Category: Summer Gathering 2005

A nation­al gath­er­ing to inspire and train all those opposed to the destruc­tion of our plan­et

Earth First! Sum­mer Gath­er­ing 2005
Wednes­day 17th — Sun­day 21st August
Peak Dis­trict
Phone: 0845 355 0111
http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/

Earth First! is not a cohe­sive group or cam­paign, but a con­ve­nient ban­ner to work under for peo­ple who share sim­i­lar ideas. The gen­er­al prin­ci­ples behind the name are non-hier­ar­chi­cal organ­i­sa­tion and the use of direct action to stop, and even­tu­al­ly reverse, the forces that are respon­si­ble for the destruc­tion of the earth and its inhab­i­tants.

Since 1992 many of the peo­ple under this ban­ner have come togeth­er at gath­er­ings to meet, socialise, dis­cuss and organ­ise direct action. This year’s gath­er­ing will take place in the Peak Dis­trict. Here, in our first nation­al park, is some of Britain’s most spec­tac­u­lar land­scape.

“In the future our gen­er­a­tion will be remem­bered for hav­ing the last oppor­tu­ni­ty to halt mass extinc­tion, unprece­dent­ed even by the dinosaurs. Now is the time to gath­er and form an eco­log­i­cal resis­tance before the last great forests and life-sup­port sys­tems of the earth dis­ap­pear for­ev­er. There is no turn­ing back it is lit­er­al­ly up to you.”

Ses­sions will cov­er a range of prac­ti­cal skills and strug­gles. Those already planned include self-defence, nan­otech­nol­o­gy, block­ade tac­tics, Gle­nea­gles G8, nav­i­ga­tion, Ice­land Dams, action First Aid, indige­nous resis­tance, climb­ing, ID cards, road and air­port expan­sion, prim­i­tive skills, organ­is­ing actions and cam­paigns, cli­mate change, and eco­log­i­cal restora­tion. We’ll put more details up on the web­site as and when ses­sions are con­firmed.

One day of the gath­er­ing will be an away-day out in the Peak Dis­trict. As well as a chance to explore the local biore­gion togeth­er, there’ll be prac­ti­cal ses­sions up in the hills and a vis­it to Nine Ladies, a direct action camp block­ing quar­ry expan­sion in the Peak Dis­trict Nation­al Park ( http://pages.zoom.co.uk/~nineladies ).

There will be a recep­tion tent, veg­an cater­ing by Anar­chist Teapot ( http://www.eco-action.org/teapot ), a café by Veg­gies ( http://www.veggies.org.uk/ ), a read­ing library, a wom­ens’ space, and a camp­ing area includ­ing a qui­et sleep­ing area. Re-pressed (http://www.re-pressed.org.uk/ ) will be run­ning a stall sell­ing books and pam­phlets. Com­mer­cial stalls are not wel­come, but remem­ber to bring any infor­ma­tion about your group, cam­paign or forth­com­ing action.

Get­ting there: The near­est main­line sta­tion is Der­by. The exact loca­tion of the site will be announced a week before the Gath­er­ing. For a map and trav­el details (includ­ing trains and bus­es close to the site), check the web­site or send a first-class stamped, addressed enve­lope marked GATHERING MAP to the address below. We will post it back to you so that it arrives on August 10th. Alter­na­tive­ly, check the web­site from that date. We’ll run pick­ups from the near­est train sta­tion a cou­ple of times a day: ring the phone num­ber for times. Details of any region­al trans­port con­tacts will be put on the web­site.

Arriv­ing and leav­ing: The first ses­sions start at 1pm on Wednes­day 17th August, so aim to arrive by the evening of Tues­day 16th if you want to come to the whole event; the gate will be open from 12 mid­day. The last ses­sion will end on Sun­day 21st at 6pm. After din­ner there’ll be films and a ceilidh.

What to bring: Come equipped: bring shel­ter, warm water­proof clothes (just in case), and boots. You’ll need mon­ey for the gate and for food from Anar­chist Teapot unless you’re cater­ing for your­self. Do pho­to­copy and bring any ‘how to’ guides you think might be use­ful.

Site crew is every­one who comes along. In order for us to have the gath­er­ing, veg­eta­bles need to be chopped, young peo­ple need to be enter­tained, wash­ing up needs to be done, the gate tent needs to be staffed and com­post toi­lets need to be main­tained. Some­times this is the best way to meet new peo­ple, have great con­ver­sa­tions, and learn how to do new things. Come pre­pared to vol­un­teer. You can sign up for shifts when you get there.

