'- ’ ~* ~ V ' x “ [l1"*l974 7p .';:i:t‘::‘:'.?f.‘5t‘;.‘:S’.:;“"“"‘ T The ornaments were glued to the manlelpiece. The children couldnlt go out alone. You might even wake up and find the wall ofyour house gone. The village of Bridge was caught in the grip ofthe juggernauts—unlil the people began to fight back. Douglas Keay reports 7 ‘\\'f) nnnnl\:s. xx 1]] 11 mket 1., dnuo tlrruugh the \1ll;t1_.,t: rl llwlge \r)u go down 4 l'llll, past snrnc houses, up 23 lull un lhu: urhcr sldf.‘ and mu! J13 hkc ,4 Lltunsgmd other \«‘llli1|.{L‘5 lll llrltmn pl¢u:.~ pmplc pas: vhmugh, plL|t’v5 wtth nurlnng tu step In! But Brrdgtr H duller:-nl ll \'t»n lune (hr I)..ul ll]Ll( to hw [I|l_-rt‘ lu-1 ans: Brrtlgr :.~ on the A2 l.nnLlr;n U) Imwx ruarlfimg ,,,,,_m T')Ll[L‘ to 4nd from [Europe and [ht- Cununnn .\‘lark-:I Brldgu :5 1 jutggcrrtamt Vllldgt, lln: vvurgt m Bmaln. At any lrmu of the clay or rnght flluar‘ van, or motor cyde gnes dung the llrgh Street 511:7) /our m:mn1.., A jllggt:fnZLul prfvlnllgly Will] :1 |l':lllc1, l‘|Jllll)l\.b ummgi‘ Hurry J0 SELOYIIIA. ' lllt marl ts 17 it (S H]. urdtt l”F:’F§¢‘l'Tl-EU!» are ught ft-ct wrde ]'l“wn ul them p.1~;srng‘onc nnotllcr tu\L a rtmxnnun‘: Ill tn t;l¢dmncU and m plate,» the pznuzmcnl m l5fl'lF1t‘Slllgnstrcullz only 1811! wulo ' I zsluod In Llu High Street wm "W l"“" dlialnst the {rum tjlm r 1‘ » . 4 lmusc luulclng rhrucllv In Ito:-:1 I ; . 0 ‘me u the butcher: Shop .ALf(1.SS the marl In a moment the VI’ ' ~' » , «Iv: ma. blotted out by um 1“-51 Juggernaut. From then on / almost continuoufi wan M [h «an ' u . ding steel and monster whgg|b lllllll THE |lllllIliEII5 lllll IIEIIEII HE IIIIIIISTEIIS IIE BIIIIIEE gruzétl su Eluae to mu that l could >'mL‘ll tyre~rul>h<~r burning. l LuuIlI(‘_l" than a“Iv'!hing else, 2 sort 0! Dunlllfl‘ defiance of the juggemauts But at least from a Lltslance, the -I‘-iwlulu. ' :, -as 4 A4.‘ Rel!‘ ' V 21-rat‘. -pure. =-can-u.:4O$:nu=a§nu4td1nilana¢au~..='.¢. -‘= IE5‘ \||)()(l\N\)[l\'l00K:'kllI|C\ICl'llKTrlul l got ya mm wtth '.l’1u|i\bI:lllllL(pt1\[ mr 3.11 the tune l mm In lhehf)-tiny‘ .11 hurlmg the parnt ml. at 1 u . he sand Muck reaches the bew-oom window “Y \mLUn u.L> forced to do the A mtmg l.l|IT|ii!ll .\'o pYUflC\iI(JHal l[l:((I1’fllL)| would rtsk P"”‘“5 “P ms [Adder ‘Theyll do the bfuk »m, houeg but not the front O‘!-Mm: lulth wuult-v4~clen.ner~ ‘ said‘ my wnfe Ann "‘\“‘ ”““ there's much ?°l“‘ “J (lemma wmdow: on Lhts road Tl”? E“ v t ‘fin’. agmn tn a rmnure, On 3 “'3 llLl'\l Ill: ll'Ll(l( shut up bv the ttyrruz. .'L‘.A.L.|1(S 4.» htgh .1» --ur bedroom \~LI1L.lLtw ‘ \\'c talked tn the 'nln,; mum ‘nlr and \lr-. ‘slrltun » I.lld.l.\'5 were 4; far 5; })U)>IlJl(‘ {rum the frunt wtugtm The ]L|L{L{(.‘l’U«AuY-u pa,“ mthtn ld lIlI.hr:‘x wl the ho\LSc clnscr :»\)lIlt'l|fl1?\ ll they hnc 1 ht-.1. V load tn.1L \:u \llPplH;Z «hghtly Ltlie -,-vermn: cly; hung In the Hugh L\:rn:t‘ the\. go an pcrpcturll at of a lnrrv cruhtrtg through the wall \l'I[0 thrrr from ttx.vrn~a_~. me lnt.le(\l dtd down the road But what really annoy: Mr clnfl Mr: ,\{.uton Is he unkna-an early mummg lorry driver": mate, who p4.'l’I0d|Ca.ll)' 14.-an: out or’ bu cab V "1 and ealrnly hIL~. the .\[tltr>n‘n - I’ of mtlk (rum a holder on the .,,Lh;,uc even ilO\Ol|[|g Lltm'n. .\.; reccrttly as 10 years ago. when the Mrlmns tame to Bndge ‘ for a. but of peace and qutzt", the ‘,l”.][:l5 saw lf€\5 than halt the w.lurm- -)1 r.r».\£fiv. rt antlers now. "It was a place where you could )t.1nd tn the stra,-t and have i Chat wrth a fncnd," sand Mrs. Mtlton. ‘Nowadays I have to pluck up oourqt: lust to step cut nl my front door You can call thts a dead v|.ll.1gf:,“ Syd 311' .\1t.ltun, "lx:c;.