Nice sunny day! Nice sunny crowd! A few puzzled looks from shoppers and people having their lunch as we strolled from the BBC Radio Northampton offices to the space outside All Saints church.
The Northamptonshire poet, John Clare, when he was living in the Northampton mental asylum in his last years, came almost daily to sit under the portico at the rear of the image above and there composed many of his later poems. What would he have thought of us all, and of the threat the world now faces? Did others think of him as we listened to some speeches? I felt him looking over my shoulder once or twice.
The bus from home to Northampton takes a couple of hours (and costs £9.50 return) for the circuitous version of the 20 minute drive by car but it was nice to see over the hedges from the top of the double-decker.
My habit of arriving early for everything was aided by the bus dropping us at the appointed spot 20 minutes before the appointed time, and there were only about 20 people present. It looked a bit thin. But after half an hour the numbers were up to about 250 and the ranks swelled as we walked and then a bunch of kids and teachers arrived near the end too. There were about 450 of us (definitely fewer than 570 and not a bit sodden at all). Not as many as London, Melbourne, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Philadelphia or New York but it was a good crowd for a small central England town.
And a few hundred ‘Ban driven grouse shooting’ postcards were handed out and some good conversations were had, and I even met someone who had read Inglorious!
Went to our local Climate Strike rally. Coming back to our rural hamlet and saw 3 beautiful mature Birch trees being cut down in a front garden and clouds of choking smoke where another neighbour was burning goodness knows what outdoors. After being heartened by a great turnout of young and old at the rally then came back to ignorance and selfishness from locals. Despair.
In our small village the powers that be thought the trendy New Village sign looked too rustic in front of an overgrown Hawthorn hedge and persuaded the owner to replace it with the a timber board fence!
Tell your children they will probably be dead in 10 years. Tell them the earth will be a dead planet in pursuit of a political agenda Mendacious, vicious, disgraceful. Seventh Day Adventists every one of you.
No, Tony, it’s about empowering children and adults to appreciate what they have, understand the true ‘costs’ of a wealthy lifestyle and modify their demands in the interests of all. Fear is healthy when it keeps us, and those around us, safe by leading to appropriate actions.
I went to our nearest gathering – Brecon. About 150 of us I reckon. Not bad for a tiny rural mid-Wales town. Bright weather and bright young people too. They really wanted to be there and were determined to be seen and heard. There would I suspect have been many more but for the local Education Authority having (allegedly) written to schools forbidding any leave of absence, adding a threat of liability to parents being fined.
Our new local MP – Jane Dodds (LibDem) – gave a short speech, including a promise to work to set up a citizens assembly on climate and ecological justice. Encouraging!
“The bus from home to Northampton takes a couple of hours (and costs £9.50 return) for the circuitous version of the 20 minute drive by car “
Nice for a pensioner’s day out but not for those who cherish those extra 5 minutes in bed. in rural areas public transport has had its day.
no one suggest working nearer home! in the 1950s we lived 5 miles from my father’s work, because they’re just relaxed the 3 mile limit.
how you cope with your work zipping about the country is another matter.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerpielke/2019/09/19/the-yawning-gap-between-climate-rhetoric-and-climate-action/