Totnes is no army recruitment zone
The Army came to Totnes today. The Devon & Dorset Regiment set up a recruiting stall in the town centre's Civic Square. It's half-term for the local schools and Totnes is a small town of about 15,000 people so all the teenagers, the young people know each other and will congregate in the town centre during the day to meet up. As teenagers are wont when not at school and the sun is out.
I discovered the recruitment stall, to my great dismay as I went for breakfast of tea, bacon sandwich, fag and paper at my local cafe, the Brioche which is on the main street and faces the Civic Square. It wasn't the best start to the day. But the gloom lifted as soon as I entered the cafe. Poppy - cook of the day - exclaimed in wide-eyed righteous anger, "Have you seen what they are doing?!" The next half hour was a whirr of activity as she went up and down the High Street checking with shops and others about what should be done. She came back with a ton of paper to make placards and notices to plaster all around the square and up and down the street.
Poppy was born at Greenham Common, a fact she is rightly proud of. Greenham represented the height of the feminist movement in Britain. The women-only peace camps the feminist movement established around the USAF Cruise Missile base at Greenham Common, during the early 1980s had a major political impact at the time. Unfortunately this went the way of most progressive movements once the miners were finally defeated in 1985. Poppy though is the next generation and seems to have the activism and peace gene.
My bacon sandwich was slow in coming but what the hell, when it arrived it tasted better knowing a cook of one of the best cafe's in Totnes was trying to stop war. The cafe wasn't busy and Laura, running 'front-of-house' not the kitchen, covered while wishing she was making posters. No one in the cafe complained about service, Laura's to good for that. The American wasn't to happy about the anti-war sentiment but Poppy had the measure of him in her uncomplicated and direct way.
Paul, who runs the Harlequin bookshop a few doors down, had already rung around the town's anti-war stalwarts before Poppy stopped by. He had made up some placards to display outside the shop directly opposite the recruitment stall.
"Join the army. Travel to exotic lands. Meet interesting people and kill them."
Paul spent some time in America during the 1960s active in the Vietnam anti-war movement, which explains the speed of his response as well as the placards.
I hung around the cafe for a while having arranged to meet Julie, an artist friend whose day job is in a shop a few doors down past Paul's. She had managed to get a few minutes off work for a coffee and a fag. It was good to see her, as always. Julie has an exhibition coming up in the spring so is very busy.
By the time I left the cafe at 10.45 there were at least 15 people demonstrating around the recruitment stall, keeping a respectful distance but close enough to let the soldiers know their presence was not welcome. Nothing personal.
Lillian, on the left was phoned at 09.00 and turned up at 09.30 as a walking placard. Not bad for a 79 year old. Talking to her I found out that, like me she is an old commie. They get bloody everywhere don't they!
By midday the recruiters had had enough and packed up their stalls and left, having failed in enlisting any new recruits today.
Its nice to see that Totnes peace movement can respond so quickly and enjoy doing it. Makes for optimism in these times of woe.
The photos are taken with a phone camera, its the only picture capturing thing I can seem to hold with out the shakes.
I discovered the recruitment stall, to my great dismay as I went for breakfast of tea, bacon sandwich, fag and paper at my local cafe, the Brioche which is on the main street and faces the Civic Square. It wasn't the best start to the day. But the gloom lifted as soon as I entered the cafe. Poppy - cook of the day - exclaimed in wide-eyed righteous anger, "Have you seen what they are doing?!" The next half hour was a whirr of activity as she went up and down the High Street checking with shops and others about what should be done. She came back with a ton of paper to make placards and notices to plaster all around the square and up and down the street.
Poppy was born at Greenham Common, a fact she is rightly proud of. Greenham represented the height of the feminist movement in Britain. The women-only peace camps the feminist movement established around the USAF Cruise Missile base at Greenham Common, during the early 1980s had a major political impact at the time. Unfortunately this went the way of most progressive movements once the miners were finally defeated in 1985. Poppy though is the next generation and seems to have the activism and peace gene.
My bacon sandwich was slow in coming but what the hell, when it arrived it tasted better knowing a cook of one of the best cafe's in Totnes was trying to stop war. The cafe wasn't busy and Laura, running 'front-of-house' not the kitchen, covered while wishing she was making posters. No one in the cafe complained about service, Laura's to good for that. The American wasn't to happy about the anti-war sentiment but Poppy had the measure of him in her uncomplicated and direct way.
Paul, who runs the Harlequin bookshop a few doors down, had already rung around the town's anti-war stalwarts before Poppy stopped by. He had made up some placards to display outside the shop directly opposite the recruitment stall."Join the army. Travel to exotic lands. Meet interesting people and kill them."
Paul spent some time in America during the 1960s active in the Vietnam anti-war movement, which explains the speed of his response as well as the placards.
I hung around the cafe for a while having arranged to meet Julie, an artist friend whose day job is in a shop a few doors down past Paul's. She had managed to get a few minutes off work for a coffee and a fag. It was good to see her, as always. Julie has an exhibition coming up in the spring so is very busy.
By the time I left the cafe at 10.45 there were at least 15 people demonstrating around the recruitment stall, keeping a respectful distance but close enough to let the soldiers know their presence was not welcome. Nothing personal.
Lillian, on the left was phoned at 09.00 and turned up at 09.30 as a walking placard. Not bad for a 79 year old. Talking to her I found out that, like me she is an old commie. They get bloody everywhere don't they!By midday the recruiters had had enough and packed up their stalls and left, having failed in enlisting any new recruits today.
Its nice to see that Totnes peace movement can respond so quickly and enjoy doing it. Makes for optimism in these times of woe.
The photos are taken with a phone camera, its the only picture capturing thing I can seem to hold with out the shakes.
posted by les at 15:02
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home