‘Block Around the Clock’ anti-fracking camp

Friends took part in a fifty-four-hour blockade of a Cuadrilla site

Around ten Quakers took part in the ‘Block Around the Clock’ camp this month to protest against fracking in the Preston New Road Cuadrilla site near Blackpool.

Hundreds of people joined the camp, which ran from 27 June to 1 July and included dancing, art, music and vigils, and culminated with a parade on 30 June along the promenade in Blackpool.

The fifty-four-hour blockade, which allowed no work on the site, was organised by Reclaim the Power as part of its United Resistance campaign of action against fracking, which has been in place on the site since April. Friends held a Meeting for Worship at the gates of the Cuadrilla site.

Cliodhna Mulhern, from Lancaster Meeting, told the Friend: ‘People came from all over the country and camped at the gates. There was a festival atmosphere, with a great sense of exuberance and protection for the site. It was a lovely way to finish United Resistance because no one was arrested or cautioned. A few policemen observed the festivities.’

Sam Walton, from South London Area Meeting, told the Friend: ‘It was a mini utopia. It felt that somehow by standing together against fossil fuels we revealed a bit of the Kingdom of Heaven in the middle of the A583.’

The camp ended with a march through Blackpool with around 300 people, including many women dressed as suffragettes.

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