Hello, I am @mushrooni and I travelled down from West Yorkshire on the train to Crackley Protection Camp. Ironically I took the planned HS2 route from the north to Birmingham…
So I brought a tent and initially planned to stay for a couple days but it has nearly been a month now!
I joined this campaign to engage with others and take action against HS2. Obviously I’m here to protect and stand up for the trees, birds, bats and wildlife that are being ripped apart and killed, though it’s much bigger than this – it’s about the whole capitalistic project and the system that HS2 is part of and represents. Protectors have been mistreated, harmed and put in really serious situations – the National Eviction Team, HS2 security and police departments are getting away with their dirty work.
I have never felt so much kindness, generosity and openness from strangers as I have done being involved in these communities. I’ve realised how important it is to be around like minded people, working towards the same goal and how necessary it is to be able to stand up to what is wrong.
Whilst at camp I’ve learnt climbing, rope knots, knowledge about different trees, bats, birds and foraging… generally lots of new skills and ideas to do with activism from the legal side to living communally and surviving in the woods!
I lived in a Conifer & Oak tree on a HS2 felling site in a beautiful ancient woodlands for 11 days. My time there was so empowering, waking up each morning above the canapy was one of my best experiences I’ve ever had! Though watching trees being cut down and the emotional grief that goes with that is challenging, knowing I am going to see a whole lot more really saddens me. I feel like it’s my duty to do as much as I can to try and prevent this damaging project before it’s too late, if that means being arrested then so be it! Though there are other roles within the campaign for those that don’t want to face arrest.
Come & join us!! You will meet so many lovely people and learn so many new skills and experiences! It may be hard at times but so rewarding! 💚
Series by @naturegaard
Thank you for emailing me, but I have to tell you there are problems. Most important, it is very difficult to get up-to-date information. The StopHS2 site is rarely current and the HS2rebellion site is showing the same info as a month ago. When Larch appealed from the top of a tree in Parliament Square for people to go to Denham, it was almost impossible to get directions. In the end I managed to phone Larch and get help while I was actually on the train! When I got there Urtika was very kind and spent time showing me around, but the behaviour of some protectors was very disappointing. They took great delight in abusing the police at every opportunity. This is rude, childish, and most of all, lousy politics. it’s the system that’s at fault, not individual police officers, who spend the rest of their time catching the bad guys and finding lost children. It’s also daft to give the police justification for treating you unjustly. But the vital point is this: if you resident protectors want back-up at moments of crisis from those of us who live a long way away, then you have to give us the information we need – and quickly.
Now then, Amelia, we shouldn’t argue; we’re on the same side, but you should note I said ‘individual officers’. They’re as trapped in the system as everyone else. And some are decent and some are not, like everyone else. I’ve had plenty of encounters with both, same as you. I think your view of the role of the police force is true enough – although I’m sure you’d acknowledge there’s other stuff they do as well, but let’s distinguish the individual from the role – as we would with any other group of human beings.
OK! I see that there are good directions to Denham now, so that qualifies my remarks, but I still don’t know how to find out which camps are most under threat at any one time. I don’t want to go to the ‘wrong’ one. By that I mean go to a camp where nothing’s happening, while along the line woods are being destroyed at that very moment.
Hey Mark, I completely understand your concerns. At the minute all camps are quite low on numbers & from the 1st of October most, if not all sites will be at risk. We keep our Instagram and Facebook page up to date with evictions. Steeple Claydon is facing eviction on the 28th, Jones Hill is preparing for one at any time. Whilst the Rugby Road Camp is under threat around the 5th-9th October when HS2 have permission to close Rugby Road for felling. I hope this helps, if not do get back in touch.
No, that’s great. Helps a lot. I’ll see what I can do. There’ll be some fatigue after the Rebellion, but I’ll see.