massive if the Police had let it continue at Deiniolen. This just proved that they can move the thing on but they can only break it up into little ones that are often just as good if not better. If you just get loads of people and soundsystems in one area of the country at the same time then you can't help but have good parties. This is especially true in Wales and places where you can get away from nosey neighbours.

The systems that are around at the moment are tough little units and the fact that mobile phones are so common now makes coordinating parties on the move like that a LOT easier. The trick to having a successful night out on a bit of a chaotic night is to stick to the convoys no matter what OR get the mobile number of someone who is on the case with a sound-system. Ring them up and see where They are! But in fact this is pretty much what was happening anyway. . Right now the priority should be to tell everyone what a good laugh they are!

2002-08-14T18:53:00.001Z

Ribblehead
I am an old traveller in the sense!! That I was on the road since i was 3 but am now 19 in a flat. My parents Chris and Zoe did lots of stuff and i know you’ve met lots of people but still may have photos of Chris and Zoethey were part of the travellers school bus or any of the early Ribblehead because my parents claim to be some of the original people to have gone out there to pick mushrooms. i remember that we went a few times and made a miniature stonehenge we went about four times then it suddenly turned into a really big gathering.

2002-08-14T18:53:00.000Z

Wow, That all takes me back:-)
I was living in a bus in 1990,and before that had done abit of travelling about for the odd weekend etc.I actually hated the bus,well,the company I should say.My then partner was just so different to myself and we ended up living how he chose and not “The compromise”(As I’m sure there was one.)I was,and still am,the quieter type,he was always the “I have to party and drink” type(not that I dont mind a bit of a party myself mind)My aim was to go horse drawn but most’s opinion was “too slow” Mine was “Whats the rush”.
Been thinking of those times alot lately,ha ha what I don’t miss is the hassle of the police and the fear that gets into people when a few travellers move into a field,and the time’s when you didn’t cook the chick peas right and the shit pit was a fair trudge away....in the rain:-) (With ref to Pucklechurch layby)
Sometimes I think I’d give it a go,but it was a hard life.
Well,shall go read up some more on your site,I’d like to know where travellers stand now when parking up,as I know a while back the whole law changed didn’t it,where I think you could get moved on immediately.Just before I sold my VDUB camper I went to Hay on Wye and on the way(I went thru Hergest as I saw on the map tjhere was a Hergest Ridge there and thought”Isnt that a Mike Oldfield record??” saw a wagon and horse parked in a field,should have stopped and chatted but was in a rush.Was really good to see it tho.
Love the site anyway,have book marked it and will have another read tomorrow.I found you by accident by the way,typed in “Cantlin stone” in Yahoo.I live nr it and have been there years ago,but nobody here seems to have heard of it...funny!!
Bye, Deb

2002-08-04T14:14:00.000Z

Some Features of 'Events'

Alternative Experiments
Animals
Arrest
Art
Backdrops
Banners
Barbed Wire with Ditches
Benders
Black & Rasta
Bogs
Bow Tops & Horses
Buses & Bus Living
Cafes
Campfires
Caravans
Ceremonies & Celebration
Chilums & Pipes
Chill Out
Climbing Things
Clowns
Clubs & Clubbing
Colour
Communications
Convoys
Craft & Industry
Cute Ancient Monuments
Dance & Dancing
Demonstration
DJ
Dodgy Wiring
Dress
Drugs
Emergencies
Environmental Direct Action
Eviction
Evidence
Exhibition
Families
Farmers & Local Opposition
Fin & Free Sheets
Fire & Ambulance
Fixing Motors
Flags
Fluffy

Fog
Food and its Cooking
Free Festivals
Free Parties
Free Party Persons
Free vs Commercial
Generators and Power
Giros & Shopping
Going to & from Events
Graffiti
Green Alternatives
Gypsies & Dids
Hells Angels
Hippies
Hitching
House Parties
Indymedia
Internet
Kids
Land Rights
Landscape
Law Road Signs
Lifestyles
Lighting On Stage & Audience
Locals & Local Authorities
Loonies & Strolling Idiots
Main Drag
Marquee
Media
Motorbikes
Mud
Multi-Media
Music
Musicians
Mutant
Policemen
Police Vehicles & Equipment
Political
Portraits
Positive Image
Press & TV Coverage
Protest
Punks
Ravers
Reclaim The Streets
Rink-y-Dink

Riot
Road Block
Rubbish & Shit - negative
School - Education
Security
Service Of Papers
Sex
Shit Pit Digging - positive
Signs
Silhouettes
Site Meetings
Smoking
Snow
Soft Drinks Or Alcohol?
Sound-System
Speakers
Squatting
Stages
Stand Up Performance
Stalls
Stonehenge Ceremonies
Stop & Search
Street Protest
Structures
Sunsets With Tipis
Surveillance
Sweat Lodge
Tattos
Tents
Tipis
Trade & Commerce
Travellers & Sites
Trespass
Tribes
Vehicles
Vehicle Artwork
Vehicle Damage
Video Activism
Violence
VJ & Lighting & Effects
Weather
Web-sites
Weekenders
Welfare
Windmill Generation
Wood

2002-08-04T10:39:00.000Z

Why Video Activism?

Video Activism deters police violence.

Video Activism helps to document what occurs at actions, for legal follow-up purposes.

Video Activism doesn't water-down, or alter the message of the people.

Video Activism gives the people themselves opportunities to voice their own concerns as cameras are getting cheaper and editing technology is becoming more available.

Video Activism enhances the capabality of the internet for spreading information accross borders by adding nontext content. Still images captured from video, downloadable audio and streaming video files can be made instantly available to interested people on the other side of the planet.

Video Activism is a big feature of the growing world of independent media. More and more concerned citizens, all over the world, are making their own media and by-passing the corporate-owned press with their own stories and their unique visions of a better world.

http://whisperedmedia.org/

2002-08-02T17:03:00.000Z

SchNews on Bristol Party Progress

People are considering legal action against Avon and Somerset Constabulary after 50 officers in full riot gear broke up a free dance party at Cumberland Basin, near Bristol a couple of weekends back, seriously injuring at least nine people. Cops made no attempt to negotiate with party-goers, telling them "If you're down there, you're going to get hurt." The police had even thoughtfully brought an ambulance with them just in case they kicked anyone's head in - which they did. Police blamed party-goers for the injuries commenting "It was clear a rave at this location would put a risk of harm to those attending." The 'location' was under a motorway flyover, far away from residential housing, which had been used as a party site on numerous occasions before. Avon and Somerset Police seriously got their fingers burnt over the massive Steart beach party over the Jubilee weekend (SchNEWS 363) and local media have been busy whipping up a frenzy as "hooligan ravers" descend on the countryside to have fun. One party organiser told SchNEWS "We reckon the cops decided it was payback time."
The Free Party Defence Collective is now appealing for witnesses to
mount legal action 07810 601703 www.guilfin.net

· Four Brighton based sound systems have finally been charged after having rigs seized from a Shoreham warehouse during Easter bank holiday. Despite never getting to turn on sound systems, attract a crowd or actually disturb anyone other than local plod, party organisers have been charged with 'Conspiracy to cause public nuisance' - and all for not quite getting to throw a free party.
· Thanks to the cops and the local council this year's Welsh Green Gathering was cancelled

2002-07-30T21:30:00.000Z

THE DEVIL'S MUSIC

"So-called Jazz compositions may contain at most 10% syncopation; the remainder must consist of a natural legato movement devoid of the hysterical rhythmic reverses characteristic of the music of the barbarian races and conductive to dark instincts alien to the German people (so-called `riffs')."

From legal regulations on dance orchestras in Nazi occupied Prague

"Jazz is music that is based on rhythm and entirely ignores or even shows contempt for
melody, music in which rhythm is indicated primarily by the ugly sounds of whining instruments so insulting to the soul...."

Josef Goebbels 7th March 1942.

"Powers in relation to raves"

63. - (1) This section applies to a gathering on land in the open air of 100 or more persons (whether or not trespassers) at which amplified music is played during
the night (with or without intermissions) and is such as, by reason of its loudness and duration and the time at which it is played, is likely to cause serious distress
to the inhabitants of the locality; and for this purpose
................
(b) "music" includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.

Criminal Justice Act 1994
Michael Howard MP.

2002-07-27T13:27:00.000Z

Ashton Court, Bristol Party - Collected stuff......

Set of 'Collected' Links, about it all [on my personal blog]
http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_07_21_tash_lodge_archive.html#79486300

Ashton Court Party Violently put down.- Collected stories
http://tash_photo.blogspot.com/2002_07_21_tash_photo_archive.html#79299646

2002-07-23T13:40:00.000Z

From: "George Todd"
Date: Tue Jul 23, 2002 11:27 pm
Subject: Re: [guilfin] 360 is the BBC's community-based, positive news website that features your solut

Tash as in Alan Lodge? Free Party Tash of the many pictures?! =0

You're my hero man!

Spent many a Sunday wandering though your site, fine work as it is: http://tash.gn.apc.org/

2002-07-23T12:53:00.000Z

Ashton Court Party Violently put down.

here, all about it. on personal blog 'collected'.

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_07_21_tash_lodge_archive.html#79299422

Gosh! That was a bit energetic -)

Have just banged off the following at speed as asked. Sorry its all happened again. If I'd gone, might have even been able to 'moderate' their behaviour, with the use of a camera eh? Can't be everywhere, but have suggested for about 20years now, that people really should document it all, as is goes one. You'll know I've proved it works! and have been successful in cases.

So most of what I've just put together has come out as a 'what to do if it happens again'. If folks can be contacted , its nearly always best to that suggest folks contact the same solicitors in the region, makes it all stronger as a team.

Anyway. Hope this is what you mean, and useful. Let us know.

Send me URL etc, so I can watch the thread.

I put sommat on the other day, saying I was using to BBCsite, for a bit of window, for them out there, on us. Have suggested others wade in also. My space there, starts at :> http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/U196996 please comment as you like, but add your own stuff.

Very best

tash

================================================================
Tash is sorry to hear of events after Ashton Court, over the weekend.

Keep yourselves informed and up-to-date. All not very 'fluffy' I know! But i think that there is such a think as 'Legal Frist Aid', and with a bit of practice, when we get damaged, it doesn't hurt quite so much.

Here are some assorted links to stuff I offer, and think may be of use when pursuing the police for damage done.

bust advice http://tash.gn.apc.org/bust.htm

sound advice http://tash.gn.apc.org/sound.htm

CJA relevent sections http://tash.gn.apc.org/cja_act.htm

Seizure http://tash.gn.apc.org/seizure.htm

Desert Storm in Bosnia - for a sense of perspective
http://tash_photo.blogspot.com/2002_06_30_tash_photo_archive.html#78627645

All Systems - what we've done about it in the past
http://tash_photo.blogspot.com/2002_06_30_tash_photo_archive.html#78615960

First, if arrested, have "Nothing to say"!

I know the caution has changed.

But I'll say it again, "Nothing to say" until you have taken legal advice. Got it!

The reason fore this is that you do not / cannot know enough of the law to all of what is naughty, thus, I wrong statement from you about what you thought you were doing at an event, is very hard to 'row-back' from. They have to prove cases against you, it is hard sometimes for them to do that. Please don't help them :-)

Next Lawyers are and absolute must. I suggest contact with the National organisation, called Release. They have a network of 'like-minded' solicitors across the country, who are likely to have a clue about these matters.

http://www.release.org.uk/

If simple arrest, then keep in touch with your lawyer, charges frequently dropped, they only arrested to keep you out of the way at the time. But, if injured, please get some evidence at the time. I hope you saw doctors, and got assistance, soon after events. Evidence is all, or you might have tripped over, crossing the road, earlier in the day, yea right!

The 'carrot' for you to do something about it, is that if you can prove wrongful arrest, assault etc, then you might get a cheque for a few thousand pounds. but I digress!

Write notes straight after things happen. Because we have proved policemen to lie in court in the past, [many times :-)], then they are less believed now. It means your own notes, taken soon after stuff, carry great weight in court. Believe me. true!

So, perhaps all this a little late, for what has just happened to some, but it will happen to you all again.

Have noticed the reticence of some to 'become involved', thinking it will 'attract attention' to themselves and their 'other activities'. I've found it the other way round, 'mess with me, and I'll file your desk with paper for 5 years. Always thought the 'community' should be thinking like that. Just us, as individuals, won't influence that much by ourselves, but laws do get changed, if there is increasing pressure, and civil actions and complaints by groups, is one method… Hope to set examples!

There is an issue though, that all should be aware of at this stage.

There are two tracks to consider, in taking action. One is a complaint against the police. The other, a civil action. The complaint can take a while, so can the civil action! But, if you have already given a statement to the police regarding the complaint, you will then have for-warned the police, on the 'likely tack' of your civil action, thus giving them info and time to prepare.

I'm always in favour of complaint. However, my past advice has been to 'register the complaint', with the briefest outline. Make clear you'll be taking advice regarding civil action, then make a full statement of events to your representing solicitor. A this time, you can ask for advice on what more you can tell the police with respect to the complaint, and point out you want to pursue that as well.

It just so happens, that when the police are notified of the civil action, the complaint goes on hold, till after the case. So no process is held up.

I suggested folks started to use Release http://www.release.org.uk/ as they have a national network, and can recommend someone 'more suitable' sometimes, and thus, with experience that can be useful to numbers of arrestees.

The behaviour of policemen Locals and farmers, is really heavily 'coloured' by what they read in the press. This has caused me loads of stress in the past, from the Beanfield, and bloody onwards.

You might like to know that there had been a 'splash' in the west country and Devon papers about smeathope / Glastonbury alternative........

When articles are written about us, or about locations and event we've attended, it is possible to read about it all in the papers and have no idea that they're describing the same event! It is of course why journalists are frequently shunned at events. A recent piece that illustrates this can be seen at "This is Devon".

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=77707&command=displayContent&sourceNode=77259&contentPK=2039166

[this link is long & may wrap, make sure you grab all the characters]

If this piece was produced, describing other racial or minority groups, it would break half-a-dozen laws! But all ok when talking about this group of people. It is sometimes as a direct reaction to such stuff, that the vigilante tendency has taken it as a 'green-light' to apply force and violence against such folks before, and hence my concern, now.

You understand that policemen read newspapers, and I know that the way we are sometimes treated, is as a direct result of believing some of the garbage that get in print. No excuses here, just an explanation.

=====================================
another thing you can do is ...... what I'm doing ! trying to put a case, in front of the public.

My 'Personal' Space http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/U196996

My Articles Space http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/MA196996?show=25&type=2

I added to this board , yesterday at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fol-network/message/148

to say that that many folks reading this will know from some personal experience what it's like for them. The BBC site i mention, It's called DNA 360 and it's at :>

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/

If your inclined, will you look at some of what I've put up, and comment,
agreeing or no. Because I'm outnumbered.

Also, and mainly, can you put up your own stuff on their site, to 'balance' the community there. Since, in the pre-amble' what they say they're doing, and what the site is for, I reckon we're doing.

Take a look and see what you think, seems a useful opportunity to me.
Very best

Tash

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris (feeling-of-life) [SMTP:chris@dubb-it-up.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 12:19 PM
To: tash@gn.apc.org
Subject: Tash any advice would be greatfully needed mate

Hiya Geeza

Dont know if you knew what happend the weekend with cockneys birthday party
etc.
But there are allot of peeps that recived injuries from the Police due to there britality.

Any way I think it would be could if you could spare 5 minutes to write somthing that could be posted on the Dirt Circus forum, as your are a much resected person on the scene and some words odf wisdom and advice would not go astray mate?

Hope this is ok for you as I know how busy you are. If you send me somthing then i post it up on the message boards and on my lists

Cheers Tash
Chris
FEELING-OF-LIFE
(UNITED WE STAND OR DIVIDED WE FALL)

also, now added to Guilfin at :> http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1226

BBC: Police break up illegal rave (Mutant Dance)

this is the 'official' version ... we're hearing lots of different versions, involving the police physically attacking partygoers and causing injuries.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/england/newsid_2142000/2142512.stm

Police break up illegal rave olice moved in to break up an illegal rave which had set up near an organised festival in south-west Bristol on Sunday.

Complaints were received after more than 300 people gathered at the site, near the Ashton Court Festival.

Police wearing protective clothing and accompanied by the dog unit moved onto the site beneath the A370 Brunel Way bypass and seized sound equipment and generators at 0600 BST.

Two officers received minor injuries when they met "violent resistance", police said.

'Significant risk'

A police spokesman said: "In excess of 300 people had gathered on parkland under the A370.

"They had a substantial amount of stereo equipment and two generators with them and they were intent on holding an illegal rave.

"It was clear that a rave at the location would pose a significant risk of harm to those attending and of disruption to the local community."

Five people were arrested and the A370 inbound was closed for half an hour while the police broke up the event.

Re:BBC: Police break up illegal rave (Mutant Dance)

Here's a note on the party in Bristol on saturday night, a bit boring perhaps but I'm trying to be complete. Here are the events of the night as I saw and remember them.

I arrived at at the party at approx. 2.00am, having spent the day at the festival. There were two systems running underneath the A38 flyover, with about 300 people dancing, wondering around or sitting around a fire. Directly above the systems, parked on the flyover, were a number of police vans and cars, (when I left I counted nine vans and two cars). The police at this time were just waiting, some of them blocking the stairways onto the flyover, most of them just watching from the flyover balcony and refusing to reply to any attempts to make contact with the people below. Later a group of about 20 police gathered roughly 100 yards away towards the river, kitting up with helmets and shields. Up to this point I witnessed no violence or vandalism of any sort amongst the partyers. The crowd was internally very friendly, but I felt a slightly edgy atmosphere develop, and some people did take the piss out of the assembled police – no response. The Noise Pollution crew (the nearer system to where the police were preparing), playing acid techno, were keeping an eye on things and eventually requested that people form a ring around the system, stand together and otherwise behave in a peaceful but resolute manner. Some negotiation may have taken place, because at this stage the last record had been played, although the other system, (playing drum and bass) continued. The ring duly formed around the system, but not the two generators. These were situated directly below the flyover balcony, behind the vans and system. Earlier, I watched the police identify these from the flyover balcony as one of their objectives. Eventually the police moved towards the system at a jogging pace, heading towards the undefended generators, (from where I watched events unfold; other groups of police may also have moved in at this stage, but I couldn’t see from where I was). Roughly 15 of the police had shields, a few others ran ahead, along side and behind. There was a scramble of party-goers around the side of the system to reach and defend the unguarded generators. One policeman managed to unplug one of the generators and then retreated as perhaps 30-50 people flooded into the space by one of the system trailers and the generators. Around 10 people jumped on top of the larger of the generators to prevent its confiscation; shortly they began to complain that it was rather a hot thing to be sitting on, and someone manged to ease their situation by turning the thing off. As this was occuring, the police with shields moved into the crowd and started to push people, some of them against the van, and asked the crowd to move back. For perhaps 20-30 people there was nowhere to move back to and we pushed back. Most of the sheilded police applied pressure more or less evenly, but two of them, nearest the trailer, seemed to become agitated, and repeatedly beat foreward members of the crowd with their shields. One of these was thrown back into the crowd, beaten down and then dragged through the shield-wall. These two shield police had their lower faces covered and would not respond to requests for some kind of identification. Also at this stage a group of police appeared to try to get the doors of the trailer open. A man trying to stop this was thrown aginst the side of the trailer repeatedly, and when sufficiently subdued was dragged away. Cries of “you need a warrant” were shouted and this group of police backed off. All of these events were filmed from behind the shield wall by at least two police using hand-held video recorders. A stand-off developed; the pressure from the shield wall continued, though things calmed down a little. Some partyers, upset, voiced their complaints about the police behavior, some insulted the police, but calls for calm were made from within the crowd. I think one more man was grabbed from the front of the crowd during this time. This continued for some 10-15 minutes. Eventually the crowd began to sing “Happy Birthday”, appropriate for the occasion, and I think proving that the crowds’ intent was not violent. At this stage the shield wall began to recede, giving people a little breathing space. Eventually the police moved all the way back to their starting point some 100yards away. As dawn began to break the police held back, although for some time they appeared to be preparing for another foray from their assembly point. Some people began to leave, but most moved over to the other system to continue the party and discuss events. I didn’t see what happened to the other system, although when I left at about 4.30am the music was still playing, and a ring of metal railings had been erected right around the system and dancing area.

