What was the first demonstration you ever went on?

[Doodler]

The first one I saw and heard was an anti-Vietnam War march in central London. I was about three years old at the time. My mum and dad would not have been on it as they were small c-conservative people who were not very interested in politics. Instead we watched it from the pavement. It was a sunny day and all these people were marching along the road, something I'd never seen before. You weren't allowed to go in the road! They were chanting 'Ho! Ho! Ho Chi Minh!' I began to try to chant it as well, so in a sense I became a participant. Later I chanted it at home making my mum and dad laugh.

 

[Flavour]

I was about four years older than you when I went to this (or one of these) but I loved it, being in an unfamiliar city, the numbers and noise, remember thinking how could the dockers lose with this much support. An early lesson.

Yeah it was really noisy and high spirited, I was too young to really get what was going on but I do remember shortly after how a lot of people clung to hope that Blair government would solve all these problems, and how happy all my teachers were the day after the election in 97 (in inner city Manchester). Didn't last that long.

 

[ElizabethofYork]

A CND thing at Greenham Common. I was 19 or 20.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

I went on a TUC demo with my dad when I was 13, so 1968. No idea what the demo was about

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Anti CJB, the one before the one that turned in to a riot, was at that one too.

 

[andysays]

The first one was when I was 18 or 19, so in 83 or 84. I went with my then GF who was in YCND and the LPYS.

I think it was a large national one, ending in Hyde Park and probably with speeches etc, but can't remember anymore than that...

 

[Jeremiah18.17]

Early 80s CND March in Sheffield against Cruise Missiles. Was in my mid teens, in YouthCND (dominated in Sheffield at that time, incidentally, by Youth Section of the IMG) I made a home made CND lollipop and leafletted my street.

 

[Mattym]

CND in London 1983.

When Maggie visited Sheffield in the early 80s and received a wonderful welcome, next to the Cathedral (She had come for a feast). I'm sure there was footage on YT for this.

Anti-vivisection marches around Sheffield.

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

A demo supporting pirate radios in Paris circa 1981, 14 at the time, lots of masked people destroying vidoe surveillance cameras along the way.

 

[YouSir]

One of the last Miner's marches in London, I think. I was only about 7 and my mum took me along. Remember loving the chants and being able to swear and shout about burning Tories. Vague memories of miner's banners and the big men holding them too.

 

[Ground Elder]

Molesworth air base Easter 1985. I mostly remember being cold, wet and tired after a sleepless night with three others in a two man tent.

 

[Sprocket.]

Further to my earlier post Grunwick wasn’t my first. I since remembered in early 1973 going to the local council offices after school to join a demonstration against council rent increases. This was alongside the councillors from Clay Cross which the Skinner brothers were leading.

 

[Jeremiah18.17]

Molesworth air base Easter 1985. I mostly remember being cold, wet and tired after a sleepless night with three others in a two man tent.

Was that the one in the snow? That was wild! Like a film shoot of Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow. I (IIl-advisedly, having just passed my test) agreed to drive a minibus full of students to one of theMolesworth demos.....

 

[steeplejack]

An anti - BNP demo in Glasgow around 1993. An A to B march but quite big and noticeable.