| Brexit. What we need is a riot. Where are the crusties when you need them. 09:54 - Dec 6 with 996 views | Lord_Lucan |
I find it strange that when a perfectly reasonable rates replacement tax is brought in or when some criminal gets shot by the police there are mass riots throughout the UK.
When something really bad is happening like Brexit no one is to be seen. It’s as if the riots are an excuse to destroy, loot and mame.
Where’s swampy when you need him?
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| Here's what happened to Swampy on 10:09 - Dec 6 with 961 views | Heathlander |
SURFBOARD under one arm and a boyish grin on his face, this is the original
eco-warrior. But he has given up protesting and no longer wants to be called
SWAMPY.
The Sun tracked down Britain’s most notorious green campaigner to a tiny yurt
in a remote hippy commune in Wales.
Life here is rough but not without its luxuries. The single dad-of-four drives
a battered old red Ford Transit and even owns a mobile phone.
Lean and tanned with just a few grey hairs, Swampy – who now uses his real
name Daniel Hooper – shot to fame in 1996 after tunnelling under bypasses in
protest against new roads. S & PICTURES
4
But these days, he shuns such headline-grabbing eco-stunts for a quiet life
planting trees, tending his vegetable patch and running up mountains.
In his first interview in almost a decade, Swampy, 40, says: “Some people
want to be famous. I never wanted to be famous, still don’t want to be
famous.
“I’m still interested in the environment but it’s other people’s turn to be in
the spotlight.”
So do not expect to see him on the anti-fracking frontline in Balcombe, West
Sussex.
Although he backs the activists who halted the Cuadrilla drilling operation
last month – and says they could be BIGGER than he was – he has
no plans to join them.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, he adds: “I am very interested in fracking.
Those protesters are not following in my footsteps, they are doing their own
thing and I am very happy for them.
“I haven’t been down to Balcombe and don’t plan to join them. I do have an
opinion on fracking. I have a strong opinion on fracking and I hope it’s an
informed opinion. I hope the protesters succeed in what they are doing and
change the Tory policy on fracking, like our protests changed Labour’s
policy on road building in the 1990s. I think if not, they are going to end
up poisoning the water course – not with what they are putting in but with
what they are pulling out.
“It has been going on in America for years. It’s poisoned the water courses
and they used all the water. There’s a drought as they have taken the last
drop of water. I’m not saying it will happen in Wales but it might in the
Home Counties.”
Born to middle-class parents Peter and Jill, both now 70, in Berkshire, Swampy
made his name in 1996 when he led hundreds of protesters who chained
themselves to trees which stood in the way of a bypass, at Newbury, Berks.
A year later, he and four pals hid in tunnels they dug beneath the planned A30
bypass in Fairmile and Honiton, Devon. Swampy was the last to emerge after
living underground for a week.
The same year he organised a camp in a network of tunnels and tree houses in a
bid to stop the expansion of Manchester Airport.
It prompted former Tory transport minister John Watts to declare that he would
like to see Swampy “buried in concrete”.
Despite their best efforts, Swampy and his pals failed to prevent a single
project going ahead.
Even so he became a minor celebrity, appearing on Have I Got News For You and
writing a column in a Sunday newspaper.
But in 2006, Swampy turned his back on environmental protests.
He moved his young family to the Tipi Valley commune in the Welsh valleys and
settled there alongside 100 hippies and New Age travellers. It is a
self-sufficient existence in a 200-acre wooded valley.
The residents’ teepees, caravans, yurts, huts and mud houses surround a
communal tent known as “Big Lodge”, where they gather for yoga sessions and
meditation.
Swampy sleeps rough on sheepskins in a circular yurt with solar panels
providing power for a small radio and a mobile phone.
There is no mains electricity or running water. The toilet is a hole in the
ground.
Free raves and new moon parties are held regularly in the valley, which is
more than ten miles from the nearest town, Llandeilo.
Rather than aggravating politicians, what motivates Swampy these days is
seeing his kids grow up and finishing first across the line for his local
Sarn Helen running club in Lampeter.
Over the past three years he has completed three marathons and seven
half-marathons – all across tough mountainous terrain.
Swampy says: “I really like running and love the Welsh countryside. I once ran
the Greensand Marathon in Surrey. It was a nice area and leafy but that is
the closest I’ve been to London for years.
“I’m not interested in the London Marathon. I love running. I love the
outdoors and keeping fit. I like races. I really like competing, l love a
bit of competition.
