Stoney Cross

[A5 40 Page]

Stoney Cross, June 1986

The ambush at the Battle of the Beanfield had been the year before on the 1st June 1985. In May and June of 1986, the tribes again tried to gather. Convoys began assembling to celebrate that years Solstice were chased around several counties, all over the south of England, by both huge numbers police and right wing media outrage, before finally finding some temporary recuperative respite on a site at Stoney Cross in the New Forest, Hampshire.

More of the same was in store. Much stress!!

It was the 1st June, when we first arrived at Stoney Cross, . The whole issue was on newspaper front pages for a week!
Politicians again whipped up the moral outrage. On the 3rd June, the Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd described the convoy in a speech to the House of Commons:
“Hon. Members from the west country will be aware of the immense policing difficulties created by the peace convoy, it is anything but peaceful. Indeed, it resembles nothing more than a band of medieval brigands who have no respect for the law or the rights of others”.

The National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) observed that this assertion was made without any evidence being presented that the convoy contained a higher proportion of people with criminal records, or, evidence the travellers were committing offences on the road.

Two days later on the 5th, Margaret Thatcher said that her governments is:
“Only too delighted to do anything we can to make life difficult for such things as `hippy convoys’”.

So, they did ….

‘Pageturner’ video at: https://youtu.be/A8WyrNyZwsI