2004 Aldermaston March. On Friday ninth April the 2004 Aldermaston March started with a rally in Trafalgar Sq. earlier than following the route taken by the primary march again in April 1958, which had additionally begun with a rally within the sq.. The 2004 march was referred to as as a protest towards the event then of a brand new technology of nuclear weapons.
I lined the rally and went with the marchers so far as Hyde Park, and cycled to hitch them once more in Maidenhead on Sunday eleventh, strolling with them for a number of miles earlier than returning to choose up my bike and cycle residence. On the ultimate day I caught the practice to Studying and walked with them to Aldermaston.
I put a lot of my footage from the march on My London Diary the place you’ll be able to nonetheless view them, and wrote a publish concerning the occasions which I’ll reproduce right here with correct capitalisation and a few minor corrections, together with a number of of the images I made in London on Friday ninth April 2004.
Aldermaston 2004: No New Nukes Rally & Begin of March
Aldermaston isn’t in London, however the ‘cease the subsequent technology of nuclear weapons‘ march from London to Aldermaston began on Good Friday, 9 April 2004, from Trafalgar Sq., the place there was a ‘No New Nukes‘ rally.
Aldermaston and close by Burghfield are on the centre of the UK’s atomic weapon programme, and the march was a protest towards the event of a brand new technology of nuclear weapons.
In 1958 the hazards of nuclear battle have been clear to most of us, and virtually fifty years of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction amongst members of the nuclear membership make them much more of a hazard now. We now have seen one other virtually 50 years of lies and deception dressed up as safety and nationwide curiosity. For instance we nonetheless haven’t been informed of the nuclear warheads saved by our American allies at Lakenheath.
It was good to see many acquainted faces, each on the platform and off, with addresses from Tony Benn, Jenny Jones, Pat Arrowsmith, Jeremu Corbyn and extra, together with a superb efficiency from Susannah York. There have been a substantial quantity who had been on the primary Aldermaston march, again in 1958, forty six years in the past. I used to be too younger to be concerned then, however my two older brothers had been there.
‘Theatre Of Warfare’ gave a spirited efficiency, and there was a jazz band so as to add a bit of spirit on the entrance of the march, maybe a reminder of the trad growth of the fifties. Pat Arrowsmith, Bruce Kent and another CND veterans have been up there too, main off the two,300 who led off by means of St James. The police estimated the march at 1000. I truly stood and counted as they glided by, and though it isn’t an actual science with a march this measurement, I gained’t be greater than fifty or so out both approach.
It was a cheerful sendoff to these marchers on the lengthy plod to Aldermaston, considered one of a number of marches there ranging from completely different elements of the nation.
At Hyde Park, the march correct shaped up, with round 430 making their approach west by means of Kensington and in the direction of the primary night time keep at Southall. I couldn’t stroll all the best way, though I’d in all probability lined as a lot distance operating round taking footage and left the march in Kensington.
On Saturday, the march continued from Southall to Slough by way of Uxbridge. I had different issues to do within the East Finish and central London, however I managed to meet up with the march on Sunday morning at Maidenhead Bridge with some livid bike driving from Staines.
By then, some issues with Thames Valley Police had emerged, with the police making an attempt to power the march on to the pavement, whereas some marchers insisted on holding to the highway. Ultimately a compromise emerged, with the police tolerating those that needed to remain on the highway strolling near the sting of the pavement.
From Maidenhead it appeared an extended stroll alongside the A4 to Knowl Hill for a somewhat late lunch cease. There we have been greeted from a distance by the sounds of the Sheffield Samba Band who piped the march in to lunch. I regretted not bothering to choose up my meal tickets, however was actually too busy to cease to eat. I photographed the column of marchers setting off for Studying after which began a extra lonely stroll again to Maidenhead and my bike.
By this time I used to be feeling the pressure. Even on my ‘time without work’ on Saturday I’d walked over 10 miles with a heavy digicam bag, and the load of a Nikon with a stable lens spherical my neck was attending to be an excessive amount of. So for Monday I travelled gentle, working with a tiny Canon Digital Ixus. It had the nasty behavior of typically not taking an image till a second or so after you pressed the button, by which period I’ve normally put the digicam down, so I got here residence with fairly a number of footage of random patches of highway and grass from Berkshire. Nevertheless, as you’ll be able to see on My London Diary, some got here out.
On Monday I walked all the best way and some miles extra, with footage from Studying to Burghfield, have been we stopped near AWE Burghfield [where atomic bombs are made] to the tip of the march rally at AWE Aldermaston, after which we took a stroll midway spherical the massive web site.
Aldermaston2004 was collectively organised by CND, the Aldermaston girls’s peace Camp and Slough4Peace.
My footage from the rally and march begin right here on My London Diary, with extra footage beginning on additional internet pages for Friday, Sunday and Monday.
CND continues to be energetic, nonetheless campaigning for peace and a nuclear free world and opposing the UK’s possession of nuclear weapons. As they are saying, “Nuclear weapons threaten us all. And they’re an obscene drain on public funds.” Yow will discover out extra about their actions and signal their petition calling on the federal government to embrace diplomacy and peace negotiations, as a substitute of nuclear weapons and battle and take steps in the direction of nuclear disarmament and a safer world.
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Tags: 2004, Aldermaston, Aldermaston March, Aldermaston2004, AWE Aldermaston, AWE Burghfield, Bristol Radical Cheerleaders, Burfield, Canon Digital Ixus, CND, Good Friday, Hiroshima, London, Maidenhead, march, No New Nukes, nuclear battle, Pat Arrowsmith, peter Marshall, police, protest, rally, Studying, Sheffield Samba Band, Slough4Peace, Theatre of Warfare, Trafalgar Sq., girls’s peace Camp
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