ABSTRACT
On 1 June 1985 a slowly moving convoy of vans, lorries and buses in various states of repair, from the barely roadworthy to almost vintage status, travelling on their way to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, were forced off the road by the police and into a beanfield where a rather one-sided ‘battle’ between the police and travellers then ensued. Many convoy vehicles were damaged and over 500 people were arrested, others managed to flee into the depths of the surroundings of Savernake Forest. The so-called ‘peace convoy’ as it had been dubbed after a visit to Greenham in 1982 had become the most visible manifestation of an annual summer ritual for many people to gather at Stonehenge, an ancient megalithic site, in order to celebrate the summer solstice and participate in a rock festival that had taken place annually in an adjacent field since 1974.
