Climate Camp 2009 - Day 1 - Find the site

Climate Camp 2009 got under way with a secret mission, to find the site! In order to avoid authorities closing the camp before it opened, the site remained a mystery to all but a select few. Although it was probably more well know than people thought.

From all over the country, protestors had travelled to pre-arranged staging points, awaiting further orders. From these locations across the capital, groups headed via text and twitter messages Station names were released and everyone headed for the Lewisham/Greenwich area.

At the last minute, Blackheath became the known locaiton. The hordes headed for the historic site of many previous battles with authority, going back over 700 years.

The site was still hurredly being cordened off and fencing erected as protestors arrived at the home for the seven days. Seven days of sustainable community living and direct action in city centre, which could be seen in the distance from the heath's elevated position.

The site had been chosen for it's position in relation to the city, near the London flood plains and that is being 'Common Land'. This, the organisers hoped, would avoid the issues of previous camps, where land owners, in previous agreement, had issues with the Police petitioning owners to relinquish the agreement.

However one strange twist at the end of day one, in previous years, with the use of private land, the protestors had been able to manipulate the media, waiting outside the camps, by only allowing specific hours for the media to gain access to the camp. This rule, the protesters have hoped to re-enforce this year. Even exending it to demand that all filming and photography is done with the permission of all in the image. Imagine taking an establishing shot of several hundred people and asking for permission! The fact that the protestors had quickly forgotten was that this was common land, public areas and so all photography is protected by law. This will be a contentious issue and one that the protestors will be forced to live with. Strange when it is the same photographers and journalists that will protect them if the Police decide to use force at any stage throughout the protest. We shall see.

Climate Camp 2009 got under way with a secret mission, to find the site! In order to avoid authorities closing the camp before it opened, the site remained a mystery to all but a select few. Although it was probably more well know than people thought.

From all over the country, protestors had travelled to pre-arranged staging points, awaiting further orders. From these locations across the capital, groups headed via text and twitter messages Station names were released and everyone headed for the Lewisham/Greenwich area.

At the last minute, Blackheath became the known locaiton. The hordes headed for the historic site of many previous battles with authority, going back over 700 years.

The site was still hurredly being cordened off and fencing erected as protestors arrived at the home for the seven days. Seven days of sustainable community living and direct action in city centre, which could be seen in the distance from the heath's elevated position.

The site had been chosen for it's position in relation to the city, near the London flood plains and that is being 'Common Land'. This, the organisers hoped, would avoid the issues of previous camps, where land owners, in previous agreement, had issues with the Police petitioning owners to relinquish the agreement.

However one strange twist at the end of day one, in previous years, with the use of private land, the protestors had been able to manipulate the media, waiting outside the camps, by only allowing specific hours for the media to gain access to the camp. This rule, the protesters have hoped to re-enforce this year. Even exending it to demand that all filming and photography is done with the permission of all in the image. Imagine taking an establishing shot of several hundred people and asking for permission! The fact that the protestors had quickly forgotten was that this was common land, public areas and so all photography is protected by law. This will be a contentious issue and one that the protestors will be forced to live with. Strange when it is the same photographers and journalists that will protect them if the Police decide to use force at any stage throughout the protest. We shall see.

Climate Camp 2009 got under way with a secret mission, to find the site! In order to avoid authorities closing the camp before it opened, the site remained a mystery to all but a select few. Although it was probably more well know than people thought.

From all over the country, protestors had travelled to pre-arranged staging points, awaiting further orders. From these locations across the capital, groups headed via text and twitter messages Station names were released and everyone headed for the Lewisham/Greenwich area.

At the last minute, Blackheath became the known locaiton. The hordes headed for the historic site of many previous battles with authority, going back over 700 years.

The site was still hurredly being cordened off and fencing erected as protestors arrived at the home for the seven days. Seven days of sustainable community living and direct action in city centre, which could be seen in the distance from the heath's elevated position.

The site had been chosen for it's position in relation to the city, near the London flood plains and that is being 'Common Land'. This, the organisers hoped, would avoid the issues of previous camps, where land owners, in previous agreement, had issues with the Police petitioning owners to relinquish the agreement.

However one strange twist at the end of day one, in previous years, with the use of private land, the protestors had been able to manipulate the media, waiting outside the camps, by only allowing specific hours for the media to gain access to the camp. This rule, the protesters have hoped to re-enforce this year. Even exending it to demand that all filming and photography is done with the permission of all in the image. Imagine taking an establishing shot of several hundred people and asking for permission! The fact that the protestors had quickly forgotten was that this was common land, public areas and so all photography is protected by law. This will be a contentious issue and one that the protestors will be forced to live with. Strange when it is the same photographers and journalists that will protect them if the Police decide to use force at any stage throughout the protest. We shall see.