My [his!] story..

...I was stood behind the speakers, aware that a line of brightly shiney cops were advancing for a second time on the left flank of the party, ravers were moving to counter this. Then out of the blue what seemed like 20odd blacked out piggies injected themselves into the small space behind the decks and started pilling in, I saw them charge in an endless stream bringing dogs in the final lines. I moved away shitting bricks because 1) a friend of mine was mixing at the time of the attack a looked like he was first in the firing line and 2) I had his bag containing his gubbins which I didn't want to get caught with.

I moved out towards freedom, cursing the very sun that was rising in front of me. Then turning, forgetting the contents of my bag I went back for a closer look. Where the soundsystem was, was now a ring of beasties, most with balaclavas on underneath their riot shielding. Surrounding them was a ring of ravers, I think even though the piggies had armour, dogs, sticks ulimited resources and no numbers on their sleeves they were a bit scared (I am not surprised after what they hed just done). I got close enough to hear the breaking of glass and the crunch of wood and metal. I thought they were ripping everything to bits.

I went to sit by a tree, close enough but far away to skin up and reflect. The police all scarpered, leaving the pieces of the party they had just wrecked for the distraught to pick up. That is what I saw and remember, I am still very shook up.

These people have no respect for humanity and will not know the concequences of their actions on their valuable police force army thing. I myself managed to stay SAFE at that do, but I know people who had no choice but to be on the front line.

As newage travellers and ravers, we may face the same opression as jews, blacks and gays and have to fight the ame timeless battles. But how can we fight when hammered on substances unknown and faced with such an evil force. I'm gibbering now sorry, I'm still upset. The party was just geting cooking. Sectioned, I think that record you played with the throbbing boom blah, upset them a bit.

genXmk113

Bristol Evening Post want witnesses of Police Action on Mutant Dance party

this is from a reporter on Bristol Evening Post ... they can't write anything unless people tell them what happened. If you were there, *please* contact them ...

------------------------

I'm Sarah Feeley, a reporter on the Bristol Evening Post (the one who interviewed Penelope Pitstop). My telephone number is 0117 934 3336. I can call you straight back to save your phone bill. I need to hear as soon as possible from eyewitnesses who saw the clash between music fans and police at the event in Bristol last weekend. I've read your comments with great interest, but I need names and more details before I can print. Legally, our newspaper is on very very dodgy ground quoting people anonymously, especially with an 'alleged police brutality' story. But if people come forward and are prepared to tell me their name and their experiences, I can put together a body of evidence in a news story (within the law) and the police will be asked to comment publically on it. The sad fact is, unless more of you like Penelope Pitstop are brave enough to come forward and be identified, I can't write the story which you all are complaining has not yet been published. We don't make these rules, but if we don't stick to them, we'd get sued and so would you. Help me help you. Speed is of the essence. I can be reached on 0117 934 3336 until 5pm, and then my colleagues will be on 0117 934 3331 until 11pm.

Guilfin at :> http://www.guilfin.net/reviews/?id=rwINET1223

Re:Mutant Dance Free Party (Saturday 20th Jul, 2002)

More info required by new persons collecting info Call Ben 01179514129 or Kebelle Cafe they are after info on violence witnessed and injuries sustained to help other victims of the police brutality. Please help if you know anyone who was there or got injured please pass on these numbers.

Also we still need photos or video of what happened please pass on to me Matthew 01380 860994 home or 07977657469 mobile (doesnt take answer messages) home does take answer messages.

I am collecting all photos and video and going to edit together to show to news media and others. If you need a copy to help fight your case contact me. Also on tape is BBC Bristol report on the incident which shows Mike (the chef) who had a broken hand and Seyonide Simon with bruise marks on his back and legs.

We need to keep moving on this to stop the police getting away with it.

A good idea is to write a letter of complaint. The police were bragging that nobody had complained to them abou the nights activities. Just wait I say... those complaints are in the post! Dont be worried about complaining, I have done it before now and won my complaint. If you need advice on complaints procedures from me feel free to call.

Matthew Williams (lighting for Animators and Noise Pollution) email: truthseekers@ntlworld.com

http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1250

Bristol party attack - 'official complainants' needed

from DirtyCircus

http://www.dirtycircus.com/board/replylist.asp?TID=3516&recordno=0

Having been at the party Sat 20th, "Cumberland Beirut", a number of my "co-conspirators" (eh!!!!!)& I have been trying to find out who was arrested, what for and details. So far only two have come forward out of the five. We need all of you. It seems that the only people entitled to view the police video footage are those arrested, and only if it is to be used as evidence. We need to check this out in more detail so if you have reliable sources of legal information, or are a lawyer etc. etc. please help us out with your knowledge! You will not be implicated or identified any more than you wish, but we really need your account of the brutal heavy handed attack the police instigated. We have been speaking to a "duty inspector" who informed us that the only way anything will be investigated, is for an official complaint/complaints, (the more the better!), to be made. Therefore, anyone and everyone present that night, please send an official complaint to:-

Chief Constable, Steve Pilkington, Avon & Somerset Constabulary, P.O. box 37 (are they scared of us knowing where they live?????!) Valley Rd. Portishead, BS20 8QJ also if you could send a copy to the following in case the rednecks club (ouch) together:- Police Complaints Authority, 10, Great George St. London, SW1P 3AE

Also... could you help re this query???! To my knowledge, a white cross on a green square means "first aid"??? but it seems that training in, erm how can I say this, "healing" isn't exclusive to dishing out the damage in the first place!!!! We are currently in touch with a large amount of the media bbc htv and the local and national papers. They are genuinely very interested in our side of the story but, without really good damning evidence of the police[thugs] hitting kicking headbutting us, then their [media] hands are tied. However they are still going to possibly run with more coverage at the next significant date[can't divulge when at this time,keep your ear to the ground]. However, if anybody has photos, moving or still, of Saturday, can we please see them because they may be bright enough for the newspapers to use, or might have better more accurate or detailed imagery... (it just takes one good snapshot)

Above all don't let it stop you partying, (as if), stick together... stay fluffy but firm... No violence, but no silence!!! Defence not attack... Protect yourselves! Take camera/ dictophone, helmet, padding, motoX mask, womble suit, first aid kits (anaesthetic!!!!!)etc. etc. etc.... DISARM but DON'T HARM!

Please contact Nicky, (cosnic), telephone/text 07775838549 or email Jon.E ... moonbasemaya@orange.net

http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1249

Mutant Dance party - yet another story

another story from DirtyCircus:
http://www.dirtycircus.com/board/replylist.asp?TID=3496&recordno=0

This is what I saw: (thanks to Battie BTW)

The police planned the violence completely. They lined up guys with torches on the flyover overlooking the crowd. Then underneath the flyover the riot squad moved in. They grabbed one person from the front of the crowd and dragged him behind their line and started to beat him up. The crowd went mad and started shouting and some even pushing the police line of riot shields. They were angry at what was being shown to them by the police. This was a deliberate tactic by the police, because then the torch lights on the flyover went on and this event was surely filmed by the police from upstairs to show that the crowd were rowdy. However after the lights went off the guy was no longer beaten up and was cuffed and taken away.

This shows how low the police are. The crowd werent being violent so they had to spark it off! This is one of the things I am going to mention in my complaint. The other involved the use of cameras and video to stop the police hitting extra people indiscriminately. The use of cameras and video helped stop a lot more people getting hurt. These sly pigs were very aware not to be caught on camera hitting people, however some of it was caught. Thats why we need more photos of bad stuff if we can get it, to prove how much there was going on from the police towards the crowd.

The whole thing could have been avoided totally by a couple of coppers giving a deadline for the system being turned off. The organisers were quite prepared to comply...

I saw the police letting people in to the rave minutes up to the time they actually went in with the heavy riot squad. One riot pig said just before they went in "It doesnt matter if you turn the system off, we are going to get you anyway".

When we asked the normal coppers if they wanted the system turned off they said "No we are packing up and going now", which wasnt true because 10 mins later the riot squad came in full force. So what exactly were the organisers and party people meant to do, fucking mind read? There was a major breakdown in communication from the police to us, and that needs to be mentioned. It didnt take 50, 60 or 70 officers to stop that party. 3 could have done it easily and with no agression needed!

http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1252

Mutant Dance party - still more stories

http://urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&postid=288631#post288631

by Bob Pilchard

Yep, I was there that night, at said free party. The police were there (about 10 - 15) of them from the very beggining, and I tried to hood wink myself that they were there `for our own good` and there purely to keep an eye on proceedings `cos of ..er..the Ashton court festie that had just finished for that night. No such luck. I think that most places can be costrued as `silly` places to hold parties. I`m not sure if local residents could here the music that night (if so, I`m sure they prefer the sound of the busy traffic on the road on which the `illegal rave` was held under..), but it was a bit stoopid to light a fire underneath. So more police turned up and were generally not helpful with our queries, loitered furtivelly and looked mean. One of them refused to tell me the time. We took lots of photos, as they appeared to get more and more on top, shining powerfull flood lights on people from the road above, etc. I don`t think that they liked the idea that all these free thinking anarchist types were having a laugh just around the corner from the local police equestrian and dog handling centre. Also, someone managed to sneakily place some scaffolding against the side of the fly-over and climb up and - just in time - steal a riot shield, which naturally sent everyone bonkers with mirth, teehee. Ten minutes later or so it was returned, good humouredly. Maybe. As mentioned, and to cut a long story short, the riot police turned up in force at 5ish that morning and trashed the fucking place, damaging and/ or stealing equipment, frightening, hurting and generally attacking anyone and everyone who tried to rescue friends or belongings. They were trying out what looked like horrible U.S. style mini social contol experiments, attacking here and there, retreating, huddling into funny formations,etc, etc. The most distressing point for me was when they fought their way to the decks (as music was still playing) and started trashing everything. I`ll never forget the sound of baton on vinyl... So how draconian are they going to get? It`s like something from the middle ages. Why don`t they go and catch some criminals? I`ve never experienced such blatant violence on behalf of the police at a free party before - sending in thugs to snap records, honestly. I think it`s really duff, but I shall certainly make the effort to go to future parties - with a better camera this time - if I feel that I want to enjoy myself with me mates. Fuck the 2008 `City of Culture` bid - free parties are part of our culture and yet (again) it`s exactly what the authorities want to stamp out (quite literally!) The last thing that i want is to be zapped with negative energy by the police or end up in nasty confrontations, but I refuse to be intimidated like this, by jumped up bully boys employed by the law.

http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1259

Police Attack on Mutant Dance party - more accounts

taken from bristol indymedia- http://bristol.indymedia.org/

----------------------------------

http://bristol.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=1443&group=webcast RIOT COPS ATTACK FREE PARTY

A free party was viciously attacked last weekend by over 50 riot cops. Partygoers arrived just after midnight at the site in Cumberland Basin, near Ashton court. Two soundsystems started up soon afterwards, as more people arrived from all directions to join the dance and have a laugh together. At that time there was a minimal police presence and no sign of trouble. All this changed with the arrival of a police helicopter and around a dozen riot vans shortly before 2 o’clock. The partygoers just got on with partying, but it soon became clear that the police, tooling up in riot gear, were preparing to come in. The word went out from the sound systems that the police were intending to seize sound equipment and stop the party. What happened next was totally inspiring. People surrounded the crews and their systems, some linking arms, to protect them, and to resist police attempts to close the party down. As the riot cops moved in a big defiant shout went up and people got solid. There was no order to disperse or discussion of the law. The cops were there simply to mete out a bit of traditional British Justice, and when asked to think it through for themselves and not to start unnecessary conflict, gave no response. There were blank expressions at the question “where’s the muggers, officer?”. Most wore masks to cover their faces and no numbers, to ensure no comeback. Scuffles broke out as people stood their ground in the face of attack, and by determined resistance and force of numbers, forced the cops to beat a retreat. One sound system turned off, but another kept going for 4 hours until around 6 o’clock in the morning, when the police returned complete with police dogs in force. Again they stormed in with no warning, to baton charge people whose only “crime” was wanting to dance together without being ripped of by profiteering clubs or corporate culture vultures, and organising for themselves. Crime against the state? Apparently yes. Police boots and batons closed the party down at sunrise in an operation that any fascist dictator would be proud of. There were six arrests and many injured. Predictably enough the Evening Pest spouted out the police version of events under the headline “Officers hurt in rave attack”. But people are not going to let media lies or police intimidation tactics and violence go unchallenged, and nor will it stop the free parties.

There will be legal action against Avon and Somerset Constabulary and benefit gigs for sound equipment trashed or confiscated by the police. Anyone arrested or assaulted on the night please contact us. You could have a good case against the police and we can you put you in touch with good solicitors. We also need witnesses for those arrested and assaulted. Any camera/video footage will be very important. It is worth jamming up the police complaints authority, and this will help those suing the police to have a better case. Let’s make them pay. Stay solid, and carry on partying.

Contacts : 07810601703 0117 9514129

--------------------------------------

http://bristol.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=1444&group=webcast

Account by woman beaten up by cops at free party by unstoppable 7:44pm Mon Jul 22 '02 disruptive@dangerous-minds.com Police violence against free party - an account from a woman on the receiving end of "public order policing"

Account from woman beaten up by police at the free party on 21st July.

Got to party around 1:30 –2am. Walked from Coronation Road to Hotwells under the motorway. On arrival seen police on top of motorway but as they were at a distance I did not pay much attention to them. As the day had been very chilled and relaxed at Ashton court I decided to totally enjoy myself and went straight to the sound system for a dance. Shortly after arriving at the party someone said the police were going to come and take the sound system. I stayed dancing and didn’t see any police so I presumed the party was allowed to go ahead. Very pleasant evening. Nice people. Nice music. No trouble. As it was getting bright word had it that the sound system was going to be taken. I didn’t pay much attention again as rumours had been going around all night. Then all of a sudden they were everywhere. I was standing behind the system. A police man came up and told me to get out of the way. I ignored him and stayed standing where I was. He pushed me and I fell to the ground. Then two of them began hitting me on the legs with their batons. This made me extremely angry. Even though my legs were aching I stood back up with the rest of the crowd. At this point I was quite loudly saying stuff like “ You can’t make me stop dancing”, and just dancing while the police began to retreat. They backed away down to one corner of the park which the motorway runs over. At this point I thought they would just leave it but they didn’t. Instead they charged at the crowd. I don’t remember much apart from being knocked to the ground and repeatedly hit on my calves, thighs, stomach and chest. As I was at the front of the crowd I did not see what happened to other people, but I do remember standing up and seeing a girl near me on the ground getting the same treatment. I was in shock at this stage so I wasn’t paying much attention to what the police were doing after this. My feelings about the incident are not good. I do not think I posed any threat and definitely did not deserve the beating I got from fully equipped riot policemen. I am eight and a half stone and it should not take three heavy weight policemen to control me. If I was doing wrong why didn’t they bundle me into a police van and place me under arrest. As far as I could see they were determined to give people a beating. They were not civil and they weren’t doing what we pay them to do, which is supposedly to protect us from danger.

http://bristol.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=1457&group=webcast

Response to Evening Pest misreporting of police attack on free party. by LynneColes 3:06pm Tue Jul 23 '02

The Evening Pest was told what to say about it by the police. Here's another version.

A response to the lies of the Evening Post in the article of Monday 22nd July ; “Officers hurt in rave attack” (page 3). This was sent to the evening Pest. Let’s see if they print it! We encourage others who were there at the free party to write and hassle the Evening Post about their journalistic standards (?) :

I was disgusted to read such a biased and distorted account of events, whilst still recovering myself from such a horrific display of police brutality. There was an attack and that was by the police, dressed in full riot gear, armed with batons and shields, on a group of unarmed young people as they were dancing. If the police wanted to end the ‘illegal rave’, they had the perfect opportunity to do so without violence or confrontation at the beginning of the evening. Police officers were present when the two vans containing the sound equipment arrived on site, before partygoers had arrived. So why was no action taken then? There were only two small sound systems and there is no residential housing in the area. How could holding a party under a motorway flyover cause a public nuisance? Police have let parties go ahead at this site on previous occasions. No attempt was made to end the party peaceably. Despite continuous police presence throughout the night there was no communication with the crowd, no warning of what offence was being committed or of what action would be taken. Around twelve riot vans parked on the flyover overhead. One individual approached the police and was told that the owners of the equipment would not be allowed to pack up and leave, that they were going to go in and confiscate the equipment. Police Inspector Mike Anderson is quoted as saying that “it was clear a rave at this location would put a risk of harm to those attending...’ I fail to see what possible risk there was in dancing under a motorway flyover on a piece of recreation ground with a bunch of friends.

How can a supposed “risk of harm” justify police baton charging a group of unarmed, unsuspecting youngsters, thereby turning a “risk” into a bloody certainty? When people are attacked by officers in riot gear, bashed around the head, chest, legs, and arms with batons, trampled to the ground….should we be surprised if some try to defend themselves and their mates? There are worse offences than wanting to carry on partying after the successful Ashton Court festival. While the police spent the evening beating up young kids, I wonder how many other violent crimes were being committed.

http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1231

Mutant Dance party - another story

Right then Dancing by the rig when I notice about 15 riot police walking up. Carry on dancing and the next thing I know I'm getting pushed and hit on the back of my head. Turn round to be confronted by a copper with full body armour faces covered up to their eyes and riot shields. Everyone starts to hurl abuse at them and some push and shove ensues with me in the front line and my face either being pushed or hit buy their shields. Then see people including a friend getting grabbed by the police manage to drag some back into the crowed (Guess it might have been u Batties) but my friend gets set apon get a few good punches to the head and a headbut for good measure. I don't actually see him get dragged off as the police start to force the issue and get the generator. Incidently the poor bloke spent 2 hours handcuffed in the van, followed by another 18 hours in the station, to be eventually charged with Violent Misconduct and Possesion, According to the police he was running at them whilst kicking and punching???

