More scenes from the papers - No M11

More scenes from the papers - No M11, originally uploaded by londoninflames.

Here you can see a poor photo of one of the most useful barricades - ropes stretched across the street from treetop to rooftop. Very hard to evict people from, and you can't cut the tree down or demolish the house until the occupants have been removed. Sadly the rules aren't always kept to. During the eviction a JCB was used to pull down one net resulting in the occupant falling to the ground from rooftop height and landing beneath the digger blade. Fortunately they only broke an arm, IIRC, but of course not health and safety or criminal charges were brought against the JCB driver who had deliberately set out to injure them.

The Battle for Claremont Road

The Battle for Claremont Road, originally uploaded by londoninflames.

An eerie picture of a cop on the roofs. It took four days to shift the M11 Protesters from the roofs and towers.

...ors take to their bunkers

ors take to their bunkers, originally uploaded by londoninflames.

Once on the street the police were fairly quick about removing those of us who hadn't made it into the houses (or in our case, hadn't tried. Wish I had now, I really do). There were some surprises in store. Whilst most people who sat down were fairly easily moved, though one woman, an elderly local woman who had showed up to act as a first aid volunteer for the protesters was dragged away by two cops, weeping. Ugly shit, though at that time I'd already watched one of our brave boys in blue shove an elderly woman to the ground in the name of protecting democracy from those who wish to have a part of it. That shit stays with you.

We were pushed back slowly, there was no violent resistance, just the usual catcalls and jeers, and a few protesters who sat down or required being dragged away. A few surprised the police, who upon attempting to move protesters apparently lounging on mattresses turned out to be locked into pipes embedded in concrete. Specialist machinery would be required to shift them. Eventually the street was cleared, and the long process of clearing the houses could begin. This would take the best part of a week.