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JNV Peace Walk
Trail of Tears for Afghanistan:
A path from resistance from London to Colchester in support of
Joe Glenton
The Walk - Day One
The first day we walked entirely inside London,
from Whitehall to Ilford in East London. We stayed on the banks
of the Thames as long as we could. A wonderful lunch from our
support team, and a wonderful feast in the evening at Wanstead
Friends Meeting House.
10.45am on the steps of the Ministry of Defence,
Whitehall, London.
11.30 On the banks of the Thames.
The Walk - Day Two
On this leg, we started at the recruitment
office in Ilford - a little way down the road the police asked
a lot of questions - and then walked out of London over the M25
to Brentwood.
Group meeting, 9am. Wanstead Friends Meeting
House.
Outside the recruitment office, Ilford.
Malcolm Pittock, 80, was our leader pretty
much all the 75 miles from London to Colchester.
We read the names of Afghan civilians and
British soldiers killed in the war in Afghanistan in Great Warley,
just before Brentwood.
The Walk - Day Three
The local Bishop joined us in our name-reading
ceremony at Brentwood war memorial, and then we had our first
day of cross-country footpath-walking to Chelmsford. Another wonderful
feast in the evening, this time from Chelmsford Friends Meeting
House.
 
Leaving Brentwood and Shenfield (on the left)
and entering the land of footpaths (right).
Lunch stop.
One of many five-minute stops. Common saying:
'That's never five minutes!'
The most exciting moment of the day, and
perhaps of the entire walk. Crossing the A414 dual carriageway:
we could not cross this very busy, very fast A road, until suddenly
an Essex Police car arrived from nowhere and turned across both
lanes, and then repeated the trick on the other side (see above).
Essex Police have never been so popular among peace activists.
End of the day: Chelmsford War Memorial.
We carried out another name-reading, then walked 150 yards to
the Friends Meeting House.
The Walk - Day Four
From Chelmsford, we walked along the Chelmer
canal to Maldon, and then half the group continued on to Tolleshunt
Knights. Once more, a fantastic reception from Maldon Friends
Meeting House.
Leaving Chelmsford and joining the canal
path.
The canal path wound on for around 10 miles.
Malcolm, in the distance, is leading us on.
Strange but true. The footpath really does
go through their yard, and then through their shed. Salih Ibrahim
(right), one of our drivers, finally gets to do some walking on
this day.
David, Lyn and Pete celebrate making it to
Tolleshunt Knights, the end of the stage, after walking for 10
hours.
The Walk - Day Five
Starting from Tolleshunt Knights, we had
all the time in the world to get to Colchester, where we caught
a bus into the centre for a Stop The War rally. We then walked
back down out of town (with a group of Colchestrians) to the place
where we'd caught a bus, and made our way to the MCTC to finish
the walk.
Checking the route before we leave Maldon
Friends Meeting House (being driven out to Tolleshunt Knights).
Dan (left), Ariane (centre) and Martin (right) look at the map
over breakfast.
An impromptu name-reading ceremony in Maldon.
Two different kinds of territory, two different
kinds of footpath.
Lunch stop. Our last meal together, just
outside Colchester. After lunch, we had a circle of reflection,
with everyone sharing their thoughts on the walk.
We arrive at the War Memorial in Colchester
where we hold a short name-reading ceremony and then address a
rally organised by Colchester Stop The War.
The final stretch: Maya Evans and Malcolm
lead walkers and Colchestrians on the last mile to the Military
Correctional Training Centre where Joe Glenton was wrongly imprisoned.
Joe Glenton is free!
The Trail of Tears for Afghanistan peace
walk from London to Colchester was designed to focus attention
on the plight of Joe Glenton, the British soldier imprisoned for
going AWOL and for his outspoken opposition to the war in Afghanistan.
The walk took place from 27 June to 1 July 2010.
Joe
was released from the Military Correctional Training Centre
in Colchester on 12 July, after serving his nine-month sentence
(he was jailed
on 5 March; half his sentence seems to have been taken off for
good behaviour).
Preparing the Walk
The walk followed the May
2009 Die-in at Northwood in North London, and the resulting
trial
of six activists last November, and the day-long vigil and name-reading
event opposite Downing Street on 7 October 2009, the eighth anniversary
of the invasion of Afghanistan.
These and other events had created a group
of activists with a strong concern for Afghanistan, who were seeking
creative and constructive initiatives for the British peace movement
on this issue. Justice Not Vengeance was and remains a core part
of this grouping.
Earlier this year, this group met to discuss
ways of showing support for people within the armed forces who
feel uncomfortable with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We decided
to carry out a five-day walk from London to Colchester, with a
number of events around the walk (including a public meeting every
night along the way).
Two recce trips took place to select the
route. The route was determined by using an OS map, Google Street
View, and by sending a pair of cyclists along the whole route.
Hot tip: don't recce a walk by going from the destination towards
the start point. This was done when checking the second half of
the journey. It was useful in sorting out the route, but it meant
that the recce team didn't immediately recognise the turns along
the way when it came to walking that section.
Another tip, especially in the countryside,
is to make sure you know in advance where all the toilet stops
are along the way. We spent a long time finding and recording
these...
We divided the 75-mile walk into five sections
and notified the police both in London and Essex. We did not apply
for permission to gather (with banners) at the Ministry of Defence
in Whitehall, but we did notify
the Metropolitan police (they raised no objection). So we complied
with the Public Order Act (1986) on marches, but we did not comply
with the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (2005) on 'demonstrating
near Parliament'.
Thank you!
JNV is very grateful for all the support
so many people gave to make the walk a success, to all our generous
donors, to all our lovely hosts along the way, and especially
to our wonderful drivers/support team: Ariane Hadjilias, Salih
Ibrahim, Susan Clarkson and Will Davis.
JNV
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