Cost: At the gate, we’ll be ask­ing for £10 for every adult (includ­ing every­one help­ing out in any way) to cov­er the cost of organ­is­ing the gath­er­ing.

Camp­ing: The accom­mo­da­tion is camp­ing only, so come equipped. A women-only camp­ing space will be pro­vid­ed. We aim to be as ful­ly-acces­si­ble to all as we can. If you have any spe­cial needs, con­tact us. A lim­it­ed num­ber of live-in vehi­cles are wel­come: check with us in advance to see if there’s space.

Kids: Chil­dren are wel­come. Please let us know how many kids are com­ing and how old they are. There’ll be a kids’ space, and some events for dif­fer­ent ages, but you’re still respon­si­ble for the chil­dren you bring.

Dogs: There is a strict lim­it on the num­ber of dogs we can have on this site, so please arrange before­hand for friends or rel­a­tives to look after your dog. If this is real­ly not pos­si­ble you must con­tact us before­hand, as any dogs not already booked will be turned away at the gate. Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times, and exer­cised off-site.

Food: The Anar­chist Teapot mobile action kitchen will be cook­ing GM-free veg­an food. You can buy their meal tick­ets for £3.50 a day, or bring your own food to cook and a camp­ing stove.

Cam­eras and press: This is an action-ori­en­tat­ed gath­er­ing, not a press event, so if you are com­ing as a jour­nal­ist then you are not wel­come. Please respect the wish­es of some peo­ple not to be pho­tographed and leave your cam­era at home.

NO COPS, NO JOURNALISTS, NO CAMERAS

Set-up and tat-down: We’ll need some peo­ple to help out on site for a few days before and after the gath­er­ing. If you can help, phone us on the num­ber below.

Earth First! has no cen­tral office, no mem­bers, no paid work­ers, and also no mon­ey. Any dona­tions will be appre­ci­at­ed. Make cheques and postal orders payable to “Earth First!”.

Earth First! Gath­er­ing 2005, 6 Tilbury Place, Brighton, East Sus­sex, BN2 2GY
Phone: 0845 355 0111
Email: sum­mer­gath­er­ing @ yahoo.co.uk
Web­site: http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/

A nation­al gath­er­ing to inspire and train all those opposed to the destruc­tion of our plan­et

Earth First! Sum­mer Gath­er­ing 2005
Wednes­day 17th — Sun­day 21st August
Peak Dis­trict
Phone: 0845 355 0111
http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/

Earth First! is not a cohe­sive group or cam­paign, but a con­ve­nient ban­ner to work under for peo­ple who share sim­i­lar ideas. The gen­er­al prin­ci­ples behind the name are non-hier­ar­chi­cal organ­i­sa­tion and the use of direct action to stop, and even­tu­al­ly reverse, the forces that are respon­si­ble for the destruc­tion of the earth and its inhab­i­tants.

Since 1992 many of the peo­ple under this ban­ner have come togeth­er at gath­er­ings to meet, socialise, dis­cuss and organ­ise direct action. This year’s gath­er­ing will take place in the Peak Dis­trict. Here, in our first nation­al park, is some of Britain’s most spec­tac­u­lar land­scape.

“In the future our gen­er­a­tion will be remem­bered for hav­ing the last oppor­tu­ni­ty to halt mass extinc­tion, unprece­dent­ed even by the dinosaurs. Now is the time to gath­er and form an eco­log­i­cal resis­tance before the last great forests and life-sup­port sys­tems of the earth dis­ap­pear for­ev­er. There is no turn­ing back it is lit­er­al­ly up to you.”

Ses­sions will cov­er a range of prac­ti­cal skills and strug­gles. Those already planned include self-defence, nan­otech­nol­o­gy, block­ade tac­tics, Gle­nea­gles G8, nav­i­ga­tion, Ice­land Dams, action First Aid, indige­nous resis­tance, climb­ing, ID cards, road and air­port expan­sion, prim­i­tive skills, organ­is­ing actions and cam­paigns, cli­mate change, and eco­log­i­cal restora­tion. We’ll put more details up on the web­site as and when ses­sions are con­firmed.

One day of the gath­er­ing will be an away-day out in the Peak Dis­trict. As well as a chance to explore the local biore­gion togeth­er, there’ll be prac­ti­cal ses­sions up in the hills and a vis­it to Nine Ladies, a direct action camp block­ing quar­ry expan­sion in the Peak Dis­trict Nation­al Park ( http://pages.zoom.co.uk/~nineladies ).

