A group of cyclists who are members of the growing protest group Extinction Rebellion and calling themselves The ‘Rebel Riders,’ arrived in Frome on Friday 12th April, having ridden from their previous night’s stop in Taunton.
Many had started their journey in Falmouth, Cornwall. They were welcomed and accommodated for the night by a group of Frome supporters before assembling, for the next leg of their journey, meeting at the Boyles Cross on the Saturday morning.
In Frome their numbers were swelled by a further group of five Frome riders, plus numerous other supporters who rode in solidarity for the first few miles or more. That day’s journey, from Frome to Newbury was mostly flat and in pleasant sunshine but with a bitingly cold easterly wind. The now 16-strong, group of Rebel riders continued up the Kennet and Avon canal to Devizes. Quiet roads and friendly conversation, while pedalling, eventually brought the cold and tired group to their overnight stop in Newbury where they rendezvoused with local hosts for the night.
Sunday’s last leg to London started with a visit to the Greenham Common Peace Garden before pressing on with the roads getting noticeably busier. Further Extinction Rebellion rebels joined in Reading, swelling the group to 25. From Reading they headed up through Windsor and over the bridge past the upmarket areas around Eton, then on, joining the Grand Union canal near Hayes and a 15-mile, often uneven and bumpy, tow path ride to Paddington. A short ride from there along back streets and cycle routes eventually brought the group, as darkness began to fall, to the Extinction Rebellion camp in Hyde Park with cheers of support from the crowds gathering in advance of the coming week’s protests in central London.
The Frome Rebel Riders were in effect an advance party for what was to come in London over the next week, highlighting the Climate Emergency and the need for the government to take action. Many remained in London, taking part in the protests on Waterloo Bridge, Parliament Square, Oxford Circus and Marble Arch.
