Photo diary.
Went down to Princes Street this afternoon, to see what the fuss was about.
Got to the west end of Princes street to see the first of the police lined up. The march seemed to be up on Charlotte Square, so I wandered up. The police were being very relaxed about people coming and going. Followed the trail of the march along George Street, till they rejoined Princes Street again, where I bumped into these guys.
Clown army on the march. To be honest, they were slightly sinister, though not threatening, if you know what I mean.
All kicks off. They march got to the Princes Street Arcade, where it was stopped. There was a bang as some firework was thrown (didn't see where) followed by a pause as everyone wondered what had happened, then the running started. I moved all the way to the side of the pavement.
The Mounted cops arrived, and pushed everyone on the street back.
Bang. The horse charge moved everyone back, then held them till reinforcements arrived.
A stand off ensued, which was pretty much the story all day, so this guy took advantage of the situation... Sorry ladies, I didn't get a full body shot!
The riot cops move in to clear us off the pavement. For our own safety I'm sure.
Once we were safely off on the side street to St Andrew square, they stopped, though I must add, that the ones who were there to protest didnt want to be moved. However, 95-99%% of the people there were Edinburgh locals and tourists, just taking snaps and videos, so the pleas from the dozen or so protesters for us to "join in" or "sit down" with them were greeted with typical Edinburgh stoicism. Push
After we were moved to where the Police were happy, there was a bit of a wait, till the protesters got bored, and or realised they werent getting a rise out of the police or the crowd, then they just got up and walked away. Leaving a photo op not to be missed by everyone else.
The next point of contact seemed to be the foot of the mound, outside the National Gallery, where a few cops with shields stood and watched the dancing girls. Nothing was going off here, there was no shield wall, just standing. The dancers and drummers continued, but that was it. This clown decided to go along the line kissing the shields. Cute! ;)
To be fair, it seemed to me to be a fairly quiet affair. Estimates reckon about 700 protesters in all, swelled in number by the huge number of folk there to see a fight. The fact that every riot cop in the UK was there, meant it wasnt going to happen.
I did hear of one story of a guy getting nicked on Prices street or in the gardens. (where the trouble seemed to be, which is why I guess we were moved off the street), and the rest of his mates pulling the carnations out of the ground and pelting the police with them. A sight to see I'm sure. Don't worry, once it calmed down again, the clown army went around planting the carnations again!
On the way back home, I heard more drumming and voise coming from Bristo Square, so wandered along to see these guys: Really good. Better than most of the groups there, who were more energy and gusto, but these guys were more polished.
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sasori) wrote,
tired