Climate Camp 2009 got under way with a secret mission, to find the site! In order to avoid authorities closing the camp before it opened, the site remained a mystery to all but a select few. Although it was probably more well know than people thought.

From all over the country, protestors had travelled to pre-arranged staging points, awaiting further orders. From these locations across the capital, groups headed via text and twitter messages Station names were released and everyone headed for the Lewisham/Greenwich area.

At the last minute, Blackheath became the known locaiton. The hordes headed for the historic site of many previous battles with authority, going back over 700 years.

The site was still hurredly being cordened off and fencing erected as protestors arrived at the home for the seven days. Seven days of sustainable community living and direct action in city centre, which could be seen in the distance from the heath's elevated position.

The site had been chosen for it's position in relation to the city, near the London flood plains and that is being 'Common Land'. This, the organisers hoped, would avoid the issues of previous camps, where land owners, in previous agreement, had issues with the Police petitioning owners to relinquish the agreement.

However one strange twist at the end of day one, in previous years, with the use of private land, the protestors had been able to manipulate the media, waiting outside the camps, by only allowing specific hours for the media to gain access to the camp. This rule, the protesters have hoped to re-enforce this year. Even exending it to demand that all filming and photography is done with the permission of all in the image. Imagine taking an establishing shot of several hundred people and asking for permission! The fact that the protestors had quickly forgotten was that this was common land, public areas and so all photography is protected by law. This will be a contentious issue and one that the protestors will be forced to live with. Strange when it is the same photographers and journalists that will protect them if the Police decide to use force at any stage throughout the protest. We shall see.

Climate Camp 2009 got under way with a secret mission, to find the site! In order to avoid authorities closing the camp before it opened, the site remained a mystery to all but a select few. Although it was probably more well know than people thought.

From all over the country, protestors had travelled to pre-arranged staging points, awaiting further orders. From these locations across the capital, groups headed via text and twitter messages Station names were released and everyone headed for the Lewisham/Greenwich area.

At the last minute, Blackheath became the known locaiton. The hordes headed for the historic site of many previous battles with authority, going back over 700 years.

The site was still hurredly being cordened off and fencing erected as protestors arrived at the home for the seven days. Seven days of sustainable community living and direct action in city centre, which could be seen in the distance from the heath's elevated position.

The site had been chosen for it's position in relation to the city, near the London flood plains and that is being 'Common Land'. This, the organisers hoped, would avoid the issues of previous camps, where land owners, in previous agreement, had issues with the Police petitioning owners to relinquish the agreement.

However one strange twist at the end of day one, in previous years, with the use of private land, the protestors had been able to manipulate the media, waiting outside the camps, by only allowing specific hours for the media to gain access to the camp. This rule, the protesters have hoped to re-enforce this year. Even exending it to demand that all filming and photography is done with the permission of all in the image. Imagine taking an establishing shot of several hundred people and asking for permission! The fact that the protestors had quickly forgotten was that this was common land, public areas and so all photography is protected by law. This will be a contentious issue and one that the protestors will be forced to live with. Strange when it is the same photographers and journalists that will protect them if the Police decide to use force at any stage throughout the protest. We shall see.

Climate Camp 2009 got under way with a secret mission, to find the site! In order to avoid authorities closing the camp before it opened, the site remained a mystery to all but a select few. Although it was probably more well know than people thought.

From all over the country, protestors had travelled to pre-arranged staging points, awaiting further orders. From these locations across the capital, groups headed via text and twitter messages Station names were released and everyone headed for the Lewisham/Greenwich area.

At the last minute, Blackheath became the known locaiton. The hordes headed for the historic site of many previous battles with authority, going back over 700 years.

The site was still hurredly being cordened off and fencing erected as protestors arrived at the home for the seven days. Seven days of sustainable community living and direct action in city centre, which could be seen in the distance from the heath's elevated position.

The site had been chosen for it's position in relation to the city, near the London flood plains and that is being 'Common Land'. This, the organisers hoped, would avoid the issues of previous camps, where land owners, in previous agreement, had issues with the Police petitioning owners to relinquish the agreement.

However one strange twist at the end of day one, in previous years, with the use of private land, the protestors had been able to manipulate the media, waiting outside the camps, by only allowing specific hours for the media to gain access to the camp. This rule, the protesters have hoped to re-enforce this year. Even exending it to demand that all filming and photography is done with the permission of all in the image. Imagine taking an establishing shot of several hundred people and asking for permission! The fact that the protestors had quickly forgotten was that this was common land, public areas and so all photography is protected by law. This will be a contentious issue and one that the protestors will be forced to live with. Strange when it is the same photographers and journalists that will protect them if the Police decide to use force at any stage throughout the protest. We shall see.