Later just as the suns coming up they set up this huge floodlight and you here the dogs barking and about 20? riot police with dogs come over to join the party. Basically from this moment on it all goes fucking crazy The police try to smash the sound system (Which they manage partially) whilst everyone tries to stop them, I'm a bit more sober now and as such I'm holding back The Pigs have not idea what they are doing and they eventually just turn it into a brawl, Loads of people getting kickings and a few getting arrested.

That's my story

Greg
http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1236

Mutant Dance - official Police version

http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news_room/voicenews/NewsArticles.asp?id=594

Police arrest five at illegal rave in Bristol 11:37 - 21/07/2002 Police received complaints from members of the public that in excess of 300 people had gathered on parkland under the A370 Brunel Way, near to the Cumberland system in Bristol, at about 11.45pm on Saturday July 20 2002.

They had a substantial amount of stereo equipment and two generators with them and were intent on holding an illegal rave.

It was clear that a rave at the location would pose a significant risk of harm to those attending, and disruption to the local community. The decision was therefore made to use powers under Section 63 of the Criminal Justice Act 1994 to bring the event to a close.

District officers, supported by the dog section and support group officers moved onto the site at about 5.30am on Sunday July 21 2002, wearing protective equipment.

Despite encountering violent resistance, they succeeded in seizing the generators and sufficient amounts of equipment to bring the event to a conclusion.

A total of five arrests were made for offences including conspiracy to commit a public nuisance, violent disorder and public order offences.

Two officers received minor injuries.

For safety reasons the A370 was partly closed while the operation was carried out, ending at about 6am when the revellers dispersed.

http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1227

Police Attack on Mutant Dance party - another account

from DirtyCircus http://www.dirtycircus.com/board/replylist.asp?TID=3496&recordno=0

OK Here goes, our big bus arrived at about 1:30am at the party. We parked in the Mega Bowl because there was already a van parked on the bridge. We walked over to the party and basically started having fun, as you do at parties. Myself and a couple of mates wanted out ti the grassy bit to the left of the party, where a large gathering of police were staring down at us from the bridge. Peolpe had already started saying that this party was going to stopped. A few more vans arrived and a long line of police had lioned themselves on the bridge looking down.A few police had wandered down to the party and it seemed that they were just chatting to a few people, obviously about the fact that it was "illegal blah blah" This went on for a about 45 minutes to an hour.Then out of nowhere a long line of police descended down to the grass patch adjacest to the party and stood in a line, kitted out in full riot gear, what the fuck!!!!!One of the sound systems quickly packed up and I have to say fair play because I have never seen a system packed up so quick, well done. Verbal abuse insued against the police and poeple were going head to head with the police asking them why they were dressed up like a fucking sas swat team, was Bin Laden here, or maybe Sadam??, highly unlikely Ithought just a few hundred people enjoying themselves. People then started sitting down right infront of the police and I joined in this protest, surly they wouldnt just trample all over us.....It was then that the whole line of police simultaniously got there batons out and started tapping their shields, people started dancing, because it sounded quite tribal!! That was then out of the blue the advanced kicking and whacking people everywhere, I was kicked and hit on the arm and I kicked out in defence and they tried to drag mke behind the line I was luckily dragged back by some peeps, thanks for that , but not before sustaining nasty cuts up my arms. people were running back form this onslaught, people were throwin bottles and stones and I dont blame them. We were then told to get around another system, I think the tossers before another wave of police on the right flank burst in smashing equipment, people, anything they could get their hands on, this also include dogs, what the fuck! It had started to get light by now and the police had erected a bloody great spot light on the bridge, derrr it was light!! The police then retreated to the back end by the railway tracks and stood in a line there for ages, they had nicked some speakers and left them by a van, myself and a couple of peeps managed to nick em back and take them back to where they belonged. My friend was taking pictures of the coppers right up close and one of them smacked him in the face and split his ear right open, this caused more bottles and rocks to be trown, it was general mayhem. Then they suddenly all just piled in there vans and fucked off leaving people battered bruised and generally stunned at the brutal force the police had taken. What I find astounding is that there have been 4-5 parties there in the last 4 months and the only police presence has been a lonely cop car coming down in the MORNING to say be gone by midday etc!! I do have other accounts that I saw but I hope this is a start. I am pretty damn sure fuck all will happen but the police I'm sure know they were OTT but will they admit it, surly!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1235

ILLEGAL RAVERS CRITICISE POLICE

Many thanks to all of you who spared the time to call or email me (Bristol Evening Post reporter Sarah Feeley) and tell me your experiences about the behaviour of the police at Cockney's birthday party last weekend in Bristol. The story I wrote was over 1,000 words long. But the newspaper's lawyers cut it dramatically. Their explanation was that - at the moment - legally we can't print you saying "A policeman at the rave whacked me in the face with a truncheon and broke my nose", even if it's true. You could face prosecution and so could we. We have to say thngs like 'people said they suffered injuries in the confrontation'. But if you make a formal complaint to the police which results in a court case, we can sit in the courtroom and freely report what happens. Until then, there are all sorts of laws which restrict what we can print. In fact, I spoke to loads of people who said they intended to make formal complaints to the police, so if we or any other newspaper printed their comments we may have prejudiced a future trial. In other court cases when this has happened, guilty people have had to be set free because the judge was forced to accept the fact that the jury may have read something in a newspaper months earlier about the case which may have swayed them about someone's guilt or innocence. This may sound spineless and pedantic, but it's the law. We didn't make these rules, but the lawyers who work for our newspaper group (Daily Mail) force us to stick to them, with no exceptions. Believe me, it's frustrating for us as well, being unable to print this stuff. I had Cockney himself and others in my office on Monday night for a meeting. Our picture editor said the video they showed us (the same one shown on the BBC) was too dark to reproduce in newsprint, regardless of how it was tweaked technologically, so that's why we couldn't use it. I've kept the long version of my original article, and am keeping in close contact with the Mutant Dance lot. They understand the position we're in, and know why we printed what we printed. They're getting a few people together to go to the police and make formal complaints, so I'll follow the story up when I can, within the law. Just to let you know, I'm a 26-year-old music fan myself. There was no 'shafting' involved on my part. I explained to everyone I interviewed the sad fact that regardless what I write, the lawyers will have to cut the story to stop us all being sued. I've studied media law but I realise it's not very well known among the general public what newspapers can and can't print, so I hope this goes some way towards explaining some of your frustrations.
Remember, some newspapers and TV stations bend the rules and get taken to court or - much worse - spoil the chance for victims to see their attackers face justice in court. Thanks for your time.

Bristol Evening Post : ILLEGAL RAVERS CRITICISE POLICE

Revellers at an illegal rave in Bristol have accused the police of heavy-handed tatics.

Officers dressed in riot gear confronted 500 people at an illegal party on parkland under the A370 Brunel Way near the Cumberland Basin.

Some of the dance music fans say they suffered injuries during the confrontation.

But a spokesman for Avon and Somerset Const says it was an illegal event and officers were met with 'Violent Resistance' when they intervened.

Gemma Worth aged 21 from Winterbourne said

'I was hit in the face and my nose was bleeding. I also suffered bruises on my elbows, arms and wrists.

I accept I was at an illegal rave, but my friends and I didnt go there to cause trouble, we went there because we like techno music and we like to dance'

Greg Hart 25 from Glos road said

'Some people at the party were being verbally abusive, but I didnt see any physical violence from them'

The rave started at 11.30pmon Saturday night and ended when the police broke it up at 5.30am the next day.

A police spokesman said the officer arrived 4 housr before they broke up the rave.

5 People were arrested for offences including conspiricy to commit a public nuisance, violent disorder and public offences.

Avon and Somerset Const spokesman Paul Breakwell said

'Police who attended were faced with a violent situation, police were injured and people were arrested. Despite encountering violent resistance, the officers succeeded in seizing the generators and sufficient amounts of equipment to bring the event to a conclusion.

'We have received no formal complaints'

Mutant Dance Free Party (Saturday 20th Jul, 2002)

Complaints and Discipline Dept. Avon and Somerset Police P.O. box 37 Valley Rd. Portishead, BS20 8QJ

Dear Sirs,

I am writing to make a formal complaint against your force and officers in the way it handled the Cumberland Basin birthday party sound system shut down. Rather than arrange a time for the sound systems to shut down police allowed people into the party giving indications that they were not going to come in and shut the system down. If this is a breakdown in communication then it is a very bad one. One officer told me he was going off soon and the police were going to pack up. This clearly was not true and I was most shocked when the police came in and started beating people up.

I personally witnessed one person get dragged behind a police riot line and the crowd watched in horror as the person was beaten up. However I spotted that this was a situation created on purpose in order to get film footage or the crowds reaction to the beating taking place. I know this because at the exact same time many officers with lights turned them on, above on the flyover, pointing these lights downward. I am sure this was for filming purposes. They only illuminated the area near the crowd and not the beating taking place!

I saw women hit and there were minors in the crowd when the police charged at the crowd. This was sheer lunacy. In fact I am sure that all of this could have been avoided if the police had sent in a few officers to talk to the people organising and given them a deadline time to shut off the sound systems. One friend of mine who asked the police if they wanted the sound turned off was told “I doesn’t matter because we are coming to get you anyway”.

I saw many persons hit whilst they were on the floor, many person hit whilst they were turning away to leave the area and many hit when they were holding their arms up to protect themselves from the moving riot police.

A report in the press stated that the reason police went in was two fold, to firstly stop the illegal party and secondly because people being at the party were at risk. What risk. This is pure nonsense. Was the flyover unsafe in some way? No quite clearly the risk only started when police arrived and started beating people. Such a case of double talk I have never before seen, your force PR should be reprimanded for trying that line on the press!

So my first complaint is that heavy handed tactics were used which were excessive, against people on the retreat.

My second complaint is that children were at risk by the police action.

My third complaint is that negotiations did not take place and no deadlines were set for the sound to go off by.

My fourth complaint is that not all officers were aware of what was taking place and were not relaying accurate information to the people at the party, which increased persons risk of getting injured when the police went in.

My fifth complaint is that equipment belonging to the organisers was smashed rather than seized, and this would seem illegal in itself to me.

My sixth complaint is that far too many officers were involved in this riot style undertaking when no signs of violence were given from the crowd to justify the riot police presence!

I am happy to be interviewed on these matters and await to hear from you.

Yours sincerely

Matthew Williams

http://www.guilfin.net/reports/?id=rwINET1251

Spaces I'm watching ...... !!
http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_07_21_tash_lodge_archive.html#79308743

2002-07-23T11:12:00.000Z

Think they may want to do the "Battle of the Beanfield" on Radio 4 called "In Living Memory"

::>>
Jolyon Jenkins [jolyon.jenkins@bbc.co.uk]
BBC Bristol
Fri 19/07/02 14:19
Hello
I'm making part of a series for Radio 4 called "In Living Memory" in which we revisit events of the not-too-distant past which have been half forgotten, and ask what the aftermath was. I've been wondering about doing something on the travellers' convoys of 1985-7 and maybe the Battle of the Beanfield in particular. I came across your excellent website.
Could I have a chat with you about it? My phone number is 0117 974 2260
Jolyon Jenkins
Producer, network features

::>>
So sorry about this email stuff. It runs faster than I can..!

Have today just sent the tapes you asked for. It turn out, being for the earliest in my collection. That they're both on the same one.

I forgot to mention our most famous piece we made to describe the situation and the trial I talked about in Winchester, about it all. Its called 'OPERATION SOLSTICE'. That being the name of the police operation that lead to the Beanfield. Also full of my still work, shame your doing a radio show J

I find it interesting the when we made operation solstice that it was remarked that a lot of news footage of the field on the day, simply 'went missing' . Kim Sabido went into all this on the solstice tape. Now, there you are looking for 'broadcast footage' , this time, and that's gone missing also!

Is it paranoia to wonder if someone is trying to re-paint history.?

Anyway, I know you've read some of this, but just making sure.

The story so far - history in context

http://tash.gn.apc.org/history.htm & http://tash.gn.apc.org/history.pdf

summary of beanfield bit http://tash.gn.apc.org/sh_bean.htm

My 'cell notes' http://tash.gn.apc.org/sh_bean-notes1.htm

diary I kept of my operations later year http://tash.gn.apc.org/shenge_diary1988_1.htm

Photo-gallery of the day in field

http://tash.gn.apc.org/gal_beanf1.htm

Assorted legal hassle, [for context] http://tash.gn.apc.org/legal_assortment.htm

::>>
Jolyon Jenkins [jolyon.jenkins@bbc.co.uk]
BBC Bristol
Mon 22/07/02 15:16

Thanks for your help on the phone this morning. If you could lend me copies
of Open Space and the Channel 4 prog I'd be grateful. My address is: BBC,
Room 1.16, 27/29 Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2LR and my phone is 0117 942
2260
If you can think of anyone else invovled in those events we could interview
that would be great
Jolyon Jenknis

::>>
TO: Jolyon Jenkins BBC, Room 1.16,
27/29 Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2LR

Tuesday, 23 July 2002

Hello
By the time you get this, hope you'll have received my email with the appropriate links for my site. Hope they offer enough background for your needs.

Thanks for your interest on the subject.

I was present at a small gathering in the car park, at Stonehenge, one morning, after a short session in the stones couple of years ago. When I over heard a conversation between some 'young' hippies!. and Inspector Hill. Oh well, he says "you don't want to believe everything you hear about it, it was as bad as all that!". I had to stop what I was doing, approached hi, and said "Bloody Heck!, is that what you've been telling them all these years". He looked at me, and then sparkles of recognition dawned on him. "Good lord, Mr Lodge, hello!" and looked very sheepish. I said hello, and shook his hand, as offered. History being re-written in right in front of me. Remarkable after you see the videos, because he was a 'line commander' on the day, and knew full well what it was like.

Anyway, find TWO videotapes. One has "Trashed" as the first program, about 30 mins.. See the label, 3 July 1985, with the other 'missing footage', isn't it interesting you cant find it either!!. "May the Force be with you" is three part show. We feature in all bits, in context, but out main description is about 1:30 into the tape.

Return by secure post, and hope you find them useful.
Regards

Alan Lodge

2002-07-23T11:04:00.000Z

Stonehenge Festival - by 'Big' Steve

When Wally Hope started a ramble to Stonehenge with the rainbow banner of 60's counter culture, I was 17, the social secretary of a Sussex college blasting out Lynard Skynard's Freebird across the common room floor. I got home one day to be startled by TV news of 'hippies' gathering for the summer solstice at Stonehenge. I was excited but oblivious to the profound effect it was to have on my life.
I'd been to Windsor and other free festivals, and even helped carry a few scaffold poles and planks onto the stage and sat stoned through the Pink Fairies and Hawkwind sets. I remember giggling uder layers of clear plastic as the Hare Krishna band played through the night.

It was an idealistic and wonderful feeling of Utopia - natural, raw, rough and ready yeah! But a catalyst for something fair and just in a deaf society that sees suppression, control and fear as the answer to the cry of freedom, peace and harmony.

I went to Stonehenge for the first time in 1980 and felt uplifted about how together and hopeful the people were. I felt inspired to try and make it better.

I met Nik Turner in the winter of that year in a squat behind Sadler's Wells theatre and he agreed to play at the Smokey Bears' "Smoke-In" at Hyde Park.

We drove a psychedelic bus into the middle of Hyde Park, put up a stage, and held a mini festival with Black Slate, Androids of Mu, Here and Now, Inner City Unit, and speakers for the de-criminalisation of cannabis - an event that seems unimaginable now. It was a gas - but hair-raising what you had to do to draw attention to the injustice of our cannabis laws.

I met Willy X and Polytantric - an off-shoot of the White Panthers - and designs were swiftly drawn out for the layout of the stage and pyramid roof. Nik Turner was a fantastic help and gave valuable experience in erecting the pyramid which had originally made its debut with Sphinx at the Edinburgh festival. Two months of numerous phone calls to bands and performers brought together a programme of five days and nights of contemporary music with Ruts DC, the Thompson Twins, The Damned, Misty in Roots, and Hawkwind.

We dissolved back into the city and rejoined the nomadic drift from Stonehenge to Bristol to East Anglia and Wales from fayre to festival. At the beginning of the 80's travellers were relatively free of hassle.

In '82 after an international Cultural Herb festival in Brockwell Park, Brixton, with Jah Shaka, Loxsone Outernational and DBC we went to Stonehenge and did it all again - a beautiful buzz. Stonehenge was growing rapidly: in 1980 12,000 people had attended, but by '82 there were 35,000.

Co-ordination between English Heritage, the National Trust and ourselves seemed to be breaking down - because of the festival's expansion perhaps.

Many of Stonehenge's problems could have and will be solved by closer co-ordination and planning by all parties.

In '83 we decided to move the stage to the field closer to the woods and further away from the Stones. Sid Rawles and I wandered across the fields past the mounds clutching a dowsing rod; it twitched downwards and I opened my eyes to find myself in a circle of daisies - this had to be the place for the stage.

In '83 the PA was boosted to 12K. PA wings were extended and the Black Pyramid light show organised visuals.

As in previous years we ran things as cheaply as possible, all the bands played for free and we bucketed the audience and traders, as the groups played, to keep the jenny running.

The six days and nights of music were amazing, with Doctor and the Medics, Hawkwind, Roy Harper, the Enid, Buster Bloodvessel, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Urban Warrior, Ted Chippington, Flux of Pink Indians, the Tibetan Ukrainian Mountain Troupe, Here and Now, and Benjamin Zephaniah, to name just a few.

By '84 things were looking decidedly precarious. A group of travellers had squatted the Fargo Plantation in April, supposedly the National Trust's budget for that year's festival in the clear-up operation. The authorities were looking for scape-goats.

Three weeks before the festival I was cycling to the East-West Centre when my wheel hit a gutter and I went flying over the handlebars. I wke up in hospital with concussion and a broken arm., I phoned friends to get the stage and PA together. I arrived on site with an arm in plaster. The Polytantric got the stage up at the 'Henge by the 16th of June.

A video crew arrived to record the Enid, Roy Harper and Hawkwind at the Stones.

Stonehenge '84 was very emotional. Something had changed. When the music was over I walked to the mutated spider skeleton of scaffold poles of the pyramid and picked up another can to put in the plastic bag to add to the heap of sacks. I turned to the stones one more time and took a breath. Another helicopter rattled overhead.

