I was a little nervous. I had no idea how many people would show up. I'd told the media it could be several thousand.
All I knew was that busses and coaches full of anti frackers were already arriving, whilst others were arriving in their cars and parking on the verge.
My mind was also heavy with the thought of a public apology I was going to have to make to Alision Stevens, Head of the Balcombe Parish Council, for the wild (though possibly true) accusations I'd launched at her the night before in an open email that half the town had probably seen by now.
By midday it seemed like chaos. I had promised the Police that I would keep the road clear until as close to 2pm (the start of the event) as I could. It wasn't an easy task as the verges were getting fuller and fuller on both sides.
Finally it was 1:55pm. I gave the Police the thumbs up, and they radioed officers who had been deployed several miles away in both directions, to close the road.
We were still having some serious microphone issues and the only spare battery on site belonged to a man called Felix who had already verbally asssaulted me once that day, beliving me to be a BBC spy or a privately educated privately funded self interester looking to make money.
So that was it... I was going to have to make do with the megaphone. And I was ok with that.
various media outlets made videos that day. Here are a few more:
It was a wonderful day. Truly wonderful. With Fran and Vanessa reading names from the scroll, 'the list of the harmed' and singing beautiul harmonies to our brothers and sisters in Pennsylvania, I was both exhausted and deleriously happy at the same time.
So after a short collapse, it was time to pick up the pieces and do it all over again!
