Interfaith Peace Walk Towards a Nuclear Free Future
Dublin to London, April-June - 2007
Day 16 - May 28th, 2007: Dumbarton to Faslane
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Today is the second day of two days walk from Glasgow to Faslane. After the usual morning routine of breakfast, packing lunch (will this be a one sandwich or two sandwich day?), packing up our gear, and endeavoring to limit the tea intake (pee breaks can be problematic), we marched out of Dumbarton under a beautiful blue sky. We walked along the west shore of the Clyde River which merges with Gare Loch, so there are lots of beautiful views of the loch with sail boats and fishing boats, plus the occasional military boat since we’re approaching Faslane. The waters seem to be under constant surveillance. For lunch we were enthusiastically welcomed in Helensburgh by the local Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) group with hot tea and pleasant company. Then on to Faslane, but just before you get there, you pass by the Peace Camp, an encampment along the road that has been housing Faslane peace activists for the past twenty-five years. Scotland has very liberal hiking and camping laws which make it legal to camp on the side of the road.
So just before you reach the south entrance to Faslane, you encounter the Peace Camp, with about a dozen camper trailers (caravans) colorfully painted and running water and plenty of wood burning cook stoves for hot tea. What else could one ask for? We received another enthusiastic welcome by the Peace Camp people who joined us for the rest of the walk to the north gate of Faslane with their colorful banner and warm hearts.
Faslane is a British naval base that houses four Trident submarines (bought from the US). Each submarine is equipped with 48 nuclear warheads, each of which is ten to twelve times more powerful than the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. One of the submarines is on patrol somewhere 24-7, which is undoubtedly reassuring to all those who still regard the British Empire as the crowning achievement of modern civilization.
The problem, however, is that the majority of Scottish people don’t want them in their country, and many have participated in the decades-long campaign to close the base. Our walk was routed here so that we could participate in that campaign too. As we walked past the long narrow base, the contrast between our colorful, spirited, reverent, diverse group and the dark evil on the other side of the razor wire was striking. We crested a small hill and around the bend the north gate, the main entrance to Faslane, appeared. Again the contrast of military gloom on the inside with the joyful presence of a group of dancers who had been dancing against nuclear genocide all day on one corner, while another group had hot tea and love waiting for us on another. We gathered and mingled and couldn’t help but be in awe to be in the space with such a long history of non-violent direct action where hundreds, maybe thousands by now, of heroic women and men had placed their bodies in the way of the military machine.
When it was time to head back to Dumbarton we climbed aboard the efficient Scottish public transportation of busses and trains. An event unnerved us as we left the train station at Dumbarton. A man recognized us as Faslane protestors and immediately started yelling that people like us were responsible for the death of his father. He said his father had suffered a heart attack and was held up on his way to receive medical care by the traffic jam caused by a blockade at the gate of Faslane and later died. His tirade seemed to be exaggerated by alcohol but it was disturbing nonetheless. We had already discussed our intention to not cause any disruption to the general travelling public with our plans to blockade the gate tomorrow, and this episode only confirmed that decision. After supper we spent another couple of hours finalizing our plans for the blockade, what each of our roles would be as either supporters or blockaders. It was exhausting, especially after such a long day, but necessary and fruitful so that we all had clarity and agreement. We also role played a little more, so that we could feel more comfortable with the action. We finally pasted ourselves into our sleeping bags for a fitful night in anticipation of our big day tomorrow.
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