Womens' Action At Wymondham

On June 1st a group of around eighteen women disrupted work on the 5.4 mile Wymondham/Besthorpe bypass route on the A11 near Norwich. The action was intended to be non-confrontational. The women approached a site near where the road breaks away from the existing A11 carrying banners, then sat down to have a picnic amidst the road building.

This was the second all women action at Wymondham, where the Lizard Tribe have had a permanent camp to oppose the road since February. The first action passed off very successfully, workmen were approached with flowers and asked to talk about the issues surrounding the road. Work was successfully halted for more than two hours without anyone actually occupying machinery and workers were happy to talk with the women about why they were using direct action to protest against the bypass.

A second action was meant to pass off in the same way, but when the picnic clothes were spread out additional security guards were called to the site and began forcibly removing the women. The decision was then reached to attempt to re-enter the site. The action continued for around 3 hours. Some women climbed on machinery but were carried off site by security guards and contractors. A number sustained minor injuries, mainly cuts and bruises. While this was happening a number of machines continued to operate around the group, contravening Health and Safety regulations.