Peace Camp Update December 99
- Caravan destroyed by accidental fire
In September and October Peace campers continued to take action against the
Trident system. On 1 September there was an incursion into Coulport and on
the ninth of the ninth, Faslane's computerised fence sensors failed allowing
three peace campers in. British CND conference was attended and Citizen's
inspection was attempted as part of the European Abolition Days action.
Ploughshares Acitivists Angie Ellen and Ulla were supported by a peace camp
action at Scottish Labour Party HQ, and peace campers were there in numbers
at Greenock Sherriff Court to see their release.
November was a bumper month for Peace Camp actions. This started with November 5, Torch Trident action and party. Coulport was invaded, and both gates at Faslane were blocked for several hours, there were sixteen arrests. Seven Faslane peace campers were arrested and many wore involved in action the next weekend in support of Trident Ploughshares camp at Coulport. Eight peace campers were involved in stopping the nuclear weapons convoy at Balloch at the end of the month, press coverage was extensive including the London Times.
On Saturday December 11, the communal caravan at Faslane Peace Camp caught fire. The cause was probably a chimney fire in the caravan's wood burner. Campers tried to put out the fire while a neighbour let us dial 999 from her house. The sitting room contained a lot of foam filled furniture and the fire quickly became unstoppable, peace campers removed their belongings from nearby caravans and broke windows in the communal (before they exploded) and then waited for the fire service. Both lines of traffic on the A814 road were halted by MoD and Strathclyde Police. This effectively prevented access to the base from the south. Two fire engines from Helensburgh put out the fire, and then campers started to count the cost.
The communal caravan contained camp's meeting space/sitting room, our indoor kitchen, our flushing toilet and indoor bathroom, our larder and our office. Only the office survived, although it has lost all its windows and all the books and papers remaining have been damaged by smoke and water, our telephone melted and we are currently using one on short term loan from BT.
The clear up started bright and early on Sunday morning and is continuing. We have already started using camp money to pay for clearing the site and fund raising to bring a replacement caravan to peace camp. This however is expensive, with skips at £100 a time, so please be understanding if you were expecting a copy of the camp's magazine 'Faslania', this is ready to go to press but the money required to print and distribute it has been diverted to the emergency.
We have an appeal leflet which groups can take from us for the cost of postage. If you wish to make a donation please make cheques payable to Faslane Peace Camp. Our address is Faslane Peace Camp, 81 Shandon, Helensburgh, Scotland G84 8NN. Our telephone number is 01436 820901.