Tarleton Over 60’s Club: “People enter these premises at their own risk” Apart from the dangers from the over 60’s, Tarleton is quite a lovely place
Day two in Lancashire started pretty slowly. After attending the REAF meeting the previous night and having lots of engaging discussions with the local campaigners I lay awake for what seemed like hours, my brain buzzing, assimilating what I had heard and trying to work out how I might be able to contribute to their campaign.
After breakfast and twenty minutes of cursing the internet connection on the campsite, we resorted to folding Camp Frack flyers to distribute in Tarleton later and then went and borrowed a local campaigner’s internet connection for a couple of hours. We were cooked lunch! Delicious! We’re bowled over by the friendliness and hospitality of the locals here, it’s really made a difference to us. I was nervous about coming up here, concerned that people might think we were intruding somehow. I needn’t have been: the solidarity between campaigners and activists old and new seems to be universal: it doesn’t seem to matter how much experience you have or what direction your coming from, people set aside their differences to fight for a common cause. This might sound naive but it’s true, in my experience at least.
After we’d finished our internet session, we talked in the garden. Ah, what weather we had yesterday! Glorious! I doubt we’re going to see weather like that again this weekend but right now at least, as we begin to erect tents and marquees in the event space, it’s not raining – so I’m not complaining!
We were intrigued to hear the story of how some of the locals decided to get involved in organising opposition to fracking here in Lancashire. A couple of months ago, before Cuadrilla started their drilling operation in Banks, they organised a PR event for locals to reassure them that shale gas production in their area would be just brilliant for everyone in the local community and there would be no negative consequences. What little reassurance the PR spin gave our locals was eroded away when, after the meeting, a mysterious man sidled up to them and handed over a copy of Gasland from a big stack he was holding, promptly disappeared into the crowd and has never been seen again.
I love the idea of a solitary anti-fracking activist following Cuadrilla around the county, quietly undermining their PR campaign, sowing seeds of dissent wherever he goes. Who are you dude? We want to meet you – and thank you!
Thursday afternoon was spent flyering Tarleton in the sunshine, quite a serene and surreal experience which involved a lot of power walking interspersed with occasional exclamations of disbelief at the size of some of the houses and the number of cars/motorbikes/motorboats on their drives, treading gently on their cool, perfectly manicured lawns, talking to anyone and everyone who ventured out of their front doors about Camp Frack… and getting profoundly lost in a maze of suburban streets – all washed down with a pint at the local pub, which offered yet more opportunities for outreach.
All in all, Tarleton seems like a really lovely place to live, I could imagine myself moving up here and becoming a full-time anti-fracking campaigner, a fly in Cuadrilla’s ointment, perhaps a bit like the mysterious man handing out DVDs…
I spoke to a few people who stated quite clearly that they do not oppose the fracking operation in Banks, and it occurred to me for the first time that members of REAF and concerned citizens like them are in a minority. What seems obvious to them and us is not obvious to everyone, why should it be? The majority of people here do not understand the implications of what is currently only happening in a few isolated areas in Lancashire, that if fracking here goes into full production it could affect all of their lives.
The hope here on site is that Camp Frack will help spread the word. We’re continuing the work of that lone activist with the Gasland DVDs. It’s a frustratingly slow process. It feels like this is going to be a long campaign and we’re just at the beginning of it, I’m beginning to realise that, but with good people like the members of REAF on our side – and a bit of luck with the weather this weekend – I feel confident it’s one that we can win.