I haven't been to Stonehenge since, but I hope to make it this year. Hopefully I will see you there,

Love and Peace,
Big Steve

2002-07-23T11:03:00.000Z

This week's SchNEWS: http://www.schnews.org.uk/
Friday 19th July 2002 Issue 365
WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S YER ON THE DECKS... SchNEWS

Beach Bummers Boozy Bottleneck

REVELLERS partied the night away on Brighton seafront last Saturday to the sound of overhead police helicopter display teams, traffic chaos, stranded emergency vehicles and the ecstatic screams of a quarter of a million happily crushed ravers.
The event, hosted by the Big Beached Buttock, featured the huge talent of disk jockey Fate By Slime who played some records to approximately 3000 people in front of Brighton West Pier. Meanwhile the remaining 247,000 party-goers looked on in awe and jubilation, but couldn't hear a bloody thing.
Party animals had been bussed in from as far afield as the Highlands of Scotland where whole hillsides had been cleared of trees and vegetation to make way for huge billboard posters for the event of the century. Welsh revellers talked of sheep that had been used as walking adverts for the gig with directions written in Welsh and English branded onto their once snow white bodies. Council 'helper' Simone Franchise stated that the massive advertising campaign had been essential in order to make the Flat Boy Scam gig the huge success that it was: "Everyone knows that an event of this magnitude has to be hugely over-attended. Some people have moaned about litter and broken glass on the beach but let's face it, where do you think all that rubbish came from? Mostly from our shops and therefore using our beach as a landfill site is good for business and good for everyone in Brighton."
Life's a Beach
Despite a handful of tragedies relating to the event, the police immediately ruled out any talk of an enquiry into the fantastically financially successful maritime pop show. Police spokesman Superindented Death Ray stated that the problems relating to the salty extravaganza were 'fairly obvious' and an inquiry would tell organisers nothing they did not already know about the event. Luckily there had been only one death relating directly to the event and a mere 160 injuries during the night and as such the event had been 'as safe as houses.' Death added that having 250,000 drunk people and children trapped on a darkened Brighton beach in dangerously overcrowded conditions surrounded by broken glass and urine and unattended by emergency services was 'character building', creating a sense of community and togetherness reminiscent of the Blitz. Eyewitness reports that anarchy broke out as revellers threw bottles into the crowd and at emergency personnel have been dismissed as 'unproductive' criticism. As a result of the spectacular safety record and outstanding organisational skills displayed throughout Saturday evening by the police, officials felt questions raised by a handful of moaning locals were largely irrelevant. Brighton and Hove Council agreed whole-heartedly as did event organisers Big Beached Blunder.
Free for all party
Event Organisers The Big Blunder joined forces with the council and police to stress that in no way should the Filled By Slime gig be confused with the illegal free parties that have historically occurred on Brighton and Shoreham beaches. "We have gone to great lengths to stamp out the scourge that is the local free party scene; that cancerous rash that blights our cultural landscape should in no way be confused with legitimate council-backed beach-trashing events, all of which are wonderful and never go wrong". Council spokesthing Simian Fanfare added that "The council only supports events that are much, much larger and more corporate than free parties and therefore better. More mindless consumers visiting Brighton means more beer and chips being sold everywhere, as well as silly hats, sales of which have gone through the roof, and that's very important for our City of Culture Bid." Mr Fiasco also pointed out that the costs of policing this particular event as well as the impact of a quarter of a million guests descending on the city meant the event was far from free to local residents - unlike the vast majority of free parties which have done nothing to improve the corporate worth of Brand Brighton.
Meanwhile free party organisers are said to be fleeing the country in fear of their lives as Brighton Council death squads are being mobilised to further enforce their 'say no to unlicensed fun' campaign. One free party organiser who prefers to remain nameless stated that: "We're being persecuted because we keep throwing underground free parties for a few hundred locals without adequate advertising. Several of our crew were arrested last weekend for picking up litter and giving away free water to party-goers at an unlicensed free party. When they were eventually released, all they could do was dribble while reciting the Brighton and Hove mission statement over and over again." The drugged up squat rave organiser later added that "Finding sites with adequate parking well away from the public scrutiny has just got us in the worst kind of trouble - maybe in future we should just organise Dresden style leaflet drops and invite everyone to come and piss on our beach; it seems to work OK for the council."
After the unmitigated success of the gig on the beach, DJ Fete Boy (real name Naomi Coke) spent the remainder of the night guzzling Champagne and playing even more records for all of his celebrity friends in an exclusive Brighton nightspot. In the small hours, the exhausted DJ and his beautiful wife were whisked away in a limousine to their sparkling luxury condominium love pad with its private beach, which remains, as ever, beautifully clean.
Meanwhile, some people in our lovely new broken-glass-sparkly City, the ones who actually do useful jobs like clean the litter and look after sick people, have complained that they can't actually afford to live here anymore. Some even joined the nationwide strike on Wednesday, complaining, "It's time they (the Council) decided whether this is a playground for Londoners or a city for its own people." Council spokesperson Simpering Fanatic told the Anus "Why don't the poor people all just fuck off to Hastings?"

morning Tash,
Talking about the weekends event in Brighton will stir up a lot a mixed feelings- From a free party point of view, mainly bad (though from a council point of view only good things because of all that revenue it has created (cough, splutter!).
I’m absolutely outraged at the way it was handled. They bleat on about how good it was for the economy due to the poor weather of june and july. What they fail to see is the long term damage its done to the tourist economy due to the fact that the council (hypocrites) have now said it may take between 5-10 years for the beach to recover because of all the broken glass. Maybe these are inflated figures- i won;t judge because we all know the media reaction to Steart beach this year (1000’s of years to recover from a couple of burnt out cars etc etc etc) , but the damage is still done and i certainly wont be using that sretch, the most popular beach in Brighton, for a while.
Hugh has asked me to write an article for partyvibe about the local views towards it, i will also send you a copy which you can use if you wish.

2002-07-23T11:02:00.000Z

Party Animals?

Despite the best efforts of the cops backed up with roadblocks and the trusty old Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994), free parties just won't go away. Usually low key attracting a few hundred with no one taking much notice, over the past few months some have become festival size. The problem of trying to put on anything (ask the Welsh Green Gathering lot, SchNEWS 354) is you've got to jump through a million licensing hoops, or like Glastonbury forced to work with corporate cock suckers like Mean Fiddler.
Take Stonehenge where for the past few summers people have tried to sort out a festival afterwards - last year the MoD pulled out at the last minute, this year there were rumours that farmers who were up for renting their land were warned off by the cops. So instead of free festivals being at least a bit planned, and stuff like provision of toilets and wood for fires, it becomes a game of cat and mouse with the cops, with the result that parties end up on sites that aren't always suited. One local complained to SchNEWS about the festival in Steart over the Jubilee weekend "Over ten thousand of you arrived at a nature reserve and birdlife sanctuary - at the height of the wading birds nesting season. For three days, you terrorised the local inhabitants, and destroyed the nests and the fledglings." Guilfin responded "The site wasn't the one chosen, confusion abounded, a few rigs took to the previously used beach, then everybody else followed. It's not on to use somewhere like that, but if you're not aware of its sensitivity, and the police are chasing down convoys, then it's not surprising someone made a snap decision to take the site. What we need is places to party safely and responsibly. Dancing shouldn't be an outlaw activity."
So beyond the roadblocks the parties continue. Here's one report from someone outside The Great Wall of Glasto plc: "Several thousand people in a field, dancing to underground music from sound systems to live bands, taking whatever drugs they want as the party continues 24 hours a day, and making new connections outside capitalism's reign of terror. Sound idyllic? This was the scene at Smeatharpe, a former airbase some twenty miles from Glastonbury last weekend. Worlds apart? Well actually maybe not. Smeatharpe should be the ideal spot for a free party. It's in the middle of nowhere. The neighbouring farmer had no problem with the party as long as people showed him the basic respect of not using the fences for firewood (it's lambing season at the moment) or trashing his crops. Not so tricky really, but that, unfortunately, is what happened, as well as kids burning a car left behind 10 years ago and sending a smoke signal of filth over the surrounding countryside.
Free parties and festivals are great cos they rely on the people there to sort out everything themselves - there's no gap between organisers who sort out infrastructure and the punters. Everyone's on the same vibe - in theory. No one will look after your land for you, toilets and bins won't be provided. So it's best to take a shovel (or even a trowel if you're hitching), clear your rubbish and take it with you, and if there are people who don't know the score, let them benefit from your experience. Free events are a great opportunity for our culture to make the connections between free space and the environment we live in. Let's create the world we want to live in - all of us, together."

2002-07-23T11:01:00.000Z

this from: a teenager blogs!

http://www.thisisanfield.com/max/

maxwell munton
age: 15 years
nationality: british english
location: leeds, england
occupation: student

Glastonbury Experience: Part 1
Friday morning, Laurence's Dad gives us a lift into the coach station where we meet up with Julian and Steve. The coach journey from Leeds to Brummyland isn't the most pleasant of things with the temperature hot and air stuffy. The changeover isn't a problem though and we're soon on another three hour coach journey to the festival. They had to see our festival tickets at the Birmingham coach station as part of the 'no ticket - no festival' campaign. Anyways, as we approached Glastonbury, you could see fields and fields of tents - it really was an amazing sight! We were escorted away from the muggers by stuwards at the entrance to the site and once we had collected our wristbands and festival programme were off to find a place to pitch our tent. The weather was amazing! No mud. And everything was going so smoothly as we stumbled into the second field from the coach entrance and set up camp. That took a little longer than I expected. Laurence and Steve seemed to manage okay, but I was struggling to work out which tent I was actually putting up! It didn't help with the wind factor and Julian clueless about putting tents up. Hidey-ho, by about six o'clock we were set up and went to see our first band; 'Queens of the Stoneage' (or something like that). They were shit. Julian enjoyed them I think. We then headed over to see 'Ash' who were fantastic. We missed the start of them, but caught the majority of their amazing set in which Burn Baby Burn produced the whole Pyramid Stage crowd jumping up and down and signing along in excitment. What a fantastic atmosphere! Could life get any better! More was to come. After a brief trip back to the tent and toilet stop (oh, I had an amazing adventure keeping my shit in for the whole weekend!) we headed back off to the Pyramid Stage to see an amazing lights display to the tune of 'Faithless'. I don't usually like dance music, but there I was enjoying myself as the loud beats came out of the tall loud speakers to my right. I don't think I've ever heard music so loud! That was a really class show. Following a brief lie-down in the grass of Glastonbury, we were near the front of the Pyramid Stage to catch the whole of 'Coldplay's set. I wasn't expecting great things from Coldplay. They hadn't done a propper gig for about a year. When Chris Martin [the lead singer] came on to the stage and said that the band had 'been preparing for this gig all their lives' - the performance matched it. They were absolutly fantastic! Playing all the songs of 'Parachutes' with the audience singing along and then a couple of new ones! What a night! I doubt my photos have come out well. It was only a little dispsable camera, but the memories are as good as pictures all the same. We made our way back to the tents and fell asleep at about three in the morning.

2002-07-23T11:00:00.000Z

Glastonbury Experience: Part 2
Saturday morning duly came round. The night/early morning before, me and Julian (sharing my tent) had set our alarms (on our watches) for 10.00am. We were definatly up and about by then and were just about to set off for an explore of the festival site with Laurence and Steven. It was a long walk that took us past the Other Stage and eventually on to what can only be described as the 'Green Fields'. At one point, we were asked to walk briskly through the crowds as a landrover was gaining up on us. Wherever we went though, it was following us! So there we were almost at running pace in front of its two wheels when it suddenly turned and drove past us. Who was in the passenger seat? None other than Michael Eavis! The festival organiser! He got out of the landrover and was interviewed on camera, just a few yards from where we were standing. How about that?! Then we walked into the next field and waded through the rows of tents promoting world peace, friendship bracelets etc etc. Me and Larry bought a carton of orange juice each from one of the hippie stalls and we saw an amazing sculpture of a snail made from willow branch. Then we headed back to the tents. But on the way back I snuck away and went on my own into the New Bands Tent to watch the last few minutes of 'Baby Genius'. She was alright I suppose. A few minutes later I returned with Julian to the tent and we saw the former pocussionist from Kula Shaker lead singing 'Valentine' who were very good indeed. There was an afternoon siesta before me, Laurence and Steven headed over to the Pyramid stage to see the (excellent) Jools Holland. He played a range of pop, jazz, blues and swing to get the crowds in the party mood. We stayed around for 'No Doubt' afterwards who were also excellent. At one point, Gwen Stefani (the lead singer) climbed onto the top of three piled up loud speakers to address the back of the crowd more easily. She was about to go into song by muttering the words, 'I wanna know, I wanna know'... when she got stuck and couldn't get down! Someone behind be shouted, 'I wanna know how you're gonna get down from there!'. hehe. But seriously, 'No Doubt' really were class and when they told us we had to jump higher than the Germans did last night, the place was rocking. Of course it was 'Don't Speak' that got the best reception from the Glastonbury faithful. I had been torn between seeing 'No Doubt' and the 'Electronic Soft Parade', so I thought I might catch the end of ESP on the Other Stage after 'No Doubt'. Damn. I missed them. Me and Julian had waded our way through the crowds leaving the Pyramid arena quickly, but not quick enough. We stayed at the Other Stage and watched a bit of 'Rival Schools' who weren't amazing, so we headed back to the tents to meet up with Larry and Steve. Throughout the festival, Julian seemed only to know one word: 'Sorry?' he muttered even when you hadn't said anything. By the journey back I told him it was now a swear word and that I had set up a swear box for him. Ten pence per 'sorry'. At about half-six, we went our separate ways again. Julian headed off to see 'The Vines' I think on the Other Stage as me, Larry and Steve went for 'Starsailor' on the Pyramid Stage. They were really good. Maybe they didn't work with the crowd as much as say, Coldplay the night before, but they were still terriffic and even squeezed in their new single (a little more heavy than 'Alcoholic' or 'Poor Misguided Fool'). There was also time for a duet with 'Glastonbury ledgand Donovan' who played the harmonica. Again, we stayed around the Pyramid Stage after Starsailor's set and watched 'The White Stripes' - after having met Julian. Julian bought a 'White Stripes' t-shirt from the official merchandise stall earlier in the day. I opted for a 'Glastonbury 2002' t-shirt after considering a 'Starsailor' one. So, kitted out in his red 'White Stripes' t-shirt, Julian was dancing away to the duo. One half was very nice in deed; Meg White ;-)... the other, her brother, was funny and very good on vocals and guitar. I can see why Julian like them - all the guitar solos. They weren't bad I suppose. Not really my thing. After that, me, Laurence and Steve (why don't I just call us MLJ from now on yeah?) went back to the tent for a little kip in the summer rain as Julian went to see 'Robert Plant & the strange sensation' on the Acoustic Stage. MLS headed back down our beloved 'Wicket Ground' field, past the toilets, over the cinema fields and into the Pyramid Stage arena for arguably the best band of the weekend. The 'Stereophonics' were to be Glastonbury's 'secret guests', but it had leaked out several weeks before and so appeared in the programme anyway. The 'Phonics were fantastic. They performed their well known songs from JEEP and a few from Performance & Cocktails. As well as a couple of new tracks and a couple of covers as their encore. They got a great reception from the Glastonbury crowds. I think it was during the 'Phonics that I saw Josie and Rachel - two girls from our year group also at Glasto - sneak off to the back of the crowds. They missed out. Following the 'Phonics we headed off back to the tents. Julian went straight to sleep, but MLS talked and talked for hours. I think I got to sleep - outside both tents at about 4.30am. During our three hour conversation, me and Larry explored the football encyclopedia that is Steve. It was comedy as well as we remembered great football moments from the past so many years. ho ho. So there I was, in my sleeping bag, wedged between two guyropes, talking to Larry and Steve until my weary eyes could take no more and I fell to sleep.

2002-07-23T10:59:00.000Z

Glastonbury Experience: Part 3
Four hours sleep on Saturday night and I woke up in my sleeping bag outside both tents with one of those silver-foil insulator cloths over me :). Someone had obviously seen me sleeping outside and lent me their cloth thing. Just shows the friendly atmosphere at the festival :). A slow start to the morning was speeded/sped? up by a tasty bacon roll and quick slurp of orange juice. Then I headed over to the Pyramid Stage - grabbing a sweet chocolate pancake on the way and watched the Glastonbury Town Band. Big mistake. They were trying hard, but were a bit embarrassed by their conductor who was cracking crappy jokes to the audience. The audience was about 40 people by the way, out of the 100,000 or so who had festival tickets. So it wasn't hard to reach the front for this one. I didn't stick around and made my way back to the tents. At midday MLS went down to the Pyramid Stage once again and caught the end of the Avalonian Free State Choir who's conductor was equally as appauling as the Glastonbury Town Bands'. It wasn't long before big Rolf Harris appeared though and the thousands gathered in the field were soon clapping along with his excentric Aussie songs. 'Tie me kangeroo down sport' was a favourite as we took in the midday sun. He was actually comedy - Rolf that is - and the banners that people had made for his set were equally comical. 'Tie me down Rolf' and 'Rolf - I think I'm pregnant' made me tickle. Along with the two kangeroos (obviously people dressed as kangeroos - I think) bouncing around the audience on pogo sticks. Just before Rolf, there had been a spokesman from a charity trying to stop the spread of AIDS in South Africa. There was a lot of charity work at the festival...MTF being one of them. Following the Rolf sing-along, the big screens were showing the World Cup final. Brazil 2-0 France. We watched the last fifteen minutes. Well, me and Laurence did. Steve went back to the tent determined to last until Monday night without knowing the result. We saw Ronaldo break through the German defence to score the second past Ollie Kahn, much to the delight of the crowds at Glasto who were cheering on Brazil on a count that we're just so bitter towards the Germans. For some reason the Glastonbury organisers showed the ITV coverage of the remaining minutes of the final so every so often we got the cackaling sound of Ron Atkinson. We headed back to the tent. Laurence went off to get some food though I think. It ended up with just me and Steve at the tent before Julian came along. And then it struck. What struck? 'Julian... don't tell Steve the result' says I. 'Why?' replies a thick Julian...'He doesn't want to know the result until he's watched the highlights'... 'Okay,' says Julian, 'I won't tell him that it was 2-0 to Brazil'. All he had to do was not mention the score, but he failed to do that. Tut. 'You dickhead!' shouted Steve at the innocent looking Julian. There was much tension between the pair for the rest of the weekend. Back to the music. I took Julian off Steve's hands at about half-one. We had overheard the guy from the next tent saying he thought there might be a 'secret band on the Pyramid Stage' - so we went to have a look. It was just the band scheduled, Manu Chao, but running late because of the WC coverage. I stayed around and watched them, Julian ran off after about fifteen minutes to see some weird band I think. Manu Chao were alright I guess. It was a kind of South American (appropriete following the Brazil victory) dance music style. Although the lead singer was wearing a Galatasaray (hissss) shirt. After they'd finished their set I had about half an hour until Badly Drawn Boy. I decided to see what was on the Other Stage. Nothing decent. And it toom me yonks to find Laurence and Steve. Eventually I did and MLS watched Badly Drawn Boy who performed the About A Boy soundtrack all on his own. A brave, but a little dissapointing performance I thought. After Badly Drawn Boy on the Pyramid Stage was Issac Hayes, but I forgot all about him :(. Me and Laurence went to sit/lie in the Other Stage field to the tune of Elbow who were alright I guess. After Elbow we got some food and then just chilled at the tents for most of the evening. Me and Julian went to see Gorky's Zygotic Monkey... which means something in Welsh - I forget what. They were really class and a big prospect for the future. Their music was a bit like The Beatles crossed with a modern day Indie or rock band. Very good. Watch out for them. They may change their name though.... 'Gorky's Zygotic Monkey' kinda sounds like a punk band - not the slow tunes they were pumping out. Ten-twenty, MLS went to see the king. Not Elvis of course - he had done a duet with Ash on Friday night. Stay confused ;-). Rod Stewart was brilliant... and a great last set to go to on our last night at Glastonbury. 'Maggie May' was probably the ultimate hit with the fans. I think Julian went to see Air or someone weird like that. Old Rodney though: he still knows how to rock the tens-of-thousands of unclean fans watching on. So that was it. That was Glastonbury 2002. But the fun and games didn't stop there. After making our way back to the tents after Rod Stewart, MLS went down to the cinema field to watch 'The Lord of the Rings' - not a Glastonbury tradition I'm told. Steve left after about fifteen minutes and slept in the tent that night. Me and Laurence, with about 200 others, were left to fall asleep in front of LOTR. Again, I spend the night not in the tent!

