2nd day

One of the things that's hard about blockading is the effect it has on local people trying to go about their lives ... no-one likes sitting in a traffic jam ... (although I wouldn't mind betting there are one or two base workers who don't mind getting to work a bit late!) ... so we rang the local and national traffic lines and told them about the tail-backs.

On the Tuesday the policing was tougher and we were not as successful in our blockading attempts (although increased policing is of course an achievement) , failing to get to block the South Gate, and only achieving relatively short-lived blocks at the North Gate with 7 arrests in all ... What was good about the North Gate block was the variety and frequency of the attempts ... 4 in all and the one that lasted the longest was 2 guys sat in the road with a pair of hand-cuffs, it took a while for them to find cutting equipment small enough! Later that day Theo, one of the band members, joined with members of the South-West blockade group, to deliver a 3 person lock-on in front of the North Gate, again from the side door of a van.. The 3 managed to lie down in front of the gate, delaying the 4.00 shift change, but were still dragged and pushed (though not roughly) to the centre of the road so traffic could be directed around them.. They were heartened by songs and speeches as they were cut free and arrested. The van driver and another passenger were also arrested, as was Shantiketu, who went to sit peacefully in the road in support. Earlier, one of our block was arrested for standing in the road and taking a photo, after he'd been told to get off the road.