Another page from the same source., complete with ranks of riot police. It was against the CJB that I attended my first protest march. On my own, because no-one I knew cared about politics (or if they did, they didn't care about my idea of politics). It think it must have been 1993. I don't really remember much of it - this wasn't the protest that ended in mass violence, this was one that ended in dull speeches from newspaper-salesmen. But as we walked up Whitehall there was a bit of a crush, and some noise. I joined the throng, and watched as a couple of black-clad crusty types attempted to scale the gates of Downing Street (incidentally, until Thatcher was in power Downing Street was ungated. Until Churchill's time the phone number was listed in the phone book). The crowd were watching, mostly applauding though of course there were a fair few jeers. Then the crowd shifted and I went down as some old girl with a bike was pushed or fell on top of me. Her bike pedal ripped my trouser leg, but of more concern to me was the fact that as I pushed myself up I saw, rather than heard, the police horses. The hooves were a couple of metres away from my head. The charge had dispersed the crowd alright, and I don't think there were any injuries. But I never heard a warning if any was given. At the time i remember being somewhat shocked - like even though I was on the demo i was clearly participating in a democratic peaceful action, and I was merely observing the gate-climbing. Why should my health have been put on the line then? Of course, now I know better.
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