The Dance of the Commons at the Englefield Estate
Folk on Foot
Matthew Bannister
4.8 • 526 Ratings
🗓️ 15 September 2022
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On a hot August day, scores of walkers in weird, wacky and wonderful costumes inspired by old English traditions, accompanied by morris dancers and musicians, set off to stage a peaceful and joyful mass trespass. Led by Herne the Hunter (Book of Trespass author Nick Hayes) and singer Sam Lee, they targeted the Englefield Estate near Reading, thousands of acres owned by Lord Benyon, the government minister for rural affairs. In this episode, we hear them dance into the estate, explain why they demand the right to roam and share their ceremony celebrating nature under the shade of a mighty oak.
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Find out more about Nick Hayes and the Right to Roam movement at righttoroam.org.uk.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm not quite sure what's going to happen in the next few hours. |
| 0:10.7 | I'm sitting outside Reading Station in Trooper Potts Way, |
| 0:14.6 | opposite a homeware store called The Range. |
| 0:17.6 | And I'm hoping to meet the author of the book of trespass, Nick Hayes, |
| 0:22.0 | and at some point to encounter Sam Lee, the folk singer and environmentalist, |
| 0:26.6 | and a host of Morris dancers. |
| 0:29.2 | But I've no idea where we're going, and I'm not quite sure why. |
| 0:33.6 | So I'm hoping they turn up soon and give us a clue. |
| 0:57.0 | Music so I'm I'm The We're still waiting for something to happen. |
| 1:13.6 | But a lot of people with... We're still waiting for something to happen, |
| 1:29.2 | but a lot of people with rather strange-looking headdresses have got off the train, |
| 1:34.7 | some of them with flowers in their hair, |
| 1:37.0 | some of them with upstands of twigs, |
| 1:41.5 | and various members of the media are gathering too. |
| 1:45.2 | So there is a sense of anticipation and of confusion. |
| 1:50.7 | And now somebody in a green outfit of what looks like leaves from head to toe is walking towards the station and somebody else with |
| 2:03.8 | gold paint on her face and a halo I think it must be a halo is coming towards us too and a coach is |
| 2:15.8 | arriving that is an amazing costume. |
| 2:19.7 | Can you describe it for us and how long it took you to make it? |
| 2:23.0 | I had the lower part from my wedding. |
| 2:26.1 | It's a kind of green man outfit covered in green fabric tassels |
| 2:29.7 | and I made the headpiece for today which is more tassels with a goose sitting on top. |
... |
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