2002-07-23T10:55:00.000Z

Some of the story so far . . . . . . .

INTRO....
BEGINNINGS
STONEHENGE AND THE `BATTLE OF THE BEANFIELD'
FURTHER TROUBLE AND THE PUBLIC ORDER ACT 1986
ATTACKS ON THEIR `ALTERNATIVE ECONOMY'
RAVES, DANCE PARTIES ETC...
CASTLEMORTON COMMON
POLICE SURVEILLANCE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1994
BENEFIT CLAMPDOWNS
THE AFTERMATH

Garrard Winstanley was an outstanding philosopher and political thinker of the seventeenth century. He became one of the principle advocates for the 'Leveller' and 'Digger' causes. Earlier in the century, the Royal Enclosures of common land had grabbed vast areas for their own use. Three quarters of the country was common land at this time.
The common people suffered.

During the chaos left at the end of the Civil War, the new Establishment took advantage and seized Royalist land and further expanded their estates by shamelessly enclosing more of the commons. The new Parliament acquiesced to this and people remained landless and hungry.
The common people suffered.

Over time, some were attracted to the principles of self help, non violent direct action, self sufficiency. To help themselves, nobody else is going to do it for them. After all, they had helped fight a war against the King's tyranny and they where still dispossessed. On the 1st April 1649, the landless Diggers established a commune on St. George's Hill, Surrey, intending to grow crops and graze livestock. The adventure lasted little more than a year before people where forcibly evicted.
The common people suffered.

Intro....

It might seem strange to begin this tale in the seventeenth century, but some facts seem as relevant today. Government seems remote from the people and knows little of their concerns and situation. Pressures to conform, deviant activities being forcibly discouraged. The existence of the 'underclass', the dispossessed, of land or of opportunities. Additionally now, we are increasingly aware of environmental considerations. It is an old struggle which has taken new forms. (The tension probably began between the farmers and the hunter-gatherers of the Stone Age!).

Beginnings

Gatherings in the open air with music are probably as old as anything human beings have ever done.

The 'Pop Festival' became a more modern manifestation of peoples desire to gather and celebrate. We are social animals. In the late 1960's, they went to Woodstock and the Monterey Festivals by the million. In the UK, the free 'Stones in the Park' and the Isle of Wight Festival saw huge crowds.

Alongside the commercial events, 'Free Festivals' developed. People fed up with the exploitation, rules, squalor and general rip-off that so many events came to represent. They discovered something. It is a powerful vision. People lived together, a community sharing possessions, listening to great music, making do, living with the environment, consuming their needs and little else. Parallel to all this, the squatting movement was taking off, and groups such as the 'Hyde Park Diggers' were beginning to question land rights.

It is from these beginnings that the 1970's saw the establishment of many commercial and free events. The Windsor People's Free Festival became an annual event over the August Bank Holiday. As numbers continued to rise, and with the politics of the situation, (after all, we were in the Queen's back garden), in 1974 Thames Valley police eventually acted. Forcibly braking up the site with much violence and injury. (They have been hitting us with sticks for over twenty years now!)

After finding a sense of community and purpose, some for the first time in their lives, many adopted an alternative lifestyle and travelled between events in the 'season'. They didn't go 'home' in between. You got to choose your neighbours and defeated the alienation that many had felt back in the cities.

In 1975, the People's Free Festival was re-established on a disused airfield in Oxfordshire. Over 10,000 people came and for two weeks, re-invented the town. The following year however, the bank holiday event died due to much police pressure and days of very heavy rain!

The Stonehenge Free Festival had been held at the Summer Solstice since 1974. However at 1977 event, numbers suddenly increased and this became the Annual People's Festival. Since then, the numbers involved doubled each successive year. The 1984 festival attracting hundreds of thousands over a six week period.

People looked at the various examples provided by gypsies here and in Europe. To nomadic people across the world. To try life outside the house in many different ways and to pick and select those means that make life comfortable, easy and meaningful. The 'bender', the Indian 'tipi', the Moroccan 'yurt', the Romany 'bow top', the western two-man tent, the truck and the double decker bus.

Many developed a sense of common purpose and identity. There was an acceptance that modern life was too fast, expensive and polluting to the environment. We had discovered Anarchy in action, and it worked! People began working out and managing relations within 'our' communities, without reference to Them.

The temperature had been rising for some time. Assisted by the representation in the press and their invention of the 'Peace Convoy', a moral panic was created.

The papers were full of the shock - horror that we have come to expect. The Sun's - "Gun convoy hippies attack police" (No mention of gun in the article!). The News of the World contributed - "The Wild Bunch - Sex-mad junkie outlaws make the Hell's Angels look like little Noddy". These were headlines read my millions of people and made modern day `folk-devils' out of essentially peaceful people.

In objection to the American Cruise Missiles to be stationed in this country, a peace camp was established at Greenham Common and later at Molesworth. However, in February 1985, 'Field Marshall' Heseltine, the then Defence Secretary sent in huge numbers of troops to evict the three hundred or so that had occupied the site as the Rainbow Village for some months.

Although the authorities found all this distressing, there wasn't law effective in dealing with it. So they invented some. It the past, a police force generally felt that their job was done when pushing people over their boundary. Thus mealy passing on the 'problem' as they saw it. In the wake of the Miners Strike, the police had learned how to act as a national force under unitary direction.

Something had to be done! Stonehenge appeared central to the situation. Police "Operation Solstice" was initiated.

Stonehenge and the `Battle of the Beanfield'

At a meeting of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), in early 1985, it was resolved to obtain a High Court Injunction preventing the annual gathering at Stonehenge. This was the device to be used to justify the attack at the "Battle of the Beanfield" on the 1st June in Hampshire. Well it wasn't a battle really.

It was an ambush.

It was a magnificent convoy stretching and snaking its way over the Wiltshire Downs, as far as you could see in either direction. It was a warm Saturday afternoon as we drove through villages, people stood outside their garden gates, smiling and waving at us. A carnival atmosphere with little evidence of the 'local opposition' that we had been lead to believe was one of the reasons for obtaining the court orders. A police helicopter watched overhead but there was little other sign of trouble until........

Seven miles from Stonehenge (the exclusion order was for four and a half miles), just short of the A303 and the Hampshire / Wiltshire border, two lorry loads of gravel where tipped across the road. Up to this point, no laws had been broken. I got out of my truck to take photographs when I first saw some twenty policemen running down the convoy ahead of me smashing windscreens without warning and 'arresting' / assaulting the occupants, dragging them out through the windscreens broken glass.

I and others who saw this were fearful of the level of violence used by the police in making arrests. Clearly we were in for a beating, again! Running back to our vehicles, we drove through a hedge in to the adjacent field.

The scale of the police operation was becoming obvious. The same level of violence had been applied to the rear of the convoy. Large numbers of police in many lines deep could be seen on the road forming up.

From then on, the situation grew more tense. More police reinforcements were brought up wearing one-piece blue overalls - without numbers!, 'Nato-style' helmets with visors and both full length perspex shields and circular black plastic shields. A 'stand-off' situation developed with sporadic outbreaks of violence.

Working with the festival welfare agencies, I was directed to a number of head injuries that has resulted from the initial conflict on the road. All of these injuries were truncheon wounds to the back of the head and some people were quite distressed. I was shown one man, about 20 years old who was semi-conscious with yet another head wound. I was fearful of him dying. An ambulance was called and I assisted the attendant and helped convey the casualty through police lines. The ambulance crew were initially apprehensive about their safety but assurances were given.

In between the taking of photographs, the copious first aid and concerns for my family and friends, I attempted to start negotiations and set up lines of communications with the middle-ranking 'line' officers. There was no 'middle ground' to be found, so, with others I organised a meeting with Assistant Chief Constable Lional Grundy. He was in charge of the overall operation. It was early evening before we were able to meet him. The tone of the meeting was 'do what your told or else!' He reiterated that people should be leave their vehicle and be arrested.

Because of the fear of what that might intail (after viewing the violence earlier in the day), those I met with were reticent about this. I met Grundy again a little later and attempted to reason further with him, but the ACC then threatened to arrest me for obstruction if I persisted.

Police in full kit were now massed in large numbers and obviously getting ready to charge. It turns out that police had been arresting a lot of people around Stonehenge earlier in the afternoon. At 7.00pm, Grundy had sixteen hundred policemen from six counties, Ministry of Defence police and some believe, army officers in police uniforms!!!

They had been briefed that we were all violent anarchists (see newspaper headlines earlier), rather than a bunch of young people and families with children.

They charged.

The scenes that followed were recorded by media that had evaded the police blockade. The story was international news. 'Dixon of Dock Green' type policing was dead. That which Britain was noted for had now changed to para-military operations against minority groups.

Kim Sabido of ITN, a reporter used to visiting the worlds 'hot spots' did an emotional piece-to-camera as he described the worst police violence that he had ever seen.

"What we - the ITN camera crew and myself as a reporter - have seen in the last 30 minutes here in this field has been some of the most brutal police treatment of people that I've witnessed in my entire career as a journalist. The number of people who have been hit by policemen, who have been clubbed whilst holding babies in their arms in coaches around this field, is yet to be counted...There must surely be an enquiry after what has happened today".

There wasn't.

When the item was nationally broadcast on ITN news later that day, Sabido's voice-over had been removed and replaced with a dispassionate narrator. The worst film footage was also edited out. When approached for the footage not shown on the news, ITN claimed it was missing. Sabido said.

"When I got back to ITN during the following week and I went to the library to look at all the rushes, most of what Id thought wed shot was no longer there," recalls Sabido. "From what I've seen of what ITN has provided since, it just disappeared, particularly some of the nastier shots."

Some but not all of the missing footage has since surfaced on bootleg tapes and was incorporated into the Operation Solstice documentary shown on Channel Four in 1991.

Public knowledge of the events of that day are still limited by the fact that only a small number of journalists were present in the Beanfield at the time. Most, including the BBC television crew, had obeyed the police directive to stay behind police lines at the bottom of the hill "for their own safety".

One of the few journalists to ignore police advice and attend the scene was Nick Davies, Home Affairs correspondent for The Observer. He wrote:

"There was glass breaking, people screaming, black smoke towering out of burning caravans and everywhere there seemed to be people being bashed and flattened and pulled by the hair....men, women and children were led away, shivering, swearing, crying, bleeding, leaving their homes in pieces.....Over the years I had seen all kinds of horrible and frightening things and always managed to grin and write it. But as I left the Beanfield, for the first time, I felt sick enough to cry."

During the charge, I took photographs, but I put my camera away. My (ex) -wife and I comforting and cuddles with each other for fear, before we were attacked..

530 were arrested that day ( both at the Beanfield and at Stonehenge), the most in any operation since the Second World War.

Photographic evidence is scant because of the nature of the action. Ben Gibson, a freelance photographer working for The Observer that day, was arrested in the Beanfield after photographing riot police smashing their way into a Traveller's coach. He was later acquitted of charges of obstruction although the intention behind his arrest had been served by removing him from the scene. Most of the negatives from the film he managed to shoot disappeared from The Observers archives during an office move.

A friend and fellow photographer Tim Malyon narrowly avoided the same fate:

"Whilst attempting to take pictures of one group of officers beating people with their truncheons, a policeman shouted out to get him and I was chased. I ran and was not arrested."

Tim Malyon's negatives have also been lost with only a few prints surviving.

One unusual eye-witness to the Beanfield nightmare was the Earl of Cardigan, secretary of the Marlborough Conservative Association and manager of Savernake Forest (on behalf of his father the Marquis of Ailesbury). He had travelled along with the convoy on his motorbike accompanied by fellow Conservative Association member John Moore. As the Travellers had left from land managed by Cardigan, the pair thought "it would be interesting to follow the events personally". Wearing crash helmets to disguise their identity, they witnessed what Cardigan described to Squall as `unspeakable' police violence.

Cardigan subsequently provided eye-witness testimonies of police behaviour during prosecutions brought against Wiltshire Police.

These included descriptions of a heavily pregnant woman "with a silhouette like a zeppelin" being "clubbed with a truncheon" and riot police showering a woman and child with glass. "I had just recently had a baby daughter myself so when I saw babies showered with glass by riot police smashing windows, I thought of my own baby lying in her cradle 25 miles away in Marlborough," recalls Cardigan.

After the Beanfield, Wiltshire Police approached Lord Cardigan to gain his consent for an immediate eviction of the Travellers remaining on his Savernake Forest site.

"They said they wanted to go into the campsite `suitably equipped' and `finish unfinished business'. Make of that phrase what you will, says Cardigan. "I said to them that if it was my permission they were after, they did not have it. I did not want a repeat of the grotesque events that I'd seen the day before."

Instead, the site was evicted using court possession proceedings, allowing the Travellers a few days recuperative grace.

As a prominent local aristocrat and Tory, Cardigans testimony held unusual sway, presenting unforeseen difficulties for those seeking to cover up and re-interpret the events at the Beanfield.

In an effort to counter the impact of his testimony, several national newspapers began painting him as a `loony lord', questioning his suitability as an eye-witness and drawing farcical conclusions from the fact that his great-great grandfather had led the charge of the light brigade. The Times editorial on June 3rd claimed that being "barking mad was probably hereditary."

As a consequence, Lord Cardigan successfully sued The Times, The Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror for claiming that his allegations against the police were false and for suggesting that he was making a home for hippies. He received what he describes as "a pleasing cheque and a written apology" from all of them. His treatment by the press was ample indication of the united front held between the prevailing political intention and media backup, with Lord Cardigans eye-witness account as a serious spanner in the plotted works:

"On the face of it they had the ultimate establishment creature - land-owning, peer of the realm, card-carrying member of the Conservative Party - slagging off police and therefore by implication befriending those who they call the powers of darkness,"

says Cardigan.

"I hadn't realised that anybody that appeared to be supporting elements that stood against the establishment would be savaged by establishment newspapers. Now one thinks about it, nothing could be more natural. I hadn't realised that I would be considered a class traitor; if I see a policeman truncheoning a woman I feel I'm entitled to say that it is not a good thing you should be doing. I went along, saw an episode in British history and reported what I saw."

For three days (and nights), without adequate food, sleep and many to a cell, we filled police stations across the south of England. From Bristol, where I was taken, to Southampton and London. We were then charged with the serious offence of 'Unlawful Assembly'. Most charges were eventually dropped after all of this.

Some had lost everything they had. Parents where frantic in locating their children, that had been taken into care. Vehicles had been taken to a 'pound' some 25 miles away and people had to go through further humiliation in reclaiming what was left of their homes.

Twenty-four of us took out a civil action against the Chief Constable of Wiltshire for the wrongs that were done to us that day. Nearly six years later at the High Court in Winchester, we won most of our case and were each awarded damages against the police. The Guardian said "Need to preserve pubic order does not permit the police to ride roughshod over the rights of ordinary people". After a four month hearing, (during which we were made to feel like we were on trial), on the last day, the Judge made an order on court costs that, as we were getting legal aid, meant we got nothing.

What's new!

As Lord Gifford QC, our legal representative, put it:

"It left a very sour taste in the mouth."

To some of those at the brunt end of the truncheon charge it left a devastating legacy.

Things have never been the same again since the Beanfield. Throughout the rest of the year, whether in small groups or at events, travellers were continually harassed.

It had defiantly changed us in many different ways. There was one guy who I trusted my children with in the early 80s - he was a potter, amongst other things. A nicer chap you couldn't wish to meet. After the Beanfield I wouldn't let him anywhere near them. I saw him, a man of substance, at the end of all that nonsense wobbled to the point of illness and evil. It turned all of us and I'm sure that applies to the whole travelling community. There were plenty of people who had got something very positive together who came out of the Beanfield with a world view of `fuck everyone'.

The berserk nature of the police violence drew obvious comparisons with the coercive police tactics employed on the miners strike the year before. Many observers claimed the two events provided strong evidence that government directives were para-militarising police responses to crowd control. Indeed, the confidential Wiltshire Police Operation Solstice Report released to plaintiffs during the resulting Crown Court case, states: "Counsels opinion regarding the police tactics used in the miners strike to prevent a breach of the peace was considered relevant."

The news section of Police Review, published seven days after the Beanfield, stated:

"The Police operation had been planned for several months and lessons in rapid deployment learned from the miners strike were implemented."

The manufactured reasoning behind such heavy-handed tactics was best summed up in a laughable passage from the confidential police report on the Beanfield:

"There is known to be a hierarchy within the convoy; a small nucleus of leaders making the final decisions on all matters of importance relating to the convoys activities. A second group who are known as the lieutenants or warriors carry out the wishes of the convoy leader, intimidating other groups on site."

If the coercive policing used during the miners strike was a violent introduction to Thatcher's mal-intention towards union activity, the Battle of the Beanfield was a similarly severe introduction to a new era of intolerance of Travellers.

Further trouble and the Public Order Act 1986

In May and June of 1986, the tribes again tried to gather. Convoys began assembling to celebrate that years Solstice were chased around several counties, all over the south of England, by both huge numbers police and right wing media outrage, before finally finding some temporary recuperative respite on a site at Stoney Cross in the New Forest, Hampshire.

More of the same was in store. Much stress!!

It was the 1st June, when we first arrived at Stoney Cross, . The whole issue was on newspaper front pages for a week!

Politicians again whipped up the moral outrage. On the 3rd June, the Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd described the convoy in a speech to the House of Commons as:

"Hon. Members from the west country will be aware of the immense policing difficulties created by the peace convoy, it is anything but peaceful. Indeed, it resembles nothing more than a band of medieval brigands who have no respect for the law or the rights of others".

The National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) observed that this assertion was made without any evidence being presented that the convoy contained a higher proportion of people with criminal records, or, evidence the travellers were committing offences on the road.

Two days later on the 5th, Margaret Thatcher said that her governments is:

"Only too delighted to do anything we can to make life difficult for such things as `hippy convoys'".

On the same day, a cabinet committee was formed to discuss new legislation to deal with Travellers and festivals. Chaired by Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, it comprised of the Secretaries of State for Transport, Environment, Health and Social Security, and Agriculture.

Shortly after the 'green light', Hampshire police mounted "Operation Daybreak" on the 9th June. 550 police charged onto the field in support of bailiffs and an eviction order. Many arrests then ensued, the convoy put up no resistance.

Sixty four convoy members were arrested and 129 vehicles impounded after policemen carried a large amount of documentation on people onto the site and also were armed with DoT files on every vehicle.

The police also came armed with care orders for the Travellers' children, though a tip off had reached the camp beforehand and the children had been removed.

It was against this background that the now famous 'anti-hippy' clauses where put into the Public Order Act, these powers began to operate in 1987.

