1st day

Monday was the day that North Korea said they had detonated their nuclear warhead.

The South Gate lock-on was 4 people with chains locked together, who arrived in a procession of about 25 people with placards, banners, drums etc. Once they had sat down in the road to the Gate, the others stayed nearby and supported them. Shannon sang "With My Hammer I break the chains" and the blockaders sang along as the police broke their chains. Even after these were cut through by police, and the 4 women were carried away to the police vans, a march to the south gate kept the road closed for another hour!

The North Gate lock-on was 5 people jumping out of the side-door of a 7-seater "people-carrier" and locking together with plastic arm-tubes, on the roundabout just in front of the Gate. It wasn't easy to get to the floor the police moved quickly to push them towards the roundabout island. In the end two of our group managed to lie down. And then they put blue tarpaulin screens around them as they cut through the tubes. Traffic continued to move, but more slowly. There were already huge tail-backs because of the previous groups lock-on at the gate about half an hour earlier, and because the alternative gate was blocked already. Musicians amoung their supporters entertained them as they were cut free and taken away.

After the bulk of the workforce had gone in, the remaining protesters came together at the North Gate, with banners hanging on the fences, tea on the go, and many valuable conversations with the cops, who also stayed. Seize The Day played for everyone around 3.30pm then we packed up and left.