It would have been lazy not to turn up, so checked the local options, to find that the nearest were at Newcastle or Knaresborough.
For those who don't know, Knaresborough is a small, pretty, historic town close to Ripon in North Yorkshire. It's a polite, quiet, well-mannered kind of town. Nice castle ruins, several nice pubs and coffee shops. Not exactly a hotbed of climate action passion, you would think.
But around 100 people turned up, including the local Green Party candidate for next year's election, Shan Oakes, who did most of the organising, by the look of things, and has posted some pictures here. The Canon of Ripon Cathedral, (didn't get your, name, sorry your reverence) was a prominent presence in his red garb, and gamely supported and joined in.
There were a couple of local church groups, a substantial anti-fracking group, and various others, including a number of ordinary Joes like you know who.
For a while it looked like the march was going to fizzle out before it started, when it was suggested that the numbers were too small to bother with the marching, but with a very little persuasion, it was clear that everyone very much wanted to march, so off we set from the castle green to the Town Hall, via the High Street, providing some small inconvenience for a few people in the traffic that built up behind us.
What was most impressive was the noise. These polite, terribly British (undemonstrative) marchers made a lot of noise, loud and proud, all the way back from the Town Hall to the Market Square, where after a few talks several folks headed of to the local parish for tea with the vicar - er - canon.
It was a small gesture, as gestures go, but it was a part of a much bigger gesture, and clear that almost everywhere there are people who care enough about the future to give up their Sunday, stand up, and get counted.
Two police officers kept us company; thanks to them the march looked quite official, so gratitude for their forbearance.
Next up? back to the other bits of life for a day or two.
I made a post for the People's Climate March. However, as you know I'm a refugee from a communist dictatorship so I couldn't help myself...
ReplyDeletehttp://21stcenturysocialcritic.blogspot.com.es/2014/09/join-peoples-climate-march.html
It's a popular trick amongst the opponents of climate action to paint the popular demand for action as something to do with Communism. Setting aside any discussion of the issues related to this particular political ideology and its consequences in the real world, which I acknowledge, you should understand that call for action to mitigate global warming have NOTHING to do with Communism. The planet cares nothing about ideology, physics knows nothing of politics. Making such claims is playing games with people's existing imagined fears and prejudices and trying to manipulate their understanding in the worst traditions of propaganda and agitprop. For a person so concerned with truth as you claim to be, engaging in such egregious manipulation should be shameful.
DeleteAre you so afraid of the collective power of we, the People, the free citizens of the World, that you feel you must make us into some kind of monster?
This kind of association is trivial and sensible people will ignore it.
By the way, what happened to the dude at Open Mind? Closed for the summer?
ReplyDeleteTamino got a job in San Diego, and perhaps has been busy. He does sometimes take breaks. It's understandable given the sometimes quite rude and heedless behavior of those who show up but won't take salt at their host's table.
DeleteWhile people showed up in Paris, Melbourne, Adelaide, and who knows where else in great numbers, I went and got myself almost crushed in New York City with 311,000 official attendees and countless other uncounted but enthusiastic bystanders who couldn't quite get in the march. I can sympathize with them, as it was people as far as the eye could see in all directions. A human celebration!
ReplyDeleteVery exciting, and colorful.
There were more than 2,000 marches. Most of them will have been small, local affairs like the one in the small Yorkshire town. Not enough to be newsworthy, but a sign - a sign that we ordinary citizens really do know and care about this as an issue and we expect our politicians to listen to us.
DeleteThis citizen action needs to carry forward now though to Paris next year, an onward, until our 'leaders' are left in no doubt that we will no longer tolerate their empty words.
Thanks for coming Fergus - and many thanks for this thoughtful writeup. So glad people turned up and wanted to march. I had fixed it up at such short notice that only the most basic arrangements had been made - so it was great that we had an impromptu march as well as the planned photo-shoot which is the most I had imagined local people would be up for - (Im new to the area and feeling my way) People power - we need more of it!
ReplyDeleteHi Shan,
DeleteSome credit must go to Avaaz for the momentum to do our bit.
I thought you spoke very well, and made your presence felt in a very positive way.
I'm now thinking seriously about whether I can contribute locally to the Party's activities, since the principles and ethical base are almost identical to my own. So I'll be at the meeting this weekend, to see whether there is the local taste for social justice.