The Archive
Formatted at 1280 X 1024- or higher .created March 2002. Updated April 1st 2052. :-)
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The Free Festivals and the saga of the Peace Convoy. 1983. Al Stokes Galleries.
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Al Stokes ( right ) and friend at Greenham common 1982 |
June/July 1983 :Glastonbury/Stonehenge to Norwich via Harford tip
I was a press photographer in the early 80s covering Convoy and free festivals and had mates who lived in buses. So it was all pretty harmless stuff, really. In July '82 John Aryes, I think at the Sunday Times, asked me to go to Greenham Common to do a 'follow up' story after The News of The Screws did their infamous 'Gun Convoy' piece. I got a lift off Nick Mersch - who later joined TUMT as Nick Danger -and was going down there for a festival. The upshot is I took a cart load of convoy related pictures in 1982 and 83.
The Convoy came from Glastonbury/Stonehenge in '83 to attend the Norwich Peaceful Green Fair , which actually had council approval. The Council, remembering their visit to the site in '82 ( commonly known by the Travelers as ' Eaten By The Mosquito's ), blocked the lane leading to Eaton Common with 'urgent road works' (ahem) and the rescheduled Traveler site turned out to be Harford rubbish tip.
Al Stokes
Eaton Common
Urgent road works ? © Al Stokes |
The road works, or, as in this case, not working for the Convoy © Al Stokes |
© Al Stokes |
Harford Tip
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Before The pristine Harford Tip, taken minutes before the arrival of the unwashed hordes . Before being trashed by the crazed forces of anarchy , it was regularly used by the Royal Family as a site for garden parties and by orphaned children for hay rides ...... |
After Taken just nanoseconds after the arrival of the so called "Peace Convoy " we see the devastation wreaked by these pinko subversives. Acts like this forced the Tories to use tactical Nuclear warheads on the convoy at the infamous Battle of the Beanfield in 85 .......
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This was a large stone fountain decorated with Angels before the Travelers got to it © Al Stokes |
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Travelers prepare an unknown concoction , no doubt designed to heighten their senses so they can perform further unspeakable deeds upon the local populace © Al Stokes |
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Wishing to evade the camera a Traveller rushes towards his highly modified 250 JU BMC van , which, with its 1622cc engine producing a mighty 49 bhp, was capable of attaining 0-60 MPH in three minutes. It was souped up vehicles like this that caused the police to upgrade their vehicles (at vast expense to the taxpayer of course ) , as conventional patrol cars were left in the East Anglian dust when they attempted to chase these supercharged behemoths . © Al Stokes
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Even rocket powered super cars such as this one seen here ( which looks like an ordinary plod machine ) had problems keeping up with the 250 JU and the equally formidable Bedford CA which could attain a jaw dropping 54.8 bhp if fed hydrogen peroxide through a drip next to its hospital bed . © Al Stokes |
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Such was the consternation of the local plod that they brought in none other than Superintendent Harry "Snapper " Organs of Scotland Yard in the vain hope of intimidating these devils. Here we see Snapper preparing to "go native " in order to negotiate with the Traveler representatives in a nearby bus . © Al Stokes |
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After a week long meeting with the freaks in one of the buses where no fewer than 3425 "peace pipes" were consumed, Snapper was invalided off to hospital in a coma and the local plod were left to ruefully consider how they had once again been outsmarted by these norty hippies ! © Al Stokes |
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Proof positive of the evil nature of these demons on wheels: The theft of Shrubland Road , Hackney was one of the great unsolved crimes of the 20th century, but now we at " The Archive " can reveal the grisly truth ! © Al Stokes |
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Traveler female views the rubbish she wantonly dumped on the site © Al Stokes |
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Travelers gleefully survey the chaos they have caused before they rush off to plan more random acts of utter devastation © Al Stokes BTW : For the benefit of the utterly naive who believe the stupid captions , we are taking the piss...... |
