The Trident Ploughshares Disarmament Camp at AWE Burghfield – 25th August to 7th September 2013 in support of Action AWE

 On Saturday 24th August 20 activists met as a group for the first time with the kind support of a Buddhist Peace Pagoda. We sorted through plans, maps, contingencies, equipment and transport. We even had time to be filmed by Zoe Broughton with a statement about why we were acting for peace – see Action AWE video from Burghfield Camp

 At midnight the first wave of 17 people set off for AWE Burghfield to arrive at 2 a.m. on Sunday 25th. With no sign o

f any police presence we quickly placed the caravan that was to act as the ‘office’ and demarcated ‘our’ site with orange fencing, tents and portable loos, setting up the Trident Ploughshares disarmament camp right by the AWE fence, close to the main gate, on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land.  

40 minutes later the police arrived and asked us to move off but by then we were well established and we refused. Zoe filmed throughout the day and night and produced AWE Burghfield Summer Disarmament Camp 2013 – 7 minute video

A few hours later we phoned the second wave of people – the cooking crew – who arrived with more equipment and stores. As the camp expanded we celebrated our success with a huge sense of relief and satisfaction shared by all. Throughout that day we let others know where we had set up and more people arrived allowing us to put up the 2 big meeting tents and set up the registration and information welcoming tent.

Then MoD police arrived in force with video cameras to inform us we were breaking the law by camping on MoD bye-law protected land and demanded that we leave immediately or be charged with breaking the bye-laws which could entail a maximum fine of £500. We refused so they started informing us that they needed our names and addresses or they would arrest us, take us to police stations and keep us there until we did give them these details. This was, they said, so that they could send us summons to court at a later date. Many of us therefore gave our names and addresses, welcoming a chance to have a court hearing. We explained to the police that we had a right to peacefully protest, which is what the camp was, and that the real crimes were taking place inside AWE Burghfield, where the building of new nuclear warheads was a breach of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and that the maintenance of the current warheads was illegal too as they were of a size that could never be used in accordance with international law.

Our press team were working hard issuing press releases including “Arrest on the cheap” at AWE Burghfield Summer Disarmament Camp

The news that police were demanding names and addresses and were threatening to issue summons to court certainly put quite a few people off from camping with us but kind local people offered us beds in their homes and several people became day visitors! The police visited the camp 5 or 6 times each day, walking around the site, counting tents, asking for people’s names. Each time they were accompanied by our police liaison team who assured the police that the camp was a nonviolent protest and thus absolutely legal. They also placed road blocks on both ends of The Mearings, stopping everyone and informing them that they would be breaking the law if they camped with us. Soon we had 3 police forces in on the action – MoD, Hampshire and Thames Valley Police – constantly watching from the other side of The Mearings and coming over to gather information. Generally these interactions were friendly and enabled us to inform them of our nonviolent guidelines and the illegality of Trident.

Police liaisons from both sides helped negotiate to get bright lights and generator noises stopped from inside the base, and walk ways for police dogs to continue to inspect the fence lines. The MoD agreed for us to drive vehicles for water and sewage runs to and from the camp and to allow disabled people access to the camp in their vehicles. 

At the height of the camp we probably had around 95 people camping with us plus an indeterminate number visiting. Several Quaker groups came and held their silent meetings at the main gate and then visited the camp, local peace groups used the opportunity to look around Burghfield and then go onto Aldermaston (only 7 miles away). The local Church of England Minister visited for prayers for peace and disarmament and people in Burghfield village itself offered us help and support.

Action planning and equipment for actions were kept away from the site and the blockade on Monday 2nd September went extremely well, with 3 groups locking-on by 5.30 a.m. and another following an hour or so later. The base was completely locked down for several hours as the police struggled to cut out the protesters. Having cleared the south end of The Mearings it was subsequently blocked again for another hour by the Muriel Lesters – a London based Trident Ploughshares group which included a wheelchair user.

You can see one of the groups in action at AWE Burghfield Camp – latest video!

Local TV carried good interviews and pictures too (see list below).

There were lots of police present including at least 6 police horses. 21 people were arrested, allowing traffic to pass in and out of the base again but the Spanish lock-on at the north end of The Mearings was allowed to continue for 14 hours until we all decided it was time to call it a day. All but one of the internationals were offered cautions which they accepted, so they were able to come back to the camp. Krista, a Dutch woman, was held overnight, at Lodden Valley police station, for court the next day and then given a conditional discharge for a year, after informing the magistrate about the bomb making factory he apparently knew nothing about. She was then able to return to the camp too – see Report from Reading Magistrates Court, 3 September 2013 . All the English and Scottish activists were charged with highway obstruction and bailed off site until their hearing on 19th September. They then enjoyed the hospitality of a local catholic monastery who offered them sanctuary. 

