Ground Elder said:'twas a joke
OK, missed it
...... it's not that I haven't seen a fair few vehicles who'd need that exemption!! 
Cheers!
Will listen after the weekend
Battle of the beanfield - anniversary
- Thread starter Jelly
- Start date
OK, missed it
...... it's not that I haven't seen a fair few vehicles who'd need that exemption!! Cheers!
Will listen after the weekend
Stig and I will be there -- it's right in MY SE17 MANOR and dead near both my flat and the pub ... 
Ground Elder
Well-Known Member
My highlight from R4 programme is the farmer implying that the convoy was some kind of communist backed plot, based on the fact that he found a Russian made watch in the field afterwards
Yes, a fascinating and powerful program. That farmer's comments on the Russian-made watch really were kind of odd weren't they!?
It seems a little difficult to pass unbiased comment on such an emotive event, especially when the vast majority of us weren't there in person, but everything I've ever read or seen about the events of the Beanfield, suggest that the police went on a chaotic rampage.
The inspector in the Radio 4 program tried to justify the force's actions, by suggesting that offences HAD been committed, and that something HAD to be done to bring the culprits to account. In the face of "intransigence" (my word) from the travellers, and what the police perceived to be an imminent rush for Stonehenge, they felt they HAD to physically immobilise vehicles and apprehend people by force. Whatever ill you may think of the police, I'm sure it was very difficult situation to try and resolve, and I'm sure most of us would struggle to act in what could retrospectively be shown to be the perfect course of action.
I'm certainly not trying to be an apologist for the police here, since the vast majority of the media I've seen or heard showed the violence committed by the police, to be disproportionate.
Does anybody think we could have a similar confrontation again? Does the pervasion of mobile phones and mobile video phones make it very difficult for authorities to act in such a high-handed manner, away from the light of the media, or have the criminal justice and public order acts actually made it easier for this to happen again?
It seems a little difficult to pass unbiased comment on such an emotive event, especially when the vast majority of us weren't there in person, but everything I've ever read or seen about the events of the Beanfield, suggest that the police went on a chaotic rampage.
The inspector in the Radio 4 program tried to justify the force's actions, by suggesting that offences HAD been committed, and that something HAD to be done to bring the culprits to account. In the face of "intransigence" (my word) from the travellers, and what the police perceived to be an imminent rush for Stonehenge, they felt they HAD to physically immobilise vehicles and apprehend people by force. Whatever ill you may think of the police, I'm sure it was very difficult situation to try and resolve, and I'm sure most of us would struggle to act in what could retrospectively be shown to be the perfect course of action.
I'm certainly not trying to be an apologist for the police here, since the vast majority of the media I've seen or heard showed the violence committed by the police, to be disproportionate.
Does anybody think we could have a similar confrontation again? Does the pervasion of mobile phones and mobile video phones make it very difficult for authorities to act in such a high-handed manner, away from the light of the media, or have the criminal justice and public order acts actually made it easier for this to happen again?
something similar happens at free parties a lot. i know people that are still scarred from the beanfield, it was absolutely horrendous. but don't kid yourself, the fascist police are still out there, and where it's filmed or pictures taken, they stop cars on the way out and confiscate them.... happened last year in north wales, a peaceful rave but the police got out of hand.
www.rat-on-a-pig.co.uk
www.rat-on-a-pig.co.uk
AndyJ said:
Absolutely -- no wonder Nick Davies called his Observer article, back in July 1984, 'Anatomy of a Police Riot'
I would REALLY like to see the full text of that article, but it seems completely ungoogleable.
Can anyone help??
Ground Elder
Well-Known Member
The Battle of the Beanfield - edited by Andy Worthington, with photos and contributions by Alan Lodge, Tim Malyon, Neil Goodwin and Gareth Morris, Alan Dearling and others
ISBN 0-9523316-6-7
240 pages, including over 70 images.
£12.95 + £2.00 p & p. Cheques payable to Enabler Publications.
Enabler Publications, 16 Bitton Avenue, Teignmouth, Devon. TQ14 8HD.
Out in time for the Solstice
ISBN 0-9523316-6-7
240 pages, including over 70 images.