“I did 10km in 35 minutes once and three hours ten minutes for the Snowdonia
marathon which is very respectable.
“I’m quick – but I don’t think I can do the Olympics yet!”
A fellow commune resident says of Swampy: “Other than running, he lives the
life of a hermit. He keeps himself to himself. He trains alone and does his
garden alone.”
Despite “dropping out” of society, Swampy sends his children – the eldest of
the four is Kaya, 14 – to local schools and earns a wage planting trees and
picking acorns for the Forestry Commission.
Former partner Jeni Harvey has nothing but praise for her hard-working ex, who
gets about in his Transit, which he has to park a mile from camp because
vehicles are banned from Tipi Valley.
Jeni, 38, who lives in Llandeilo, says: “He’s not on benefits, he works very
hard for a living.
“He does a lot of planting trees and collecting acorns when they are in
season, that sort of stuff.
“He works extremely hard. He’s often out first thing in the morning till late
at night and it’s hard, physical work.”
And Chip, a veteran hippy who has lived in Tipi Valley for 34 years, adds: “We
all know about Dan’s past but we don’t poke our noses in each other’s
business. It isn’t that kind of place.
“We are all self-sufficient and live our lives how we want to.
“Dan spends a lot of time with his children. They are free to run about and
grow up safely here.”
A lot has changed since he first hit the headlines – including his name. He
says: “Swampy used to be my name but I don’t use it any more. Friends gave
me the name Swampy and I used to like it. We all had nicknames back then in
the protesting days but I don’t use it any more or tell anyone.
“I live here happily with my family now. I have my children, my running and my
vegetable patch.
“Money is not important to me – it never has been. I have enough to get by. I
used to do things years ago such as my newspaper column and appearing on
Have I Got News For You but I didn’t like it, not even the money.
“Some people want to be famous and in the papers. I was never interested in
them. I’m still not.
“I don’t like celebrities or the Royals and David Cameron, that sort of crap.
Who wants to know what David Cameron is doing on holiday? I don’t.
“I didn’t even know there was a Royal baby and he was called George until you
told me.
“I do keep up with the news but not that sort of rubbish.
“Now I’m off to go surfing with the children in Devon.” |  | | |
| Here's what happened to Swampy on 10:29 - Dec 6 with 930 views | Lord_Lucan |
| Here's what happened to Swampy on 10:09 - Dec 6 by Heathlander |
SURFBOARD under one arm and a boyish grin on his face, this is the original
eco-warrior. But he has given up protesting and no longer wants to be called
SWAMPY.
The Sun tracked down Britain’s most notorious green campaigner to a tiny yurt
in a remote hippy commune in Wales.
Life here is rough but not without its luxuries. The single dad-of-four drives
a battered old red Ford Transit and even owns a mobile phone.
Lean and tanned with just a few grey hairs, Swampy – who now uses his real
name Daniel Hooper – shot to fame in 1996 after tunnelling under bypasses in
protest against new roads. S & PICTURES
4
But these days, he shuns such headline-grabbing eco-stunts for a quiet life
planting trees, tending his vegetable patch and running up mountains.
In his first interview in almost a decade, Swampy, 40, says: “Some people
want to be famous. I never wanted to be famous, still don’t want to be
famous.
“I’m still interested in the environment but it’s other people’s turn to be in
the spotlight.”
So do not expect to see him on the anti-fracking frontline in Balcombe, West
Sussex.
Although he backs the activists who halted the Cuadrilla drilling operation
last month – and says they could be BIGGER than he was – he has
no plans to join them.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, he adds: “I am very interested in fracking.
Those protesters are not following in my footsteps, they are doing their own
thing and I am very happy for them.
“I haven’t been down to Balcombe and don’t plan to join them. I do have an
opinion on fracking. I have a strong opinion on fracking and I hope it’s an
informed opinion. I hope the protesters succeed in what they are doing and
change the Tory policy on fracking, like our protests changed Labour’s
policy on road building in the 1990s. I think if not, they are going to end
up poisoning the water course – not with what they are putting in but with
what they are pulling out.
“It has been going on in America for years. It’s poisoned the water courses
and they used all the water. There’s a drought as they have taken the last
drop of water. I’m not saying it will happen in Wales but it might in the
Home Counties.”
Born to middle-class parents Peter and Jill, both now 70, in Berkshire, Swampy
made his name in 1996 when he led hundreds of protesters who chained
themselves to trees which stood in the way of a bypass, at Newbury, Berks.