If you want to get a flavour of the blockade and what some people were saying then see Videos from Burghfield blockade 2nd September 2013 and

Second video from blockade of AWE Burghfield on 2 September 2013 and

Pictures from Burghfield blockade 2nd Sept 2013

You can find lots of pictures of the camp and also pictures from previous AAWE actions at http://actionawe.org/action-awe-picture-galleries/

The camp began to wind down a couple of days after the blockade. But some actions continued with

Pink “No Trident Replacement” graffitti mysteriously appearing as day broke on nearby roads.

The coooking crew and site maintenance teams decided they wanted a litt fun and protest too so they decided to do a “nearly naked” protest to expose Britain’s nuclear bombs.

see Action AWE/TP press release: Exposing the naked truth of nuclear weapons

The final day was spent in Reading with a street stall handing out lots of information and knitting more of the pink anti-militarist scarf

see http://www.woolagainstweapons.co.uk/?page_id=28

We left the site on Saturday 7th September, clean and spotless.

A big thank you to all who took part and to all the local people who live in and around Burghfield village who supported us in various ways.

Here you can find some of the press coverage that our camp and actions received:-

ITV News Meridian, 02/09/13, 6:50pm: Anti-nuclear campaigners arrested at demonstration, http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/story/2013-09-02/eight-arrested-over-blockade/#anti-nuclear-campaigners-arrested-at-demonstration_254620

Reading Post (website), 06/09/13: Naked protesters bare (almost) all at Burghfield atomic bomb factory, http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/naked-protesters-bare-almost-burghfield-5846078

Morning Star (website), 27/08/13: Anti-nuclear activists slam police over bylaw threats, http://www.newsrt.co.uk/news/anti-nuclear-activists-slam-police-over-bylaw-threats-2033676.html  

Morning Star (website), 26/08/13: Nuclear activists camp out at weapons centre, http://actionawe.org/nuclear-activists-camp-out-at-weapons-centre/

Free Speech Radio News, 03/09/13: Anti-nuclear weapons activists encamp at UK weapons manufacturer; 21 arrested, http://fsrn.org/audio/headlines-tuesday-september-3-2013/12486

BBC News Berkshire, 03/09/13: Ten charged over AWE Burghfield anti-Trident protest, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-23948478

Reading Post (website), 03/09/13: AWE bomb protesters charged, http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/awe-bomb-protesters-charged-5834422

DeWereldMorgen.be, 02/09/13: Bomspotters blokkeren Britse kernwapenfabriek, http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikels/2013/09/02/bomspotters-blokkeren-britse-kernwapenfabriek

Russia Today (Spanish edition), 02/09/13: Activistas europeos protestan contra la renovación del arsenal nuclear, http://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/view/104586-armas-nucleares-reino-unido-protesta?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=actualidad

BBC News Berkshire, 02/09/13: AWE Burghfield anti-Trident protesters arrested, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-23926973

ITV News Meridian, 02/09/13: Protesters arrested at weapons site, http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2013-09-02/protesters-arrested-at-weapons-site/

Reading Post (website), 02/09/13: Five more arrests at nuclear bomb factory in Burghfield, http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/five-more-arrests-nuclear-bomb-5828658

Newbury Weekly News (website), 02/09/13: Five more arrested in connection with AWE protest, http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2013/five-more-arrested-in-connection-with-awe-protest  

This is Hampshire (website), 02/09/13: Anti-nuclear campaigners arrested this morning at AWE Burghfield, http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/10648314.16_protesters_arrested_outside_AWE_site/

Newbury Weekly News (website), 02/09/13: Police arrest 16 people in connection with AWE protests, http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2013/police-arrest-16-people-in-connection-with-awe-protests

Ekklesia.co.uk (website), 02/09/13: Protesters blockade Burghfield Atomic Weapons Establishment, http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18979

Belfast Telegraph (website), 02/09/13: 16 held over N-weapons site protest, http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/16-held-over-nweapons-site-protest-29544942.html

Press TV (website), 02/09/13: British police arrest 16 non-proliferation activists at nuke site, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/09/02/321777/demo/

Ekklesia.co.uk (website), 05/09/13: Burghfield Disarmament Camp protests continue, http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/19003

The Guardian (letters), 04/09/13: http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/sep/04/women-discrimination-greenham-indian-summer

 

And here is the Thames Valley police press release from 2 September (afternoon): Arrests made after protest at AWE in Burghfield – summary, http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/newsevents/newsevents-pressreleases/newsevents-pressreleases-item.htm?id=262078

 

The Spanish put up several items on their website (antimilitaristas.org):

AcciónAWE: Éxito del bloqueo de la fábrica de armas nucleares de Burghfield, http://antimilitaristas.org/spip.php?article5324

Actualización sobre el bloqueo de la fábrica de armas nucleares de Burghfield [actualizado], http://antimilitaristas.org/spip.php?article5323

AcciónAWE: Bloqueo de la fábrica de armas nucleares de Burghfield, http://antimilitaristas.org/spip.php?article5322