Section 39 of the Public Order Act makes it a new criminal offence for a trespasser on land not to leave it after being ordered to by police.

After the previous years events, this section is seen as yet another example of how the police are being drawn into enforcing the Civil Law and deciding issues which until now, have been the province of the civil courts. The first time for hundreds of years that trespass had become a criminal offence. It was a most controversial measure, it had been inserted into the Act hurriedly.

Under the powers, the most senior police officer present may direct people to leave land if it is reasonably believed that: two or more people are trespassers intending to remain on land for any period of time and have been asked to leave, damage has been caused to the land or threatening behaviour used against the occupier, or 12 or more vehicles have been brought onto the land.

The Home Office had stated:

"That the clause was a response to the `problems' of new age travellers and that the power is not aimed primarily at Gypsy groups".

However, according to the National Gypsy Council, by 9.27am on the day the act came into force (1st April 1987), section 39 was being applied against Gypsies by Avon and Somerset police.

The increasingly hostile political climate that followed, had a dramatic affect on the travelling community, frightening away many of the families integral to the community balance of the festival circuit.

In 1987, people stood on the tarmac beside Stonehenge having walked the eight mile distance from an impromptu site at Cholderton. As clouds smothered the Solstice sunrise, those who had walked the distance were kept on the road, separated from the Stones by rows of riot police and bales of razor wire. The anger mounted and scuffles broke out. The following year the anger was tangibly increased and once again at Solstice dawn there were some who found the situation too unacceptable. This time the scuffles were more prevalent with concerted attempts being made to break through the police cordon. Secreted around the area, however, were thousands of waiting riot police and, as the anger of the penned in crowd grew, numberless uniforms came flooding down the hill to disperse the crowd with a liberal usage of truncheons and riot shields.

Andy Smith - now editor of Festival Eye - finally received a £10,000 out of court settlement from Wiltshire Police this year for a truncheon wound to the head received after he tripped and fell at Stonehenge in 1988. In the years following the event, he was diagnosed as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. "I'd had recurrent dreams about the episode and after eight years of raking over it, I needed to put the event behind me."

The numbers of people prepared to travel to Stonehenge and face this treatment naturally dwindled, resulting in a concentration of those who were prepared for confrontation in defence of what was considered as a right to celebrate solstice at Stonehenge. Successive huge police operations backed by the Public Order Act 1986, have become stricter and stricter in attempts to stop anyone from reaching the Stone circle at Solstice. There are still a few however, who hug hedgerows and dart between the beams of police helicopters in order to be in view of the Solstice sunrise at Stonehenge.

Attacks on their `alternative economy'

Up until 1985, the free festival circuit had provided the economic backbone of all year round itinerancy. Traditionally the three cardinal points in the festival circuit were the May bank holiday, the Solstice and the August bank holiday. Without the need for advertising, festival goers knew to look out for these dates knowing a festival would be taking place somewhere. The employment of two bank holidays as specific festival times was designed to allow workers the opportunity of attending a festival without the inevitable bleary Monday back at work. The number of festivals in-between these cardinal points also blossomed, giving rise to the possibility of travelling from one to the other (with choice) over the entire long summer. By selling crafts, services, performance busking, tat and assorted gear, Travellers provided themselves with an alternative economy lending financial viability to an itinerant culture.

Evidence suggests that the political campaign to eradicate festivals was aimed at breaking this economy.

Indeed, a working party set up by the Department of Health and Social Security published a report on Itinerant Claimants in March 1986 stating: "Local offices of the DHSS have experienced increasing problems in dealing with claims from large groups of nomadic claimants over the past two or three years. Matters came to a head during the summer of 1985 when several large groups converged on Stonehenge for a festival that had been banned by the authorities. The resulting well publicised confrontation with the police was said to have disrupted the normal festival economy and large numbers of claims to Supplementary Benefit were made."

It is obvious that as soon as they scared away the punters it destroyed the means of exchange. Norman Tebbit went on about getting on your bike and finding employment whilst at the same time being part of the political force that kicked the bike from under us.

In the years that followed, the right-wing press made much of dole-scrounging Travellers, with no acknowledgement that the engineered break-up of the festival economy was largely responsible.

Another ramification of this tactic was even more insidious and ugly.
At the entrance gate to the 1984 Stonehenge Free Festival a burnt out car bore testament to the levels of self-policing emerging from the social-experiment. The sign protruding from the wreckage proclaimed: "This was a smack dealers car."

Dispossessed of their once thriving economy and facing incessant and increasing harassment and eviction, the break down of community left Travellers prone to a destructive force potentially more devastating than anything directly forced by the authorities.

"At one time smack wasn't tolerated on the road at all," recalls mother of six, Decker Lynn. "Certainly on festival sites, if anybody was selling or even using it they were just put off site full stop."

Heroin, the great escape to oblivion, found the younger elements of a fractured community prone to its clutches and its use spread like myxamatosis. Once again Traveller families were forced to vacate sites that became `dirty', further imbalancing the battered communities and creating a split between `clean' and `dirty' sites.
Lynn who still lives in her double-decker bus

"I don't park on big sites anymore. Heroin is something that breaks up a community because people become so self-centred they don't give a damn about their neighbours."

Many Travellers report incidents of blatant heroin dealing going untouched by police, whilst other Travellers on the same site were prosecuted for small amounts of hashish. The implication of their claims were that the authorities recognised that if heroin took hold of the travelling community, their designs on its destruction would take care of itself. Recalls Lynn

"So many times people got away with it and there were very few busts for smack. They must know smack is the quickest way to divide a community; united we stand and divided we don't."

The other manifestation of community disruption was the emergence of the so called brew crew. These were mainly angry young Travellers feeding themselves on a diet of special brew and developing a penchant for nihilism, blagging and neighbourly disrespect. Whilst festival culture was healthy, the travelling community could cope, once broken up however, the community had problems dealing with the exodus.
Decker Lynn says.

"To start with it was contained. Every family had its problems but the brew crew was a very small element around 1986, and very much contained by the families that were around. But there was a large number of angry young people pouring out of the cities with brew and smack and the travelling community couldn't cope with the numbers."

The so called `brew crew' caused constant disruption for the festivals still surviving on the decimated circuit and provided an obvious target for slander-hungry politicians and right-wing media, with the entire scene regularly painted with the inevitable all inclusive black brush.

Raves, Dance Parties etc...

Towards the end of the 80s a cultural phenomenon began to emerge around the country resulting in an injection of new blood and economy to the festival scene. Rave parties were similar to free festivals in that they were unlicensed events in locations kept secret until the last possible moment. Such events offered similar opportunities for adventure and began attracting huge numbers of young people from the cities. This scene grew dramatically. Where some of these parties differed from the free festivals was that they were organised by groups such as Sunrise who would charge an entry fee and consequently make large amounts of money in the process. Not all such rave parties were of this nature however, and the free festival scene began to merge with the rave party scene producing a hybrid with new dynamism

Not everyone on the free festival scene was pleased with the consequences of this festi-rave fusion however.

I have pointed out before that one of the main things I liked about festivals was going around fires and trucks listening to accordions and talking to people. When the ravers arrived, I couldn't hear anything other than the beat. A mass influx of young ravers who were not clued up as to country life did attract a lot of unwelcome attention to Travellers, but without them the festival scene would have finished in 91 and no-one these days would know what we were talking about.

Others, found renewed enthusiasm in the cultural mutation. Having attended free festivals since 1984 and lived on the road intermittently during that period Steve Redshaw welcomed the new blood:

"Towards the end of the 80s things were getting bad on the festival circuit. Then raves revitalised the scene and I got my faith back. "

Once again, political attention was now targeted against these new impromptu rave events, resulting in the Entertainment (Increased Penalties) Act 1990. Introduced by John Majors Personal Private Secretary, Graham Bright, this private members bill brought in massive fines of up to £20,000 for the organisers of unlicensed events. Once again this legislation had a dramatic affect on the free festival/rave scene, pushing event organisation into the hands of large commercial promoters with the necessary sums required to pay for licences and policing.
Steve Redshaw observes:

"By 1993 the laws were having their effect on the free rave scene. Dance music then moved into clubs and became more exclusive."

The nature of festival promotion consequently swung away from a community-based orientation, as businessmen and commercial club owners cashed in on the existing public desire for adventurous festival/parties in the countryside. According to Tony Hollingsworth, ex-events promoter for the GLC and now part of the multi-million pound commercial festival outfit Tribute:

"The motivation behind these festivals is no longer passion, it is commerce."

Relative to the people-led festivals, the commercial festival scene offers little more than another shopping experience, where an attendant wallet is valued and encouraged far more than participation

Castlemorton Common

By 1992 leaked documents from Avon and Somerset Constabulary demonstrated the existence of Operation Nomad. Force Operational Order 36/92 marked `In Confidence', revealed:

"With effect from Monday 27th April 1992, dedicated resources will be used to gather intelligence in respect of the movement of itinerants and travellers and deal with minor acts of trespass".

An intelligence unit set up by Avon and Somerset produced regular Operation Nomad bulletins, listing personal details on Travellers and regular festival goers unrelated to any criminal conviction. A Force Operational Order issued by the Chief Constable also stated:

"Resources will be greatly enhanced for the period Thursday 21st May to Sunday 24th May inclusive in relation to the anticipated gathering of Travellers in the Chipping Sodbury area."

This item referred to the annual Avon Free Festival which had been occurring in the area around the May bank holiday for several years, albeit in different locations. However, 1992 was the year Avon and Somerset Police intended to put a full stop to it. As a result the thousands of people travelling to the area for the expected Festival were shunted into neighbouring counties by Avon and Somerset's Operation Nomad police manoeuvres.

The end result was the impromptu Castlemorton Common Festival, another pivotal event in the recent history of festival culture.

West Mercia Police claim they had no idea that an event might happen in their district, the truth of which relies on the unlikely situation that Avon and Somerset Police did not inform their neighbouring constabulary of Operation Nomad.

In the event, a staggering 30,000 Travellers, ravers and festival goers gathered almost overnight on Castlemorton Common to hold a free festival that flew in the face of the Public Order Act 1986 and the Entertainment (Increased Penalties) Act 1990. It was a massive celebration and the biggest of its kind since the bountiful days of the Stonehenge Free Festival. West Mercia Police claimed that due to the speed with which it coalesced, they were powerless to stop it.

However, the authorities used Castlemorton in a way that led people to suggest it had been at least partly engineered. After all, a large number of people had been shunted into the area by Operation Nomad, was it really likely that West Mercia police were unaware of this? The right-wing press published acres of crazed and damning coverage of the event, including the classic front page Daily Telegraph headline: "Hippies fire flares at Police". The following mornings Daily Telegraph editorial read: "New Age, New Laws" and within two months, Sir George Young, then Minister for Housing, confirmed that new laws against Travellers were imminent "in reaction to the increasing level of public dismay and alarm about the behaviour of some of these groups."

Indeed, the outcry following Castlemorton provided the basis for the most draconian law yet levelled against alternative British culture. Just as the Public Order Act 1986 followed the events at Stonehenge in 1985, so the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill began its journey in 1992, pumped with the manufactured outrage following Castlemorton. By the time it reached statute two years later, it included criminal sanctions against assembly, outdoor unlicensed music events, unauthorised camping, and `aggravated trespass'. The law also reduced the number of vehicles which could gather together from twelve (as stipulated in the Public Order Act 1986) to six.

The news-manufacture used to prepare the public palate for the coming law was incessant, with media descriptions of Travellers including "hordes of marauding locusts" (Daily Telegraph), and "These foul pests must be controlled" (Daily Mail).

Police Surveillance

Many of us had felt under surveillance for some time, but since the Beanfield, their was a marked increase in their activities. Records were being made of names, nicknames, vehicle registration and undercover operations carried out. Photographs taken.

The year after Castlemorton Common, the police set up Operation Snapshot, an intelligence-gathering exercise on raves and Travellers, designed to establish a database of personal details, names, nicknames, vehicle registration numbers, Traveller sites and movements. Undercover operations carried out. Photographs taken.

This information was used as a backbone for an ongoing intelligence operation begun by the Southern Central Intelligence Unit (SCIU), operated from Devizes in Wiltshire and initially co-ordinated by PC Malcolm Keene. The SCIU held regular meetings with representatives of all the constabularies of Britain.

Leaked documents revealed that Operation Snapshot had estimated there to be around 2,000 Travellers vehicles and 8,000 Traveller's in the UK. In the minutes of a meeting held at Devizes on March 30th 1993, the objectives of the operation included the development of "a system whereby intelligence could be taken into the control room, and the most up-to-date intelligence was to hand"..... "capable of high-speed input and retrieval and dissemination of information." The meeting was attended by constabulary representatives from Bedfordshire, Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Dyfed-Powys, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, South Wales, Gwent, Staffordshire, Thames Valley, Warwickshire, Surrey, Suffolk, West Mercia, West Midlands, Ministry of Defence and the National Criminal Intelligence Service (Hampshire and Essex sent apologies).

They were all asked and all agreed to provide the Southern Central Intelligence Unit with "any information, no matter how small on New Age Travellers or the Rave scene". The leaked minutes revealed the database was designed to hold one million items of information. Clearly this is a number far in excess of those that have committed any offences.

After a short period the Northern New Age Traveller Co-ordination Unit, designed to cover the north of Britain, was established and operated from Penrith in Cumbria.

Liberty has challenged this police monitoring at the European Court of Human Rights. They said:

"Targeting the whole of the travelling community is beyond the European Conventions' limitations. Just because someone is a `new age traveller' doesn't mean that they are involved in crime".

At the conservative Party Conference, the Prime Minister, John Major reminded the party faithful:

"Society needs to condemn a little more and understand a little less.
New age travellers?
Not in this age!
Not in any age!! "

Criminal Justice Act 1994

The scene was set for a further tightening of the screw.

In 1994, the government passed the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act. This piece of legislation is very lengthy and far-reaching. It has a number of provisions that directly affect the lifestyles of many people with which I have been involved.

Travellers in particular and other taking direct action to deal with their housing situation are primarily affected. The provisions of part five of the Act have been given particular attention by civil liberties groups such as Liberty. They believe that many sections are effectively designed to outlaw a whole way of life and generally erode our human rights.

On these sections, Liberty explain that:

"No gathering of more than twenty people may take place anywhere if the police choose to object, unless some landowner has consented to his or her land being used for this purpose (in which case, the landowner may incur legal liability for the actions of those who gather)"

Further, they point out that:

"These clauses are probably in breach of Article 11 of the European Convention (Freedom of Assembly). Concern is expressed at the sections which apply to gatherings with music and are targeted at festivals and `raves'".

For travellers and those involved in peaceful protest on private property (environmental activists), section 61 on the CJA is even more draconian than the previous Public Order Act.

Section 61 now provides a power for the senior police officer present at a scene to direct trespassers on land to move if:

(a) six or more vehicles are present (previously 12)
(b) damage is caused to the land or property on the land. (previously damage to gates fences etc. now the land itself i.e.: tyre marks on the grass!!).

Penalties for this offence, or to return with three months can mean œ2,500 fine or three months imprisonment, or both.

Further, section 62 allows the police to seize and remove vehicles when they have issued a direction and it has been ignored. Further sections of the act enable the seized vehicles to be held until all removal and storage charges are paid. Fees to reclaim motors are likely to be high, from one of the five 'holding pounds' that have been established. An uncollected vehicle will eventually be destroyed and a further charge had for this!

The Act at large criminalizes diversity and dissent and thus has implications for the wider population such as say Trade Union activity and local protests about services (the hospital, the by-pass, the local factory etc.). Fundamentally, many of its provisions are about land rights. What one can (and cannot) do on land. Which is of course, nearly always someone else's.

Benefit Clampdowns

In addition to the police surveillance described earlier, further monitoring information was gathered via social security offices. The working party report on Itinerant Claimants prepared for the DHSS in 1986 advised that "in the interests of advance warning and the safety of staff, we recommend better liaison with the police."

A 1993 internal Benefits Agency bulletin (issue 24/93) headed `New Age Travellers' and marked "not to be released into the public domain", stated:

"Offices will be aware of the adverse reaction from the media following the treatment of claims from this client group last summer [Castlemorton]. Ministers are concerned that the Benefits Agency and Employment Services take all necessary steps to ensure that claims from this group are scrutinised carefully."

The bulletin reports that a National Task Force has been set up to "monitor the movements of such groups of Travellers" and to "inform relevant District managers of their approach and numbers". In the back of the bulletin is a list of telephone numbers for all the regional police contacts in both the Northern New Age Traveller Co-ordination Unit and the Southern Central Intelligence Unit. Every constabulary in the country, including the Ministry of Defence police, had at least one but usually several, such co-ordinators.

Also included in the bulletin was a possible itinerary of festivals for summer 1993.

In 1995, the Benefit Agency conducted a census of New Age Traveller benefit claimants including their personal details. A leaked copy of the results suggested there to be 2,000 such claimants. In July 1996, more leaked documents revealed that the Agency was once again asking regional offices to carry out a census, the results of which are as yet unavailable. After October 7th 1996, when the Job Seekers Allowance scheme began, benefit may be halted if "appearance" or "attitude" "actively militates against getting a job". The implications for the further selective targeting of the Traveller community are obvious.

The aftermath

The extraordinary lengths taken by the authorities to annihilate the new Traveller population in the UK are a testament to the treatment meted out to cultural minorities outside `acceptable' norms.

The use of legislation, intelligence, targeted harassment, benefit clampdowns and news-manufacture have been employed as a multi-tactic approach stretched across a ten year period.

Such strategies are often achieved without public knowledge; with the length of time over which they are employed, diffusing recognition of their mechanism and ultimate intention. What is clear, however, is that rather than seek to democratically accommodate an expanding community culture, Margaret Thatcher's government and those who replaced her, sought instead to annihilate it. The social consequences are immense.

The festival circuit, once an evolving people-led celebration and community co-operation, now lies largely in the hands of profit-motivated commercial promoters. Meanwhile, the travelling community, fractionalised by an annihilation strategy, now displays symptoms reminiscent of the inner cities from which many had fled.

However, despite the worst excesses of the cultural clampdown, some travellers remain secreted all over the country. Many are now in smaller groups, inconspicuous and unregistered if not drawing benefit.

Since the enactment of the Criminal Justice Act and the other measured described, it is thought that many thousands of travellers have left the country to places like Spain, Ireland, Portugal and France. In anticipation of the crackdown on their lifestyle to come.

Who knows what next!!

Some have gone to Europe and beyond being concerned for their families future in Britain.

Perhaps I may join them!

I believe that the communities described represent genuine endeavours in discovering enduring and sustainable ways of life and conducting experiments in how we and the planet may survive. I wish them well in these uncertain times.

2002-07-22T17:34:00.000Z

I have discovered a 'space' on the BBC website, where they are developing a community of folks that can contribute to a discussion of issues of concern

It's called DNA 360 and it's at :> http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/

and their pre-ample says this:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to 360 - Answers to world problems, provided by you

360 is the BBC's community-based, positive news website that features your solutions to world problems. It is written, edited and directed by you - the BBC provides the forum and the possibility that BBC television and radio will take up your ideas.

