The Embra authorities are apparently quite concerned about their ability to cope with St.Bob Geldoff’s call to arms to coincide with the G8 summit at Gleneagles. The Hutton Think Tank (Ht2) wonders if it is strictly necessary to use an already crowded site for such a demonstration involving, according to St.Bob, one million people. Ht2 proposes Hutton (and Paxton) as an alternative site where the Laird and other landowners could easily provide wide-open spaces for that number of people. Pre-harvest farming land could be a problem-like Hutton Hill which is currently under crop but given the success of concert ticket text message sales local farmers could be compensated for the damage done to their crops on top of the warm glow that they would experience for donating space for such a noble enterprise.
Local facilities might be strained-but there is a bus service from the railhead at Berwick to Hutton Paxton with the bus usually running empty. The Tweed cycle path is also underused and goes through the area. Public loos exist at Paxton House and at the Cross Inn and no doubt Mr R the drainage contractor could quickly excavate the necessary extra latrines at strategic places using straw bales as modesty veils for the distaff side. The Cross Inn has good bar lunches and although it is expected that there will be rather more than 5000 visitors on this occasion there are good historical precedents for conjuring up large quantities of especially bread and fish for hungry multitudes. The almost spiritual nature of this visionary enterprise may elicit powerful outside intervention.
Policing should not be a problem given the nearby cop shops at Coldstream with reinforcements if necessary from Duns. Anyhow the crowds are expected to be a peaceful and any anarchists attempting to disrupt proceedings would be seen off by the lads with pitchforks.
The full plan may be inspected at the Ht2 HQ and a response to their proposal is awaited from the East Lothian Police, St Bob and other high Heidians involved. The other suggestion to accommodate the demonstration, nearer to the action, on one of the many golf courses attached to the Gleneagles Hotel has been turned down because of practical problems of so many people having to pay green fees.
