At least 200 people marched through the centre of the garrison town of Swindon today (22/03/2003), only 15 miles from Fairford air base, in protest against the bombs and missiles being dropped on Iraq. After a short public meeting and a minute's silence in respect for those who have died, around 100 of those attending the march boarded buses to join the demonstration in Fairford.

Having been informed by the police that no-one would be admitted to Fairford village after 2pm, the buses drove to Castle Eaton, and the demonstrators got off with the intention of walking to the peace camp near Kempsford. Around 100 metres down the road, a small number of police stopped the group and handed out leaflets, which stated the permitted route of the demonstration (which didn't include this road) and quoted some of the implications of sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1996. They then asked us to turn back down the road and move to the other side of the river, just inside Castle Eaton. A few police vans turned up and more officers got out, some dressed as if they were prepared for a riot.

Deciding it was not prudent to try to push past such a force of police, the demonstrators retreated to the village, followed by a line of police, who remained on the other side of the river. A small group then explored the other possible ways to join the main demo in a car, and returned later to report that all routes to the air base or the peace camp were blocked by the police. One wonders how many other groups were prevented from attending the demo at Fairford.