360 seeks positive news stories about the four key world problems identified by the United Nations as priorities for a civilised world:

The Environment - Poverty - Preventable Disease - Conflict
These problems will only be solved by grass-roots action - no idea, project or solution is too small to feature on 360. Whatever your project, we want to hear about it.
-------------------------------------------------------------

seem right up our street, I thought……………..

It has an audience of many thousand, being a mainstream site, it is perhaps a rare opportunity to put and exchange info in front the general public, rather than 'just' us; enviros, activists, squatters, party-persons, festivalers, travellers, and general no-goods what already know!
How about giving it a go, and chiming in with me?

-------------------------------------------------------------

I've banged in, several shed-loads that you can see at the following links:

BBC 360 - Personal Space - Tash
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/U196996

BBC 360 - Tash's Articles
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/MA196996?show=25&type=2

I'd written sommat called "On being watched - for having concerns for the planet", and seems to have caused the most waves of the piece I've put in. ………..

it's at :> http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/A771996
-------------------------------------------------------------

SchNews watchers with notice it's much the same piece that I'd originally produced for the SchNews book, a couple of years ago. I was concerned about it all then and remain so now.

The work ended up 'wining a Winny!' [in fact, A 'Winston' - after Winston Smith out '1984'. the Privacy International - 'Big Brother' award for folks shining lights in dark corners on surveillance issues. ]

Needless to say, folks are not believing some of the issues I'm trying to raise. I exaggerate! , when I say you can get a video camera poked in your face, for mealy attending a protest, party, action etc. Then of course, the usual, "well if you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear……!" Yea Right!

A lot has happened in the last few years since writing it. Street surveillance up zillions of percent. More police 'evidence gather' photography, resulting in higher arrests, and the last cart-load of internet and commutations law in the shape of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Communications Data Additional Public Authorities) Order 2002.
The latest scary instalment of this story may be seen at :> http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2118894,00.html so its already worst than I've told 'em. I know I need to do chapter 2 !!
-------------------------------------------------------------

So, what I'm getting round to, is that many folks reading this will know from some personal experience, what it's like for them. If your inclined, will you look at some of what I've put up, and comment, agreeing or no. Because I'm outnumbered.

Also, and mainly, can you put up your own stuff on their site, to 'balance' the community there. Since, in the 'pre-amble' what they say they're doing, and what the site is for, I reckon we're doing.

Take a look and see what you think, seems a useful opportunity to me.

My posting about the BBC site, also here on yahoo groups.

guilfin Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/guilfin/message/15624
Feeling of Life Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fol-network/?yguid=3045830

2002-07-21T22:01:00.000Z

An example of the Police monitoring of newsgroups, looking for the next party

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&th=c0fa15e9a092f03e,13&seekm=33679180.385A@dircon.co.uk#link1

this is some of what was talked about ...............

From: North Wales Police (ae368@dial.pipex.com)
Subject: Re: Calling all Free Party people of Wales! DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE PARTY STARTS?
Newsgroups: uk.music.rave
Date: 1997/05/02

The North Wales Police are monitoring your activities and we will take action to prevent your event.
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/nwp/
From: jameslenoel (jlenoel@ea.com)
Subject: Re: Calling all Free Party people of Wales! DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE PARTY STARTS?
Newsgroups: uk.music.rave
Date: 1997/05/02

In article <3369E88B.69B5@dial.pipex.com>, North says...
>
>The North Wales Police are monitoring your activities and we will take action
>to prevent your event.
>
> http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/nwp/

Nice website, though it is let down by those low quality photos rather. You'll find all kinds of skilled individuals able to produce a far more impressve site
on this newsgroup. However, even though they are for the most part sucessful at what ever it is they choose to do they find themselves criminalised by
ridiculous laws, the essence of which is contained in the CJA, an act passed even though your own bosses said it wouldn't, couldn't and shouldn't be made to
work.
You have a problem, because for every party you bust (cracking heads- no thanks.) there will be another ten that go off completely peacefully, without
molestation by those who are meant to protect and serve ALL the people of this great and diverse nation. It is intersting to browse your website for there are a number of contradictions included therein that suggest a wilfull disregard for your own policy.

Example:
One of the North Wales Police force's aims is, and I quote:

'Recognising and accepting the manner in which our public wish to live their lives and adjusting our policing style and availability to meet their needs.'

You seem to be failing this aim pretty badly, though it needn't be like that. Indeed, there are Chief Constables around the country who take a far more
realistic and pragmatic view working with organisers of parties both 'legal' and 'illegal' to ensure the saftey of those citizens who attend. Perhaps you could
take note of what they do, as a party that has the support, tacit or otherwise, of the local constabulary will be more likely to both safe and clean.
Generally, permission is sought from landowners for these 'celebrations of life' and allowing people to set up, put on and then, of course, clear up would surely
make both yours and their lives more easy. I don't know, you may even foster the kind of community relations that you speak of on your website.

Essentially, though, you cannot win, while 'ravers' and 'criminals' rise up through the ranks of this society and change it for the better, ill-judged
policies or inflexible 'dinosaurs' in the police force will become extinct. You owe it to yourselves, your families and your fellow countrymen and women to
think about the ramifications of persecuting people who are, for the most part, law-abiding, useful members of a free-thinking and liberal society that we, the
young and not-so-young are creating. A society based on mutual respect, peace and understanding (Hark, I hear you sniggering, but it is happening slowly but
inexorably).

Danny Richards wrote in article
...
> In article <3369E88B.69B5@dial.pipex.com>, North Wales Police
> writes
> >The North Wales Police are monitoring your activities and we will take action
> >to prevent your event.
> Is this for real or a wind up.

It's for real. Can you believe it. They came round to see me this
evening!!!! They thought that I was the 'organiser'.

I'm freaked out..

Oops.

My name will be all muddy around here now if it gets out that it was me
that leaked the venue. Any chance of keeping it quiet.

really deflated PLUR :-(

From: Mike Slocombe (mike@urban75.demon.co.uk)
Subject: Re: Calling all Free Party people of Wales! DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE PARTY STARTS?
Newsgroups: uk.music.rave
View this article only
Date: 1997/05/03

In article <01bc5727$b0355ec0$0100007f@bron-elidir>, Phillip Ingle
writes
>It's for real. Can you believe it. They came round to see me this
>evening!!!! They thought that I was the 'organiser'.
>
>I'm freaked out..
>
>Oops.
>
>My name will be all muddy around here now if it gets out that it was me
>that leaked the venue. Any chance of keeping it quiet.

Don't let the batards grind you down :)

Mike

2002-07-18T22:13:00.000Z

Any web site i go on to about the secret service, mi5 etc,only gives you particular information

dear tash,

I was reading your website and i just have to say i found it really interesting but there are several things i wanted to ask you.

Any web site i go on to about the secret service, mi5 etc,only gives you particular information, and i wanted to know what had to be needed to join etc,

I love the way things work and why they work,and though it may be a long shot would adore a career in this but by reading the different sites, i came back out with the same questions, what do i need to do? still not sure, so i was wondering if you could help me with that . hope to hear from you

Blimey, is this scary, or what ....... :-)

Have applied to MI5, under the Data Protection Act, and they say, "we don't have any info on you". Should I believe them, or not ........!!

2002-07-17T23:44:00.000Z

Now I live in a mud house in the middle of the Valley of the Inca in peru..........

I dont know if we have been introduced personally , because my memory is crap, but I may have met, but as a long time resident of Stevenage and having frequented your events occasionally or met some of you in Prauge where I did some tech stuff and wrote the English version web site for INPEG.

Since then I wrote the website for the greenpepper in Amsterdam and did some of your more conventional street work at the Bonn COP6.5 Climate Confrence with Rising Tide.

Now I live in a mud house in the middle of the Valley of the Inca in peru ... Never the less I am long aquainted fan of your work . and keep my finger in Europe on the wire

I have just put up a few sites on the internet which have links to your site and some information which probably mis-represents you in some way.

The text and pics that I have used were ripped off of your site and I may have inadvertently transgressed your intilectual property rights.

The banner is just a quicky I made up but if you have an animated gif or a banner that I could use instead then send it to me

This is the Amsterdam Art of Resistance site which I have put an entry in for you under the section for writers so if you would like any changes then let me know.

http://www.squat.net/cia/aor/

Terry Hudson terrylhudson@hotmail.com

2002-07-16T21:22:00.000Z

MOBILE PHONE: LOCATION DATA
INFORMATION HELD BY THE COMPANIES ON CUSTOMERS

This is a tale of trying to get 'Location Data' from communication companies on the use of a mobile phone.

To explain my interest a little further.

I have been at demonstrations, when I've seen people, I know to be involved in the organisation of the event, use their mobile phone. Shortly after, I've seen a police 'snatch squad' charge in and arrest the person concerned. Having been nearby, I've not seen these people throw rocks or abuse that otherwise might well have caused them to be targeted. I could, of course, nave no idea if other 'intelligence' was being used…..

From the articles I've sited here, companies, giving evidence in court, sometimes only guarantee a user location to quite a large area [35Km in Cellnet o2's case!]

Thus, they could not 'triangulate' an individual in a crowd. HOWEVER, I've seen people 'lifted' under these conditions a few times now.

I had thus conducted the following experiment, to get copies of my own 'location data', by a 'Subject Access Request" under the Data Protection Act.

To see if I might make some estimate of these increasing capabilities.

Just been working and sharing information with Steven Mathieson, a freelance reporter and contributor on communication issues in the Guardian.

Over the last few months he had produced articles to do with the ability of mobile phone companies to supply 'location data' on the use of a mobile phone [cellphone to the US readers here].

The pieces that first attracted my attention were:

The net's eyes are watching: The new anti-terrorism bill may force internet firms to spy on us.
S A Mathieson reports
Thursday November 15, 2001
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,593343,00.html

You can ring, but you can't hide: Our mobile phones track every move we make, but we're entitled to see their logs. S A Mathieson went on a lengthy search for his
Thursday November 29, 2001
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,608434,00.html

In sight of the law: The police and local authorities are using technology to keep a close watch on our every move.
SA Mathieson looks behind the scenes
Thursday March 1, 2001
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,444313,00.html

Caught in the Wap: 3G may be strangled at birth if networks don't put security first
SA Mathieson
Guardian
Thursday March 28, 2002
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4383023,00.html

Track your every move: Big-name companies monitor all your purchases - and you have a right to see the results.
S A Mathieson reports
Thursday May 16, 2002
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,715871,00.html

Steven Mathieson Brief biography
After graduating from King's College at Cambridge University, Steven spent a year travelling in North America, Australasia and south-east Asia. On returning, he joined Corporate Finance, a specialist financial title owned by Euromoney Publications.
He joined the newsdesk staff of Computing in November 1997, and reported on issues including government policy, ecommerce, the IT job market and corporate software. He also wrote occasional features and viewpoint columns, and chose which Dilbert cartoon the paper printed.
He left in February 2000 to pursue a freelance career. His clients now include the Guardian, Health Service Journal and Computing. He lives in Bath.

http://www.samathieson.com

Chronology
This is the chronology of my 'Subject Data Access Request, to get Information & location data derived from the use of a mobile phone. I think, by showing you this lot, I demonstrate that they don't want to tell me …….!

 17th Dec 01 Letter to Cellnet of initial enquiry.
 20th Dec 01 Cellnet reply saying not entitled to data.
 28th Jan 02 Formal request to Cellnet.
 22nd Feb 02 Letter to Information Commission regarding no response from Cellnet.
 01st Mar 02 Information Commission replies saying I've not waited required 40 days.
 11th Mar 02 Re-apply to Information Commission for assistance and investigation.
 12th Mar 02 Information Commission replies - commencing the process.
 03rd Apr 02 Information Commission response saying Cellnet had not received my application.
 09th May 02 Letter to Information Commission as Cellnet has still not replied, as per Commissioner letter of 3rd April.
 6 June 02 Letter to Cellnet: Subject Access Request [applic. On forms] re: 'Location Data' held by Cellnet
 21 June 02 Cellnet / o2 finally reply with an extensive document [ 40 pages long ], but with the location data, concealed within their own coding. Translation of which might be 'commercially sensitive' they say, Where I came in on the 17th December 2001

TO BT CELLNET

17th December 2001.

Information: "location data" derived from the use of a mobile phone.

Dear Sir,

Have read an article in Guardian [29 Nov 01] from the Online section, in which information on the use of a mobile phone is discussed.

The purpose of the article was to discuss the use and databasing of "location data" derived from the use of a mobile phone.

I have an interest in these matters and for a first enquiry then, would ask you what information can be released and what procedure I should follow to apply for it.

I note that there are many privacy implications here and additionally wondered if there was any guidance that Cellnet followed in dealing with such matters. Is this publicly available?

Thanking you for any assistance.

>>>>

FROM BT CELLNET

20th December 2001

Dear Mr Lodge

Thank you for your letter dated 17th December 2001.

I have been in contact with our legal department who deals with Data Protection enquiries. They have advised me that details pertaining to the transmission of calls and their corresponding transmitter locations are not considered personal details, to which you are entitled to access under the Data Protection Act.

Such information is considered commercially sensitive as it directly refers to our operational processes. Details such as call duration, date and time of call, dialled digits, cost of call and whether the call was made within the UK or whilst roaming, can be accessed upon a written request to our Data Controller. Details on how we route a call through our network is information the belongs the BT Cellnet and to be disclosed requires a court order.

Yours etc ……

Erika Lowe
BT Cellnet Complaint Resolution

++++
Slightly amazing job title to reply, I hadn't complained, I only asked!!

>>>>

TO BT CELLNET

Monday, 28 January 2002

Information: "location data" derived from the use of a mobile phone.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your letter dated 20 Dec 2001.

You will know from your records that I was enquiring about the provision of 'location data'. My interests here, was sparked on reading a Guardian article, dated: 29 Nov 01 from the Online section.

Please will you forgive my confusion, but your reply, does seem to be at significant variance to the conclusions of this article. [printout enclosed].

“I understand that I have a statutory right under the Data Protection Act 1998, section 7 (1), to issue a Subject Access Request, obliging you to disclose in full all data your organisation holds on me. Please treat this letter as a Subject Access Request for all my personal data.
It is my understanding that this personal information includes location data concerning which base station my phone is registered with during a given time period. I am particularly concerned with seeing this information.
If you do not believe you are obliged to disclose my personal data under the terms of the Act, I would be grateful if you can provide me with an explanation.”

>>>>

Compliance Officer
Information Commissioner

Dear Sir / Madam.

On reading a Guardian article, dated: 29 Nov 01 from the Online section, titled: " You can ring, but you can't hide "
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4309424,00.html

The article deals with the collection of "Location Data" by mobile phone companies.

Reading the piece, I discovered that the author had successfully applied for this information under the Data Protection Act.

However, on trying this myself, it generated this correspondence. You will note in the exchange that I have ask for and been refused this information on the grounds, quote:

" Such information is considered commercially sensitive as it directly refers to our operational processes "

However, this is at variance with the experience of the author of this piece.

I thus contacted them again, and pointed out:

“I understand that I have a statutory right under the Data Protection Act 1998, section 7 (1), to issue a Subject Access Request, obliging you to disclose in full all data your organisation holds on me. Please treat this letter as a Subject Access Request for all my personal data."

I believe that I am entitled to this information and think that BT Cellnet is prevaricating. I have received no further replies from them.

In view of all this, are you able to advise me what I can do next. I still wish to pursue the matter.

>>>>

04 March 2002

Hello Steven

Gosh, what a long and tortuous route..!

You may remember that I'd written to Cellnet regarding 'location data', associated with mobile phone usage. You already have a copy of the correspondence I've had with them.

I had first written to Cellnet on Monday, 17 December 2001 and received a 'fob-off'!!

As you had suggested, I wrote again on Monday, 28 January 2002, including a paragraph making clear that this was a 'subject access request'. Still nothing happened,

So I e-mailed the story so far to the Information Commissioners Office. Have just received a reply from them this morning, pointing out that they can't help till after 40 days of non-compliance with request. It appears that this is counted from the last letter, rather than the original request.

So on my calculations; I have to go round again if I've not heard back by Monday 11th March, beginning of next week. You may also like to know that I've not heard from MI5 either! [that is, since returning my proof of identity]. Their 40 days expire on the 7th March. The information Commissioner doesn't know about my other request, so might end up getting back to them with a 'job lot'.

So there you have it. Diligence seems to be required.

>>>>

My formal request, made under the Data Protection Act

Please supply all 'location-specific' data generated my mobile phone, including but not exclusively cell ID data. I Believe that the personal information you would hold on me, as a customer, includes location data concerning which base station my phone is registered with during a given time period.

>>>>

15 March 2002

RE: Location Data / mobile phone use.

Hello Steven

Thanks for your e-mail yesterday, confirming that you've received the last wedge of paper I'd sent you.

After dealing with the various time limits they were operating, I have now received a preliminary response from the Information Commissioner.

I see this is going to be really uphill!

You'll note that they say they were aware of the issues you'd raised in your articles, but my case is different! I don't see how or why, but will send you the next instalment as and when.

You say you have another piece that will be appearing in Guardian Online. Would appreciate a reminder.

>>>>

Compliance Officer
Information Commissioner

09 May 2002

I had a number of communications with your office, over the last couple of months, regarding my difficulty in getting information from Cellnet. You may see from the record, that I'd written to them requesting 'location data' regarding the use of a mobile phone. They had not replied, and I was thus seeking your advice and help.

It appears that on your enquiries, Cellnet had stated that they did not receive my request in the first place. This was strange, since I had written to the same address a little earlier, with my initial enquiry and received an unfavourable reply. Then, the 'follow-up' letter I'd written to them was the formal request for information and they say they had not received this.

Anyway, according to your letter of 3rd April: they were then

"going to contact me with regards to fulfilling your request".

Unfortunately, as of today, no further response has been received.

What do you think I should do next?

· Give up!
· Ask for further advice and help from yourselves
· Go round again, sending the same letter to Cellnet as I had on 17th December 2001

I am of course, grateful for any assistance, as I do feel a little ignored.

>>>>

From: Information Commissioner

15 May 2002

Dear Mr Lodge

We have contacted BT Cellnet, they have informed me that there was a breakdown of communications on their part, and that they have now contacted you regarding your subject access request and the action that is to be taken

I trust this is an accurate reflection of the situation

Yours etc ….

>>>>

TO Data Controller
Cellnet O2 Ltd
Leeds

06 June 2002

Spoke to you a couple of weeks ago on the telephone, regarding my difficulties in getting information.

I had first applied back in January. I received an unsatisfactory reply, and, after taking some advice, sent the enclosed letter. I waited a respectful time and having not heard from your organisation, contacted the Data Commissioner for further help. I think that it was in response to this, that you first contacted me.

Because of the delay in first hearing from you, you had offered to waive the £10.00 fee. Thank you very much for this.

>>>>

FROM BT Cellnet - Finally reply with 'some' information

21 June 2002

Received 40 pages of information in column of meaningless code

Telephone conversation will Cellnet / o2 Data Controller saying that they will not 'translate' these codes since they represent 'commercially sensitive' data.

This is were I came in 20th December 2001.