A year later, he and four pals hid in tunnels they dug beneath the planned A30
bypass in Fairmile and Honiton, Devon. Swampy was the last to emerge after
living underground for a week.
The same year he organised a camp in a network of tunnels and tree houses in a
bid to stop the expansion of Manchester Airport.
It prompted former Tory transport minister John Watts to declare that he would
like to see Swampy “buried in concrete”.
Despite their best efforts, Swampy and his pals failed to prevent a single
project going ahead.
Even so he became a minor celebrity, appearing on Have I Got News For You and
writing a column in a Sunday newspaper.
But in 2006, Swampy turned his back on environmental protests.
He moved his young family to the Tipi Valley commune in the Welsh valleys and
settled there alongside 100 hippies and New Age travellers. It is a
self-sufficient existence in a 200-acre wooded valley.
The residents’ teepees, caravans, yurts, huts and mud houses surround a
communal tent known as “Big Lodge”, where they gather for yoga sessions and
meditation.
Swampy sleeps rough on sheepskins in a circular yurt with solar panels
providing power for a small radio and a mobile phone.
There is no mains electricity or running water. The toilet is a hole in the
ground.
Free raves and new moon parties are held regularly in the valley, which is
more than ten miles from the nearest town, Llandeilo.
Rather than aggravating politicians, what motivates Swampy these days is
seeing his kids grow up and finishing first across the line for his local
Sarn Helen running club in Lampeter.
Over the past three years he has completed three marathons and seven
half-marathons – all across tough mountainous terrain.
Swampy says: “I really like running and love the Welsh countryside. I once ran
the Greensand Marathon in Surrey. It was a nice area and leafy but that is
the closest I’ve been to London for years.
“I’m not interested in the London Marathon. I love running. I love the
outdoors and keeping fit. I like races. I really like competing, l love a
bit of competition.
“I did 10km in 35 minutes once and three hours ten minutes for the Snowdonia
marathon which is very respectable.
“I’m quick – but I don’t think I can do the Olympics yet!”
A fellow commune resident says of Swampy: “Other than running, he lives the
life of a hermit. He keeps himself to himself. He trains alone and does his
garden alone.”
Despite “dropping out” of society, Swampy sends his children – the eldest of
the four is Kaya, 14 – to local schools and earns a wage planting trees and
picking acorns for the Forestry Commission.
Former partner Jeni Harvey has nothing but praise for her hard-working ex, who
gets about in his Transit, which he has to park a mile from camp because
vehicles are banned from Tipi Valley.
Jeni, 38, who lives in Llandeilo, says: “He’s not on benefits, he works very
hard for a living.
“He does a lot of planting trees and collecting acorns when they are in
season, that sort of stuff.
“He works extremely hard. He’s often out first thing in the morning till late
at night and it’s hard, physical work.”
And Chip, a veteran hippy who has lived in Tipi Valley for 34 years, adds: “We
all know about Dan’s past but we don’t poke our noses in each other’s
business. It isn’t that kind of place.
“We are all self-sufficient and live our lives how we want to.
“Dan spends a lot of time with his children. They are free to run about and
grow up safely here.”
A lot has changed since he first hit the headlines – including his name. He
says: “Swampy used to be my name but I don’t use it any more. Friends gave
me the name Swampy and I used to like it. We all had nicknames back then in
the protesting days but I don’t use it any more or tell anyone.
“I live here happily with my family now. I have my children, my running and my
vegetable patch.
“Money is not important to me – it never has been. I have enough to get by. I
used to do things years ago such as my newspaper column and appearing on
Have I Got News For You but I didn’t like it, not even the money.
“Some people want to be famous and in the papers. I was never interested in
them. I’m still not.
“I don’t like celebrities or the Royals and David Cameron, that sort of crap.
Who wants to know what David Cameron is doing on holiday? I don’t.
“I didn’t even know there was a Royal baby and he was called George until you
told me.
“I do keep up with the news but not that sort of rubbish.
“Now I’m off to go surfing with the children in Devon.” |
Sounds like he's cracked life.
A very interesting man. | |
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| Brexit. What we need is a riot. Where are the crusties when you need them. on 11:02 - Dec 6 with 913 views | GeoffSentence |
There is a clear conflict of interest in your post. You are obviously angling to supply the rioters with fireworks* so they can make a really good fist of it.
* plus party horns, fancy dress and all the other riot essentials. |  |
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