There will be a recep­tion tent, veg­an cater­ing by Anar­chist Teapot ( http://www.eco-action.org/teapot ), a café by Veg­gies ( http://www.veggies.org.uk/ ), a read­ing library, a wom­ens’ space, and a camp­ing area includ­ing a qui­et sleep­ing area. Re-pressed (http://www.re-pressed.org.uk/ ) will be run­ning a stall sell­ing books and pam­phlets. Com­mer­cial stalls are not wel­come, but remem­ber to bring any infor­ma­tion about your group, cam­paign or forth­com­ing action.

Get­ting there: The near­est main­line sta­tion is Der­by. The exact loca­tion of the site will be announced a week before the Gath­er­ing. For a map and trav­el details (includ­ing trains and bus­es close to the site), check the web­site or send a first-class stamped, addressed enve­lope marked GATHERING MAP to the address below. We will post it back to you so that it arrives on August 10th. Alter­na­tive­ly, check the web­site from that date. We’ll run pick­ups from the near­est train sta­tion a cou­ple of times a day: ring the phone num­ber for times. Details of any region­al trans­port con­tacts will be put on the web­site.

Arriv­ing and leav­ing: The first ses­sions start at 1pm on Wednes­day 17th August, so aim to arrive by the evening of Tues­day 16th if you want to come to the whole event; the gate will be open from 12 mid­day. The last ses­sion will end on Sun­day 21st at 6pm. After din­ner there’ll be films and a ceilidh.

What to bring: Come equipped: bring shel­ter, warm water­proof clothes (just in case), and boots. You’ll need mon­ey for the gate and for food from Anar­chist Teapot unless you’re cater­ing for your­self. Do pho­to­copy and bring any ‘how to’ guides you think might be use­ful.

Site crew is every­one who comes along. In order for us to have the gath­er­ing, veg­eta­bles need to be chopped, young peo­ple need to be enter­tained, wash­ing up needs to be done, the gate tent needs to be staffed and com­post toi­lets need to be main­tained. Some­times this is the best way to meet new peo­ple, have great con­ver­sa­tions, and learn how to do new things. Come pre­pared to vol­un­teer. You can sign up for shifts when you get there.

Cost: At the gate, we’ll be ask­ing for £10 for every adult (includ­ing every­one help­ing out in any way) to cov­er the cost of organ­is­ing the gath­er­ing.

Camp­ing: The accom­mo­da­tion is camp­ing only, so come equipped. A women-only camp­ing space will be pro­vid­ed. We aim to be as ful­ly-acces­si­ble to all as we can. If you have any spe­cial needs, con­tact us. A lim­it­ed num­ber of live-in vehi­cles are wel­come: check with us in advance to see if there’s space.

Kids: Chil­dren are wel­come. Please let us know how many kids are com­ing and how old they are. There’ll be a kids’ space, and some events for dif­fer­ent ages, but you’re still respon­si­ble for the chil­dren you bring.

Dogs: There is a strict lim­it on the num­ber of dogs we can have on this site, so please arrange before­hand for friends or rel­a­tives to look after your dog. If this is real­ly not pos­si­ble you must con­tact us before­hand, as any dogs not already booked will be turned away at the gate. Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times, and exer­cised off-site.

Food: The Anar­chist Teapot mobile action kitchen will be cook­ing GM-free veg­an food. You can buy their meal tick­ets for £3.50 a day, or bring your own food to cook and a camp­ing stove.

Cam­eras and press: This is an action-ori­en­tat­ed gath­er­ing, not a press event, so if you are com­ing as a jour­nal­ist then you are not wel­come. Please respect the wish­es of some peo­ple not to be pho­tographed and leave your cam­era at home.

NO COPS, NO JOURNALISTS, NO CAMERAS

Set-up and tat-down: We’ll need some peo­ple to help out on site for a few days before and after the gath­er­ing. If you can help, phone us on the num­ber below.

Earth First! has no cen­tral office, no mem­bers, no paid work­ers, and also no mon­ey. Any dona­tions will be appre­ci­at­ed. Make cheques and postal orders payable to “Earth First!”.

Earth First! Gath­er­ing 2005, 6 Tilbury Place, Brighton, East Sus­sex, BN2 2GY
Phone: 0845 355 0111
Email: sum­mer­gath­er­ing @ yahoo.co.uk
Web­site: http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/