The scarf lining the route between AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield. Photo: Photo: Luke Massey.
Friends join scarf protest
Friends joined the Wool Against Weapons protest on 9 August
Several hundred protesters were on hand last Saturday, 9 August, for the unfurling of an enormous pink scarf along the seven miles of road between the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield.
The protest was intended to show the scale of opposition to Trident replacement in the UK and abroad. It took place on the anniversary of the 1945 bombing of Nagasaki.
A significant number of Quakers were among the protesters. Some had travelled from Yearly Meeting Gathering (YMG) in Bath. Many Meetings contributed to the scarf, and some of their efforts could be seen snaking around the Gathering Village on the final evening of YMG.
Around 5,000 people from across the UK and as a far afield as South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Australia knitted pieces of scarf for the demonstration, which was led by the Wool Against Weapons initiative.
Estimates for the final length of the scarf vary from between seven and eight miles and between nine and ten, CND told the Friend. Whichever was the case, it was doubled-up – and even tripled-up – in some places.
In addition to Friends and members of CND and Action AWE, a number of faith groups took part. The Green Party was represented by Molly Scott Cato, a Quaker and MEP, and deputy leader Will Duckworth.
The organisers hoped that the eye-catching nature of the protest would capture the public’s imagination. They report that it turned out to be ‘a colourful, fun and peaceful demonstration’ which not only achieved its objectives but in doing so brought together thousands of people from across the world.
Plans for the scarf after the event range from making sections into blankets for people in Gaza to, in Hitchin Meeting’s case, wrapping it around part of the Meeting house during Heritage Open Days in September. Friends have also suggested wrapping parts of the scarf around statues associated with world war one.
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