£12.95 + £2.00 p & p. Cheques payable to Enabler Publications.
Enabler Publications, 16 Bitton Avenue, Teignmouth, Devon. TQ14 8HD.
Out in time for the Solstice
Cheers for that GE -- presumably not yet out then, but I will definitely buy it when it is ...
Thread bumped as Andy Worthiongton's talk in Walworth is tomorrow ...
Thread bumped as Andy Worthiongton's talk in Walworth is tomorrow ...
Pingu said:
Sorry to be crap, but how do those 'wmv' files work???
longdog said:
Cheers for that. I've actually seen the Operation Solstice tape now -- at Andy Worthington's (fascinating) tak last night. The version I saw was a master copy brought along by the director, Gareth Morris, who was also at the talk last night to answer questions. The tape was the 45 minute version that when broadcast by C4 in 1991, was edited (by the director, not by C4) to 30 minutes -- so we got the full version with all background, interviews, etc. uncut.
Is the net version 45 minutes??
It was excellent, and very affecting and anger-making ....
Andy Worthington's talk afterwards was a brief tour d'horizon of the history of the Travellers since 1985 (the theme of a lot of his book, out next week). He made a lot of links between Travellers post Beanfield whose history as marginalised and demonised people large parts of whose community broke up, is pretty tragic (see Tash's site). But he also mentioned Traveller involvement in rave culture (Castlemorton, etc.) and some links between them and the 1990s wave of road protests. He also had plenty to say on the anti-libertarian public order legislation of the 1980s, the 1990s (Criminal Justice Act, 1994) and now (forthcoming ID card legislation)
Andy and Gareth came to the pub afterwards and chatted with us -- they are both fascinating blokes with a deep interest in and knowledge of countercultural history. They were very interested in Stig's views on road protests!
Great evening. Hope to buy the book at Glastonbury, here Andy Worthington will be appearing to do a launch somewhere in the Green Fields.
This is a very sad thread 
I remember the Battle of the Beanfield clearly, well, watching it on telly at least. I remember the impotent rage...
Thing is, at the time, I'm ashamed to say I only saw it one way really. I saw it as the end of a certain sort of hippy/counter cultural defiance...In that highly-politicised climate there was no way pold were going to allow a convoy of 150 vehicles to roam freely round the CA 'heartlands' of Wiltshire/Somerset etc. The hippys, I thought, dead that day, and the Thatcherites in the ascendancy.
You know, 20 years on it doesn't look like that at all That lifestyle has been far more tenacious, far harder to eradicate than could have possibly been imagined that day. The idea of personal liberty/getting closer to the earth - if it doesn't affect property values or frighten the sheep - is one that is far more widely held, more respectacle even, than the full-on undiluted Thatcher values of the time
Who knows what it will be like in 20 years time? With huge parts of the Dorset coast disappeared as a result of coastal flooding. Hippy hands will have been strengthened yet further.
Up hippys
I remember the Battle of the Beanfield clearly, well, watching it on telly at least. I remember the impotent rage...
Thing is, at the time, I'm ashamed to say I only saw it one way really. I saw it as the end of a certain sort of hippy/counter cultural defiance...In that highly-politicised climate there was no way pold were going to allow a convoy of 150 vehicles to roam freely round the CA 'heartlands' of Wiltshire/Somerset etc. The hippys, I thought, dead that day, and the Thatcherites in the ascendancy.
You know, 20 years on it doesn't look like that at all
That lifestyle has been far more tenacious, far harder to eradicate than could have possibly been imagined that day. The idea of personal liberty/getting closer to the earth - if it doesn't affect property values or frighten the sheep - is one that is far more widely held, more respectacle even, than the full-on undiluted Thatcher values of the time Who knows what it will be like in 20 years time? With huge parts of the Dorset coast disappeared as a result of coastal flooding. Hippy hands will have been strengthened yet further.