\u5/: Lhat‘; what rt‘; became H H13 wulr wanted pauently lur a slight lull lPi4a:¢ turn to peg: 15) U’ I A .41- ,-5-r.over twice the amount the was designed to take. In another survey where 398 householders were ‘questioned, aim Purthese and his_tea.m were am to show that "9a per cent expressed concern ‘over personal safety in Bridge High Street; 73 amt ielt so strongly about it they were prepared to demon- strate publicly by sitting in the roadway and breaking the law, W162 per cent at that time had already participated in demon» strations. Like some wartime general re- ajlmg the tactics of a particular battle, John gives a wry smile: "You have to Show these Ministry djapplflfi you know what you're talking about.” No opportunity has been missed. On occasions even gimmickry has beeiiemployed to make the villag- ers' demonstrations more eficctive. .-it one protest meeting a chair was left empty except for a sign read- ing" "The man from the Ministry ' Another time, while police were trying to remove deinonstrators sitting in the road, one protestor swallowed a liarmless pill and announced he had a heart con- dition and must remain seated for lion lb mlttutes after taking the pill. Both incidents were aimed at ensuring publicity for the cause. A_few lorry drivers are openly hostile to the villagers and th}; sit—down demonstrations, but most of them, john Purchase, believes, are in sympathy. After one appeal by the committee for funds, a group of delivery dnvers from Fords even organised a whip- round to collect money for Bridges campaign. i'VVc have no quarrel with the drivers," said john Purchase " They are only doing their job. It is the owners who allow over- loaded and potentially dangerous vehicles on to the road that we are fighting." Month after month, john Pur- chese and Brian Lewis between them have spent, on average, 20 hours a week fighting the Battle of Bridge. At times their wives have thought the struggle has become an obsession. Mrs. Purchese told me: "Some- times I've wished my husband would leave off for just a while and take an interest in something else —like decorating the house. But when you live in a village viith these sort of traffic problems you're onl_y too glad someone is trying to do something about it." About 18 months ago Mrs. Purchese suffered a stroke which her husband blames largely on the tension of living on the main street The family has since moved to aquieter area——"even though we had to drop £10,000 on the poten- tial price of our house in order to find a buyer." But what about those remain- ing in the High Street, the families living in the 50 houses that front straight on to the traffic? Last autumn, 10 years after the battle started, the Government announced that Bridge was at last to have a bypass. And this month the bulldozers actually move in. But it will be at least 18 months before the by—pa$ is built and the trafiic routed away from Bridge. The _v will have to continue to fight 1n the meantime the number of juggernauts barging through Bridge will increase. john Purchese and his friends are con- tinuing their battle to bar even bigger lorries, to ensure a closer check on mechanical safety of Picture! '11 Ml“ V9“ juggemauts from the Continent. and to urge a system whereby heavy lorries have depots near big towns, where goods can be trans- ferred to smaller lorries for delivery to the shops. They are wary of what may happen if the plans for the Chan- nel Tunnel are actually put into operation. They have too much experience of bureaucracy to trust that any promises to protect the ordinary person will be carried out unless the people themselves make it their business to prompt the bureaucracy. They believe they will have to continue to fight for a way of life that is. at least, tolerable. And in fighting for themselves they be- lieve they are setting an example to all those people who fear that in the face of authority they are powerless. As john Purchese says: "You don't need to be violent or an anarchist to save what you believe is worth saving—but you do need to get together with your neigh- bours and right." NEXT WEEK: How the vil- lagers of Otmoor held back the waters of a reservoir.