>>>>

24 June 2002

Hello Steven

Gosh! Well having started this project / application, back in December, I now have a reply from Cellnet [now o2].

Because of the adventure to now, the data person at o2 rang me to say it was all customer services fault in the first place. Anyway, since I'd been messed about, they were waiving the £10.00 fee.

Am sending you photocopy of what was supplied. There are the covering parts, but the full submission was 40 pages I think. So have copied the first couple and the last page, to give you an idea of the 'form'.

Well, I understand the first 5 columns ok. The last three columns are about location. However, I don't understand any of that…….. Is it intelligible to you?

I read somewhere in the Data Registrars advice, that data, on subject access request, should be intelligible ( but am unsure now.).

So, if this is useful to you, then use it, [aside from the phone numbers etc of course]

All quite contemporary eh?

With the next stage of the RIPA and Blunketts latest wheezes. Although, postponed, again, it seems to come round again, on 6 monthly cycles now……

===================================

This is an ongoing Project .............. !

It will result in a series of articles in the Guardian, Starting in August 2002

Alan,

Thanks for your ongoing help. The site I mentioned is http://www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk/.

By the way, this is roughly how I’ll be describing your experiences (bear in mind I’ve had to compress things a bit). Anything inaccurate as far as you can see? Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Steven Mathieson

(Note - this follows a description of my nine-month odyssey to get my data, hence the start.)

Mr Lodge’s enquiries were similarly tortuous. He wrote to BT Cellnet (as O2 was then called) on 17 December, and was turned down flat. He tried again on 28 January, and heard nothing. He complained the Information Commissioner’s office, which said he had not given Cellnet the full 40 days. He wrote again after 40 days had elapsed. The office wrote back, saying Cellnet had not received his letter of 28 January. One hopes the mobile networks don’t lose similar communications from police investigating murders.
On 21 June, six months after his first request, O2 sent Mr Lodge a document providing ‘Cell Site Analysis’. This provides three columns of encoded location data for outbound calls made from 6 October 2000 to 19 June 2002 - more than 20 months’ worth. But as with Orange, O2 refused to decode the information, pleading ‘commercially sensitive information’.

Suplimentary links:

Radiocommunications Agency
http://www.radio.gov.uk/
Radio Communications Agency: Mobile Phone Base Station Database
http://www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk/

Your Boss May Know Where You Are - Wired 31 May 2002
http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,52852,00.htm

2002-07-16T10:31:00.000Z

Check this out:
The following from the BBC

Video shows LA police beating boy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/38126000/rm/_38126181_police_bryant22_vi.ram

An officer appears to hold the boy's head against a car

A white Los Angeles police officer has been suspended after being caught on video beating a black teenager during an arrest. The 16-year-old boy, Donovan Jackson, became involved in a scuffle with officers after his father was stopped over a minor motoring offence.

The videotape, which was shot by a tourist at a nearby hotel, shows the handcuffed boy being punched by one of the officers, Jeremy Morse.

It has also been revealed that Officer Morse was named last month in a complaint by Neilson Williams, a 32-year old African-American man, who claims he too was beaten by the officer.

The Donovan Jackson arrest took place near a petrol station in the Inglewood district of Los Angeles - a mainly black and Hispanic area of the inner city - on Saturday night.

The police say the confrontation happened after they made a routine traffic stop.

The teenager, who denies he was resisting arrest, is alleged to have assaulted one of the officers.

The tape shows the handcuffed boy being picked up and slammed face-down against the back of a patrol car.

Mr Donovan was then punched in the jaw by police officer Jeremy Morse, who has since been suspended pending an inquiry into the incident.

Officer Morse and his colleagues say that before the video started rolling the boy had lunged at him, leaving him with cuts on his head, ear and elbow that required hospital treatment.

On the tape, Officer Morse can be seen bleeding from a cut above his ear.

'Extremely disturbing'

Inglewood police lieutenant Eve Irvine described the circumstances of the arrest as "extremely disturbing".

"The incident is being taken very seriously," she said.

We intend to seek justice in the courts unless we get a call from the proper authorities saying: 'We want to do the right thing without a jury

Joe Hopkins, family lawyer

She added that both the Inglewood police department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had begun formal investigations into the incident.

Joe Hopkins, the lawyer for the teenager's family, said the boy was seated on the ground before the officers started hitting him and that the attack was racially motivated.

He said one of the officers had called the boy "nigger" during the incident.

"We intend to seek justice in the courts unless we get a call from the proper authorities saying: 'We want to do the right thing without a jury,'" Mr Hopkins said.

The video, shot by tourist Mitchell Crooks from his motel room, has been shown on television throughout America, prompting an angry reaction.

Human rights groups and activists from the black community have been swift to compare the incident to the 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney King.

When the white officers involved in that case were acquitted it led to some of the worst riots ever seen in Los Angeles.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2117000/2117161.stm

===================

The Duncan Campbell, in the Guardian at said :>

The amateur videotape of the incident has already prompted four separate investigations and the suspension of the policeman concerned. ......

A young white DJ staying at a nearby hotel ran outside with his video camera after hearing screams. What he filmed has now been broadcast countless times on local television.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,752370,00.html

>>>>>>>>>>>

I am in the proceess of trying find this chap [ Mitchell Crooks ], and send him a mail from us video -photo activist types, here in the UK. To tell him of our appreciation, and a jolly well done. We also know a thing or two about police beating and photographic evidence, from the beanfield, before and bloody onwards ....................!!

Interestingly, however, after this situation, he is the only one in jail! It appears he has some previous matter outstanding! Oh god! it's not fair. but we know that ........

2002-07-16T08:37:00.000Z

I've recently set up a space on the BBC website, used for community purposes called BBC 360. If interested, you can view the front page for these at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/

They say:

* ---------------------------------- *

Welcome to 360 - Answers to world problems, provided by you

360 is the BBC's community-based, positive news website that features your solutions to world problems. It is written, edited and directed by you - the BBC provides the forum and the possibility that BBC television and radio will take up your ideas.

360 seeks positive news stories about the four key world problems identified by the United Nations as priorities for a civilised world:

The Environment - Poverty - Preventable Disease - Conflict
These problems will only be solved by grass-roots action - no idea, project or solution is too small to feature on 360. Whatever your project, we want to hear about it."

* ---------------------------------- *

Sounds right up my street!! Not sure how effective, at meeting and informing other, but am giving it a go.

My own 'front page' within thier set up, can be seen at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/U196996

My 'articles page there, is at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/MA196996?show=25&type=2

Here are some examples of the 'thread' of discussion, it has caused :>

A771996 - On Being Watched - for having concerns for the planet

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/F84769?thread=191008&post=2190453#p2180537

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/F84769?thread=191008&post=2190496#p2190496

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/F92543?thread=192046

Subject: Excellent!

Tash,

I take my hat off to you! A long (very long) entry that obviously benefits form a great deal of research and experience. I confess to not having read *all* of what you've written (yet), but I'm glad that we can have this kind of perspective on site. All things need to be looked at from different angles/perspectives if we're ever going to be able to get somewhere near the *truth* of a matter, and what we're told daily through our main (traditional) media channels, I feel we can trust less and less to provide us with something like the whole picture - there's too much at stake politically, and too much financial vested interest. Groundwork like yours is invaluable - it goes towards balancing out one-sided information.

As a solution, in your opinion, should we try and work within the 'establishment', expose the fraud and the clearly undemocratic practices, to improve thing from within? Or do you feel that the travelling life, the 'alternative', that which attempts to exist beyond the clutches of mainstream society, is an answer. And is this life possible when we consider how the perceived threat has been dealt with in the past (Battle of the Beanfields etc)?

Very interesting entry, sir.

Oh, and will you be going to Glastonbury this year? £100 quid a ticket's a bit steep, mind.

Sam.

Subject: Excellent!

Interesting stuff Tash. I've only managed a cursory glance, but it's headed for the printer as I type. I only managed one appearance at Twyford - must have been one of the final weeks, in fact. It was early on in the CJB season...
I thought you may like to quote this:
"Paranoia is a state of heightened awareness. Most people are persecuted beyond their wildest delusions."
Claude Steiner "The Radical Psychiatry Manifesto"

Not 100% accurate maybe, but a killer quote none-the-less.

Frogbit.

Entry: On Being Watched - for having concerns for the planet - A771996
Author: Tash - U196996

This is a sketch around some issues of concern to me. All it appears, for being associated with groups of people, experimenting in trying to make a more fulfiled life for themselves. I am grateful for your comments. Alan Lodge

Subject: A771996 - On Being Watched - for having concerns for the planet

by Ashley

You raise some really fascinating points which affect each and every single one of us. Is there a way we can combat this, claiming back our right to privacy, or is it a lost cause?

Subject: A771996 - On Being Watched - for having concerns for the planet

by Raphael

Hello Tash and Ashley,

This was very interesting although I'm afraid I didn't finish it as it is so long. However, for me it raises all kinds of questions, probably mostly due to my age, which I realise is somewhat advanced for someone on a site like this. I thought I could detect some paranoia in with the reporting. This would be quite understandable of course.
However, may I recommend that the article is shortened a little -- or perhaps divided up so that it is a little more palatable? I didn't even get to read what the solution suggested was because my brain blanked out. Which is not, I think, the idea!
Apologies if this sounds critical; it is just that if the site is to be accessible, the articles on solutions may need to be a little simpler and perhaps more like Frogbit's "Saving the World from your Living Room".

Regards,
Raphael

Subject: A771996 - On Being Watched - for having concerns for the planet

by Sam

I know what you mean, Raphael. Another thing to bear in mind, though, is that some folk temporarily lose access to the Net. They might not have it at home and therefore rely on a connection at school. When term time ends and holidays begin, maybe a cyber cafe is the only connection option. I think in the case of Tash, it's quite likely that he's off travelling somewhere documenting fellow travellers - it is the festival season after all. I'm sure he'll be back - we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Write a reply to this Posting

Subject: A771996 - On Being Watched - for having concerns for the planet

by Tash

Is there anything we can do?

Well unsure, but i've been doing what i can. thing about 'dark corners', is that they are less dark, if you shine a light in them.

Police and authorities continue to watch the citizen, in case it does something wrong. Laws continually being drafted to lawfully enable this to occur. But law is not supposed to be one sided.

In Pulic Order situations, i think that 'they' often break more laws than 'us'. hence photographer, and tape recording to demonstrate this, to a proper standard of evidence. I tell you now, they hate it and look for every device to stop me.

Bit one sided if you ask me. but this citizen is into sticking up for himself. thanks for your observations. Am in the process of posting another shed load of material. Please anyone, feel free to comment as you like.

Subject: A771996 - On Being Watched - for having concerns for the planet

by Maggy

Glad you're back Tash

Subject: A771996 - On Being Watched - for having concerns for the planet

by Tash

Hello,

Want to reply to the comments raised on my piece. First, I'm grateful to receive any comments, positive or negative. One of the reason I wanted to post, was for exactly this reason.

No, I have not posted and just run away! I have been away!

Being a traveller, I travel

I cannot be next to a computer, as often as some, but more frequently than many of my friends.

Oh, there is another reason, I find the layout here really complicated. just me and my abilities perhaps, but still remains a fact. Although i've checked your site out a couple of times, since my original posting, this saturday, something became clear to me, and I suddenly realised that there were postings to read. So i'm here now, and have book-marked the posting page. [if it doesn't move about].

With some sites, an email notification gets sent on reply to such matters. Can we not have one of those here?

I take on board the length crit. Since I'm about to post another shed-load. I will attempt to do this now, in a number of sections.

Tell me how i'm doing.[ tash@gn.apc.org ]

2002-07-14T19:18:00.000Z

nATo in Manchester

This is some of what i'm doing next week, all sounds very exciting. So, if you're anywhere near Central Manchester please drop in, and I'll see you there. A goodn' perhaps.............

Blitz Festival Events
Events run from the 20th to the 28th July
Street Theatre: keep your ear to the ground:

http://www.beyondtv.org/nato

nATo is a banner organisation , bringing together artists working on a broad spectrum of cultural,
social and political issues. We are dedicated to the production of spontaneous, independent and conscious public art.

Space Hijackers,
Surveillance Camera Players,
Buton Ghosts,
Fanclub,
Original Art Wankers,
Consumer Aliens,
Movement of the Imagination
and many more

Outdoor Opening party wiv moosic
Date: Saturday 20th July - starts midday
Location: Great Northern Square outide The Great Northern Railway Complex, Central Manchester

Moosical guests include

Ozomatli,
Steven Nancy,
Desolation Angels,
the Agents of Groove,
Valerie,
Panjit G [Asian Dub Foundation]

&

Huge Slide projections by Tash - Video projections by Beyond TV?

Agitate Art Exhibition

Date: 20 - 28 July
Location: Great Northern Railway Complex, Central Manchester

AgiTate - Is art the mirror by which we view the world around us, or is it the hammer that smashes the mirror?
The contributors to Agitate are in the main primarily activists and their work is an extension of their politics.

>>List of Artists and more INFO

Yeast Experience at the Green Room
Date: Wednesday 24th July
Location: Green Room Manchester

A Multimedia // Music event from the Yeast Collective from London. These guys have a very exciting vision of entertainment blending cutting edge Video projections, music and live perfomance.
Panjit G from Asian Dub Foundation will be Djing on the night.

Psychic Bread, Seth Tobocman and Beyondtv at the Green Room
Date: Saturday 27th July
Location: Green Room Manchester

Psychic bread are bringing a video and poetry performance night to the Green room. More details to follow.
Seth Tobocman from New York will be doing a slideshow and presentation on Art and Politics.
BeyondTV will start the evening with a series of social justice films from around the world and informal discussion.

disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this website are not necessarily shared by all groups or individuals who do
or may operate under the umbrella name nATo.We do not wish to encourage anyone to question the status quo, or to express opinions which question the legitimacy of this political/economic system.
Just put on a crash-helmet,get in bed, turn the TV on and stay put. (Go forth and usurp)

SchNEWS in brief news 364

BLITZED.

Blitz promises to be "a kick-ass anti-corporate extravaganza" to coincide with the Commonwealth Games being held in Manchester later this month.
Organised by NATO - that's Northern Arts Tactical Offensive, the festival covers a week of shows, actions and events kicking off on Sat 20th July with an open air music event, and the opening of two exhibitions. One is AgiTATE being held in a spanking new shopping mall who failed in their bid to ban it once they realised what was happening! Throughout the week there will be film and multimedia events organised by Beyond TV. The week will end with a skate attack and critical mass plus political street theatre on Saturday 27th. NATO has also produced a spoof guide to the city to guide tourists to their events.During that week there will also be a GM trashing nearby, Manchester People’s open seminar for the Anti Commonwealth Games Coalition and lots of anti sweatshop actions.
For a full programme see http://www.nato.uk.net

Direct action magazine Loombreaker reports “the Commonwealth Games are being used to launch a new Corporate Manchester - a posh apartment playground for coke-sniffing yuppies, .... The cost of the games are astronomical - the stadium alone accounts for a cool £120 million - but you won’t hear too much about £80m of public money the council has committed to paying. So if you’re wondering why there are cutbacks in schools and housing, or where your local swimming pools and other public amenities have all gone when your council rents and tax are rising, there’s not much need to look any further really.”

BLITZ PRESS RELEASE

20-28 July, Manchester
FESTIVAL OF RADICAL ART
1.VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITIONS
AgiTATE: Sat 20 - Sat 27 July- @ The Great Northern. [Units 25-28, 1st Floor, Great Northern Warehouse, Deansgate] [open 12-7pm daily; Preview Fri 19July 6-8 pm]
An art show from the political underground. The perfect antidote to the corporate spectacle of the Commonwealth Games. From the untrained street style of Manchester graffitti artists to the internationally renowned work of cartoonist Seth Tobocman, AgiTATE sets out to question where passive observation ends and participation begins, in the art world and everyday life. The seminal collage work of Gee Vaucher will feature alongside contemporary installation artists, photographers, painters and performance artists. These include Mark Cooley from the US, Steven Dickie from Dundee with his pirate radio station and an explosive performance form Jackofficer! Curated by Jai Redman (UHC Collective, with guest curators Kwong Lee and Helen Knowles (Radio Halo)
Participating artists are: Angel, Mark Cooley, Steven Dickie, Jo Hudson, The Jackofficers, Yuen Fong Ling, Alan Lodge, Monkeyboy, Polyp, Duncan Ross, Squall, Seth Tobocman, Jon Trayner, UHC Collectie, Gee Vaucher, Andy Wake, Justine Young.

Complete image gallery of work available on request

BODY POLITIC: Sun 21 - Sun 28 July @ The Greenroom, in the Workspace [open 4-11pm daily]
An exhibition by 12 contemporary artists tackling issues around sex and the gendered body.

2. OPEN-AIR MUSIC EVENT: Sat 20 July @ Great Northern Square [12 pm-10pm]
To kick off AgiTate, with the finest punk-pop of Stephen Nancy, Desolation Angels and Valerie. Guest appearances from Bristol- hip hop Freakbeat Reactor, ska from Bradford's Rebelation, Moco and Skam. With DJ's Phrush, Jenny Chan, Language Lab, Black Lodge and Spy Base. Plus Spellbound (Mo Wax) and spoken word performance. Running in parallel with an interactive installation "RAMP" by artists Stu Bentley, Victor Macmohn and Chris Hamer and graffitti art comp. hosted by Temper.
3.FILM, PERFORMANCE AND INTERACTIVE ARTS: 24-27 July @ Green Room + The Great Northern
Wed 24 July @ Green room [8-12am]
Yeast Experience a multimedia / music event from London's Yeast Collective, blending cutting edge video projections, music and live performance. Plus Panjit G from Asian Dub Foundation on the decks. BEyONdTV co-ordinate.
Thu 25 July + Fri 26 July @ Great Northern, in a downstairs unit; [5-8pm]
Undercurrents and BEyONdTV host inspirational alternative media and films. Full programme available from July on http://www.beyondtv.org
Thu 25 July @ Green room [8- 12am]
A special Blitz edition of Vaudeville, covering the theme of desire with film and performance art.
Sat 27 July @ Green room [8-2am]
Psychicbread and guests-mixing video, poetry by Mark Gwynne Jones and other performance. Feat. New York's most renowned underground cartoonist Seth Tobocman performing a multi-media slideshow with music from Cybec Blood. BEyONdTV co-ordinate.

< Press Contacts >
Agi Tate: Mike [t] 07984 286608 // Body Politic: Angel [t] 07949 493308 [e] angel@the-red-room.org // Music: Fadima [t] 07984 44 3479 [e]wundland01@hotmail.com // BEyONdTV events: Mick Fuzz [t] 01865 203661 [e] info@beyondtv.org // Vaudeville: Tam [t] 226 0364 // NATO for overall BLITZ info: [e] tacticalarts@yahoo.co.uk [t]0161 226 7192

THE BLITZ FESTIVAL HAS BEEN ORGANISED BY THE NORTHERN ARTS TACTICAL OFFENSIVE, A BANNER ARTS ORGANISATION DEDICATED TO THE PRODUCTION OF SPONTANEOUS, CONSCIOUS AND PUBLIC ART.
http://www.nato.uk.net

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