Up hippys
Ground Elder
Well-Known Member
Fun day out for all the family:
Everyone else has had a plug and now it's my turn
‘ Promoting & supporting the rights of Gypsies and Travellers in Cornwall ’
Conference
“Breaking Barriers, Shifting Cultures”
Headland Hotel, Newquay, Cornwall
29th June 9.00 - 4.00
Opening remarks: The Rt Revd Bill Ind, Bishop of Truro
Keynote Speaker
Andrew Ryder
Coordinator of the Traveller Law Reform Coalition
Winners of the Liberty Human Rights Award
Speakers include
Angus Murdoch Community Law Partnership
Maggie Smith-Bendall Romani Gypsy Liaison Officer
Acting Inspector Nick Williams Metropolitan Police Diversity Directorate
Jake Bowers Romani Journalist
Rebecca Holt Health Visitor for Travelling Families
The Gypsy and Traveller communities in the UK experience widespread deprivation, social exclusion and discrimination. The lack of provision of suitable sites for Gypsies and Travellers is the root cause of most of the difficulties they face today.
This conference will bring together practitioners in the areas of law, planning, health, social services, education & racial equality who have national recognition to address these issues.
Workshops to improve quality of life
In the afternoon there will be an opportunity for statutory and non-statutory agencies who work with the Traveller communities in Cornwall to develop best practice and share their views.
Conference fee: £50 Free to Travellers
Crèche facilities can be made available if booked in advance
Enquiries to Ginny Harrison-White/Michele Lee 01726 77113 [email protected]
Everyone else has had a plug and now it's my turn
‘ Promoting & supporting the rights of Gypsies and Travellers in Cornwall ’
Conference
“Breaking Barriers, Shifting Cultures”
Headland Hotel, Newquay, Cornwall
29th June 9.00 - 4.00
Opening remarks: The Rt Revd Bill Ind, Bishop of Truro
Keynote Speaker
Andrew Ryder
Coordinator of the Traveller Law Reform Coalition
Winners of the Liberty Human Rights Award
Speakers include
Angus Murdoch Community Law Partnership
Maggie Smith-Bendall Romani Gypsy Liaison Officer
Acting Inspector Nick Williams Metropolitan Police Diversity Directorate
Jake Bowers Romani Journalist
Rebecca Holt Health Visitor for Travelling Families
The Gypsy and Traveller communities in the UK experience widespread deprivation, social exclusion and discrimination. The lack of provision of suitable sites for Gypsies and Travellers is the root cause of most of the difficulties they face today.
This conference will bring together practitioners in the areas of law, planning, health, social services, education & racial equality who have national recognition to address these issues.
Workshops to improve quality of life
In the afternoon there will be an opportunity for statutory and non-statutory agencies who work with the Traveller communities in Cornwall to develop best practice and share their views.
Conference fee: £50 Free to Travellers
Crèche facilities can be made available if booked in advance
Enquiries to Ginny Harrison-White/Michele Lee 01726 77113 [email protected]
Ground Elder and Jelly and others -- have you had a chance to get hold of the BOOK yet?
I got it at Glasto, Andy Worthington was promoting it in the Groovy Movie tent there (with another showing of 'Operation Solstice').
I've been reading it since I got back, and it's thorough, excellently researched, excellently put together an excelent, and with an awful lot of pix not all of which you may have seen yet.
The Nick Davies, Lord Cardigan and Lord Gifford interviews were particularly good and some good ones with Travellers too. The interview with a copper who was thee (now deputy Chief Constable of Hampshire) was quite revealing too!
Light editorial touch from AW, although he does a pretty good introduction and conclusion.
BUY this book SOON if you haven't already. Thoroughly recommended. Only £12=
I got it at Glasto, Andy Worthington was promoting it in the Groovy Movie tent there (with another showing of 'Operation Solstice').
I've been reading it since I got back, and it's thorough, excellently researched, excellently put together an excelent, and with an awful lot of pix not all of which you may have seen yet.
The Nick Davies, Lord Cardigan and Lord Gifford interviews were particularly good and some good ones with Travellers too. The interview with a copper who was thee (now deputy Chief Constable of Hampshire) was quite revealing too!
Light editorial touch from AW, although he does a pretty good introduction and conclusion.
BUY this book SOON if you haven't already. Thoroughly recommended. Only £12=
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