Protesters turned up early and in large numbers to object to Bartlett's particular brand of illiberal lunacy, to be treated to powerful speeches in front of the BBC cameras
I'm nearly back home but will be straight out again for a pre-planned Saturday evening domestic wine and curry evening. A full write-up will appear here tomorrow.
A message was sent today, which was the whole point of the exercise. Job done.
29 comments:
Many thanks to all who attended.
Sorry I couldn't come - commitments with kids prevented me - but I'm waiting with bated breath to see the BBC coverage of the event .. .. ..
many thanks for drawing the line in the sand.
Good for you. I await to read the experiences of some of the other bloggers and commenters that also attended. Sounds like a good day was had by all (apart from Cllr Bartlett and conspirators) despite it pissing down. :-)
I was with you all the way DP and had a nice convo with TheDevilsKitchen and Obo on Twitter and they were sorry they could not attend. Got your pics from Twitter and blogged them.
All I can say now is 'nice one son', and no I'm not DP's son!
Look forward to the expose tomorrow.
There's actually a very short clip of Dick speaking here on the day on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Of52uxlUI
Paul, tried the link but Youtube says the vid was removed by the user? Should I be suspicious???
TheBigYin: Paul, tried the link but Youtube says the vid was removed by the user? Should I be suspicious???
It keeps being removed and reuploaded again for some bizarre reason.
It is from these events a greater movement and attendance can spring. Well done and may it spread UK wide to show "common purpose" in its proper form!
Fantastic!
Congratulations from Cyprus...
Thanks for making the stand, DP.
You did a fantastic job DP. Enjoy your curry and wine - you deserve it!
Great job on organising this and nice to finally put some faces to some names!
Bartlett may have done us a big favour.
In stopping a small council others may think twice.
Some pictures of the Stony Standoff Flickr DWGH Stony Standoff
I met only extraordinarily pleasant people today, to whom I send my warm regards.
Thank you, Dick, for focussing on this problem. It's not about tobacco, it's about freedom.
You're a busy man, and you expended immense effort on making this happen.
Pity Oedipus didn't show up, but that's life. Rain = rinsing spittle from cigarette butts into gutters = terminal diseases for all.
And that's bad for the children.
How many people do you think attended? The papers said 200. Do you agree?
Best,
John Gray.
I think you'll find it was approximately 100
May I say kudos to all involved. This is my first post on a blog but this has really roused me. Freedom is priceless.
Thankyou guys.
The VISIGOTH got there in the end
Thanks to the RED ROSE heroes,
Dave and Johm.
Thanks to leaving my lighter back
in my Gulag I had a good excuse to approach complete strangers for a light,allowing me the opportunity
to bend the ears of a delightfull cross secton of attendees.
On the return we crossed the Pennines,which reminded me of a time when England did not suffer fools lightly.
We few must increase our numbers ,and reach out to those who await a concerted union of
like minded spirits including those whose approach to protest would not be aproved by Guardian readers
Many thanks to all those lent an ear to my tales of woe
When and where do we muster once more
An ageing Goth(Visi"Western"Variety
Warmest congratulations and thanks for taking a stand. Gentlemen of England now abed - including me regret not being ale to attend - but I know there will be more of these events. Fank Davies calls it the "swarm effect". No stopping us now.
I have been watching all day to find out what happened. I wish I could have been there. However, my husband told me "that the car wouldn't go that far" (it's a freelander with a well known engine problem) and the train journey from Brighton was nightmare. Anyway, well done DP. I support you,wholeheatldy, you are very brave to do this.
I heard your TalkSport debut. You came across as relaxed, measured and sane. On the other hand, Bartlett sounded like somebody who a) believes everything they believe read in MSM
b) is comletely mad and is on medication.
I really don't kmow what to think.
Why can't us smokers have are own places? I know the 2006 Health Act stopped this, but maybe we should campaign that it is against our human rights. No, that won't work, the HR ACt apparently did not include smokers.
Where do we go from here?
WestCoast2: Great pics, thanks for posting.
Peter Thurgood: It was more than 100 as I was counting, but the BBC were a bit over the top with 200. They were a trifle inaccurate in one other respect too, more tomorrow.
Thanks for the kind remarks and ultimate respect to everyone who attended. Stars all. :)
Oh well done DP: I am so happy! Thanks so much for this. It only needed one person, and you were that person on this occasion.
It is interesting that people who only knew each other online have now met each other face to face: this must make a difference now and in the future.
Still in Greece, or I would DEF have joined you all.
Once more, many many thanks.
Carol Cattell
BBC has a link online but it gives very little information.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-14174031
They end their article on a strange note.
"If implemented, the ban would be enforced by police community support officers."
By "Community Support Officers", BBC must mean "Unelected Self-Rightous Busy-Bodies".
Congratulations for pulling off such a powerful demonstration in Stony Stratford. So much came together and among so many in such a short span of time.
It was truly awe inspiring, even for us outside the UK in other countries who have been following this with baited breath on the edge of our seats this entire last week.
Hope to hear and see more about it as time goes on.
A milestone has been reached - like Rosa Parks riding the front of the bus.
If the pub there did a better than usual business that day, then maybe other pubs should consider hosting Freedom Days at their pubs against the ban in general and for smoking rooms in particular. If every pub did that at least once a month, that might be their one day of good solid take in the till.
Excellent job, DP. Brandy and cigars for you, mate.
A great success and a top day out - incisive speakers, plenty of good company and friendly hosts. You certainly gave the lie to "talkers are no good doers"! Huge thanks, DP.:)
Dick,
Off topic but I did not know how to get this link to you when the contact button did not work and you e-mail address is on a computer that is in bits at the moment.
I think you might be able to use it:
Westerners are genetically programmed to drink alcohol and eat unhealthy foods says study
A hugely successful day - thanks for all the hard work and well worth the effort.
The deluge did not spoil the day. If anything, it proved that we will fight come rain or shine and, as we'd hoped, - the sun did indeed shine on us. A very clear message has been sent out to the bastards - back off, you're starting to piss off more than just pub smokers.
And, not least, it's been a long time since we've have as much fun in a pub. Among friends, old and new. Could you imagine any anti gathering being as much fun?
As you know, we travelled/sailed down from Lincoln with Pat. She and Karen chatted all the way there and and all the way back - two very feisty ladies (more 'balls' than most men). Our Sophie, not for the first time, was the captive audience (well, when she wasn't asleep…). But she puts up with it, even helps spread the word among her mates. Not always successfully - one totally brainwashed young Nietzsche fan told her she displayed fascist tendencies by challenging the nanny state. She blames her parents....
When the sun emerged I wandered down to the street with Karen and Pat to find a cafe. Barely a fag butt in sight. The downpour undoubtably helped, but I was impressed by the relative absence of any litter whatsoever. Stony Stratford is a lovely little town - it just needs to get rid of one piece of trash in the town hall.
David
PS. have emailed you stuff.
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