Interfaith Peace Walk Towards a Nuclear Free Future
Dublin to London, April-June - 2007
Day 17 - May 29th, 2007: Coulport to Faslane
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As I write this I am in a jail cell in Dumbarton, Scotland. I am alone, with no furnishings except a steel toilet, a concrete bed, and a thin pad with two blankets for sleeping. It is about 7:00 pm though I can’t say for sure because they took my watch. The reason I am here is that I, along with eight others with Footprints For Peace, blockaded the gates of Faslane, a Trident nuclear submarine base about thirty miles north of Glasgow. (I just found out it’s a little after 8:00 because they brought me supper, a delightful vegetarian burger patty, two veggie sausage links, a wedge of potato, and about 8 baked beans, washed down with hot tea and water. It was much better than the putrid substance they pass off as food in the Hamilton County jail in Cincinnati, Ohio in the US).
We started the day by taking the bus around the northern tip of Gare Loch to its west shore to Coulport and then walking back from there to Faslane. Coulport is a military post where the actual nuclear warheads are stored before they are loaded and unloaded off the submarines before they go into Faslane. Our plan was for everybody but Marcus and KA to take the train and bus again, while they drive our gear in the support van up to the Peace Camp where we plan to stay tonight, and then join us at Coulport via bus. Unfortunately, there was confusion on the part of a newer walker as to when we were leaving, meaning that Marcus and KA had to wait at the church in Dumbarton until that problem was sorted out, which resulted in them getting to Coulport later than we had planned. The larger group at the gates of Coulport decided to go ahead with our prayer ceremony allowing several of the slower walkers to begin the long climb up the hill out of the area while the rest of us awaited Marcus and KA. This decision went against our plans made last night to all stay together as a group and caused some dissension among us. Once we were all re-united, we held a circle to allow everyone to express their feelings and hope to regain the strong unity we would need for our anticipated action. The circle helped, but as we set off it still felt awkward. This walk has just been blessed with good fortune however, partly because of the incredible planning and hard work of Marcus and KA, and partly because of the goodness in our hearts, and this time it was presented to us by John, the Scottish police officer who escorted us for our safety from Coulport over the dangerous part of the journey. He was such a joyful, talkative, interesting person who seemed to enjoy and even support our group that we couldn’t help but be buoyed up by his company. He reminded us of Roger, who appeared out of nowhere in Ireland with the same effect. By lunch time, when he left, we were all feeling better and what had begun as a disjointed, disturbing day was turning into one filled with promise.
The walk was fabulous, with several overlooks from which we could see across the bay right into Faslane. We could make out three subs docked there, and there was a rumor that a Canadian sub was on its way in. As we made our final descent to Faslane, those of us who were going to block the gate made our final preparations, getting advice from several of the veterans of Faslane 365. Faslane 365 is the campaign to have a year-long presence at the gate of non-violent direct action. They started September 1, 2006 and will end August 31, 2007, though the campaign to close Faslane has been going on for several decades and will continue as long as is necessary to shut it down. Many people we’ve talked to about Faslane, including several who got arrested with us today, have already been arrested previous to the Faslane 365 campaign.
I’m sure all of our hearts were racing as the north gate came into view. I know I was both anxious and excited, wondering if our plans were going to work. As it turned out, everything happened exactly as we had hoped. Seven of us were able to head into the in-bound lane, form a circle, and sit down locking our arms together. An eighth blocker, dressed as Gandhi, stood with us facing the base and started speaking truth to all within ear-shot. The Scottish police, courteous as boy scouts, let us have a few minutes of undisturbed blockading, and then began to tell us to leave or face arrest. We began singing songs when suddenly our ninth conspirator tried to scale the fence next to the gate where he intended to lock-on. We had hoped that our disturbance would have distracted the police enough to allow him time to gain some height, but they were alert and had him on the ground pretty quickly. Meanwhile our friends who were giving support cheered and videotaped the whole event. Pretty soon they had us all in police vans except for two hardened veterans who refused to unlock their arms and layed in the street until the police pried them loose and carried them off. Gandhi stood his ground through it all and was finally taken into custody with the rest of us.
And so here we are in the Dumbarton jail. I believe the five men are in adjacent cells. I can hear their voices sometimes as they talk to the guards, and have seen the one across from me through my little peep hole. The guards are pleasant enough, even cheerful, and I am looking forward to an easy night’s sleep as a guest of Scotland hospitality. |
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