There was a sense of disappointment - bordering almost on despair - when it became apparent that the first major storm of the season was going to coincide with our Ice Ride head on. It seemed that weeks of planning was just about to be blown asunder. Would the Ride go ahead? Would there be an 11th hour cancellation? Fortunately the answer to that question was no. The worst of the weather was forecast to pass over by the afternoon.
So it was then that those of us who turned up at the start point were greeted with sunshine and blue skies! The turnout was not surprisingly reduced because of the weather. But nevertheless we persevered and with a stiff headwind to contend with we made our way to our first of 3 Shell station protests.
After a brief protest we then headed for the SECC where we dropped in on the LibDem conference. There was a strong police presence, but we managed to talk our way past the cordon and headed for the main entrance to the conference centre where we handed out leaflets and spoke to people. The police challenged us and asked us if we were protesting. We were informed that there was an 'official' protest tent nearby. But we managed to convince them of our best intentions and hung around for about 10 minutes! We then left without any hassle.
Unfortunately our roving cameraman Paul, wasn't quite so lucky. He was prevented from coming on site so we didn't get any footage there. But he caught up with us at our next port of call, which was the art galleries, where we did some filming and handed out leaflets to visitors.
We then made our way to our next protest point. After that the Ride effectively disbanded. We decided we wouldn't head for the third protest point. However the volunteers that were traveling en route by car decided that they would head for the Station, just make our presence felt.
With the day now over we finished up at Mono Bar and enjoyed a meal and a few well appreciated drinks!
All and all despite the weather and a reduced turnout we felt that the day was a success. We had protested at 3 Shell stations, made a presence at the LibDem conference and did our bit - however small - towards this global event, which attracted over 14,000 protesters in 36 countries. It's days like this that the real tenacity and perseverance of our amazing activists really come through.
With Aurora turning heads in London and the recent announcement from Finland that it was adopting a new Arctic Strategy that calls for a global sanctuary around the North Pole, there seemed little doubt that the Save the Arctic campaign had just passed a watershed. Perhaps now with Finland's announcement and the combined impact of the Global Ice Rides, we may see other countries following suit. It looks like Aurora will have the last laugh (roar)!
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