Thinking of going to XR Big One in London on Sat...but will it be very full-on?

[Noteverythingisasitseems]

Want to go, and take DC. I'm not amazing with big crowds, but can handle it if it doesn't get too pushy/shove-like and full on. Never been to an XR gathering before - if you have, what should I expect, please?

Yeah, 35 minutes isn't 15 minutes though, is it? 35 minutes you could easily be talking about dodgy bits of islington, hoxton, vauxhall, North Kensington, bermondsey, Euston etc.

i am trying and failing to think of anywhere less than 15 min walk from Westminster that could be described as 'a normal neighbourhood'. I'm assuming they mean Pimlico. Which really isn't 'a normal neighbourhood', even if it does have a Boots and some pubs.

The footage from today looked pretty laid back. It will be busy in central London but not ridiculously so. They are expecting about 50,000 people which is not a lot for London really. I’ve certainly been to bigger events. As OP says, it’s billed as a family day and looking at the order of events, there are lots of smaller events going on for kids.

Ooh! @Bamboux That's quite creepy, but flattering. Is it just me or there other people on Mumsnet you pay close attention to?

I have no interest in your family history and no need to explain myself to you. I've lived here for a very long time and so has my family.

I'm happy for people to come to Parliament Square, which as I say is 15 minutes walk from my house, for whatever reason they want so long as they are not going to hurt me. No one has ever done so and I don't own the place.

I don't think the people who'll come here tomorrow for the Earth Day or whatever they want to call it or on Sunday for the London Marathon will do that. I didn't mind when the Countryside Alliance people came here or the anti Iraq war protestors or various Stop The City protests or the Black Lives Matter people did.

When the place is shut down for the state opening of Parliament every year or for Kate and William's wedding or Margaret Thatcher's funeral or the Queen's funeral I just walk round it. I don't need to agree with it, which is just as well, because no one asks me.

Like I said, to another poster who doesn't live here but was getting her panties in a bunch about disruption, it's a historic centre of protest and celebration and I don't own the place. If I'm not getting annoyed about it I don't know why she would. And I don't know why you would either.

You can come if you want.

Presumably the children who go to Pimlico school live close by. Admittedly I did just look up the Tachbrook estate and the other Peabody estate on Vauxhall Bridge Road and they're 21 minutes and 18 minutes away respectively according to Citymapper...but despite my short legs I tend to get to places a few minutes faster than Citymapper predicts. :) And there'll be non-Peabody housing there too.

@AuntieStella do think I'm unaware of how big the London Marathon is? I live at the end of it. Lots of runners stay in the hotels round here from Saturday. It's a bit of a pain in the arse if you want to walk for lunch north of St James's Park but it's just one day so I'm not going to spoil anyone's fun. I always like to see the people coming back with their medals. I think the weather will be perfect on Sunday. Not rainy and not too hot.

Sausage, I'm guessing they're may be a cross over, some marathon runners may be in favour of the protest
I don't disagree. What I said was that I bet someone in xr protest will take it up upon themselves to disrupt it and xr will disclaim all responsibility

But have chosen a well known very busy event weekend, and haven't ruled out distribution to that event - which raises a lot of money for charities and where people have trained long and hard for.

Is it really family friendly to do that?

Let's face it - are they really going to line the streets holding up,a banner or two whilst cheering in the runners?!

Well I guess both runners and protesters have a right to run and protest in london, and people who live there, be it in 'normal' or abnormal neighbourhoods, have a right to not be offended by the disruptions

You can be in favour of the protest but still dead against any interference with one of the iconic world races. Especially if you're non-elite, only got your ballot place after umpteen years of trying, and this is your only shot at it.

Organisations such as Home - (thegreenrunners.com) are at the protests

Most people will be using public transport that would be running regardless. It's not like they put extra trains and coaches on for it..

Special coaches ARE being put in for it.
There are definitely special coaches being out in specifically for the protests/rally from my northern town. I know people going on it.

Catscou, if your travel plans in London are disrupted by protests or indeed large scale events if any kind in the future, London has a great network of bike hires

I'm so pleased to read that people are going with church groups! The church has such an important role it can play, the messages of hope and faith are so important in the face of the reality of the suffering that is to come and the anxiety that comes with that knowledge. There are many dismissers here, and it's ok we understand it is hard to accept what is happening. The scale and gravity of it is really hard to come to terms with.

No, of course I wasn't thinking of any particular individual when I wrote about the size. Just posting what I thought was meant by disruption.

And then adding some thoughts of my own, about the sheer scale of crowds on Sunday.

Because I do think that some posters, in posts scattered across the thread, have not fully grasped how enormously busy the finish area always is. Nor how far round you'll need to walk to reach places that are usually only minutes apart. I noticed a couple of posts saying to bring a map. That's good advice, as phone signal always struggles around the finish, and you may need to navigate round closures and choke points.

Demonstrations like this do not make a difference, 1 million people demonstrated against Blair’s foreign wars. That worked well!

Yes, just as there are in Westminster (Peabody), Pimlico (Peabody and others) and Chelsea (ditto)
Plus others in Kennington if you cross the river.

First two places mentioned are within 15-20 mins walk, other two within 30 mins.

I think perhaps some posters have a very cliched view of London demographics. People may not be able to afford to buy/private rent, and a lot of the council stock was taken by "right to buy" decades ago. But the big HA estates survived (and Peabody is expanding).

And being redeveloped now, the utterly notorious Heygate is a mere 2 miles from Parliament Square.

But are these people 'normal'?

As "normal" as any community in social housing. Mixed bunch of all sorts.

Yes, but is that 'normal' enough?

I don't know what's considered normal. Certainly in central London around 50% of housing was social housing until the last decade or so. Now it's more like 40 something %. It's never been especially working class in my lifetime, always a mix of people. Usually NHS workers, teachers, academics, scientists, artists, actors, writers and musicians, hotel staff, taxi drivers, postal workers...basically reflecting the areas. It's where Londoners tend to live, as private housing is too expensive for most people.

XR have specifically stated they will not disrupt the marathon.

yes, but I remember when members of XR stood on an (electric) train at a crowded station and it proved, let's say, unpopular, with the communters, XR's response was 'we are a very horizontal organisation' so can't police what out members do'.
i.e. that promise is worthless

Like I said, to another poster who doesn't live here but was getting her panties in a bunch about disruption,

what a nasty sexist metaphor to use. And I DO live in London- and it has forced me to cancel my plans to visit a terminally ill friend, as I said above.

what made you think I don't live here? Admittedly not within 15 mins walk of Parliament Square, no, but close enough that it's having a negative impact on my life this weekend.

Yes, when a couple of disgusting posh boys decided to stop a crowd of mostly minority ethnic low paid workers getting a tube from Canning Town at 6am. Utter wankers.

That incident, and XR's response to it, was an absolute turning point for me, from uncertainty to "I will never, ever support anything these people do. They don't give a shit about anything but their own stupid egos".

Fuck XR.

Cycling isn't an option for me.

So...do we think there is a place for a more reasonable, representative group that could act to bring people together regarding the climate crisis and push the government to make change happen?

I agree Canning Town incident was massively embarrassing.