Exam Schools occupation

140 students occupied Exam Schools on same day that the last students who had been refusing to pay their tuition fees gave in

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Wychwood trespass

The Land Is Ours decided to restore the ancient Wychwood fair which had been suppressed in the 19th century by Act of Parliament as being too rowdy and licentious. The site was fairly near the Cornbury Park mansion from which gamekeepers' vehicles emerged to inspect the trespass with curiosity

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Carfax cuddle-in

Free soup and free hugs for the winter solstice were offered and accepted by many passers-by. A very satisfying and fluffy event

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Reclaim The Streets Cowley Road

Cowley Road from the Plain up to James Street was closed down by the simultaneous arrival of many folk, including the bicycle-powered sound system Rinkydink and Casey Neill singer of "Dancing on the ruins of multinational corporations". Braziers in the road were providing free hot meals. The police just redirected the traffic

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Kirtlington Quarry Rainbow Gathering

The American and European traditions of Rainbow Gatherings as free events without formal organisation hadn't taken well on English soil, especially since the trashing of free festival and traveller culture in the Thatcher years, so this was a weekend event (unlike the usual 6 week gathering). Place and time were sent to a contact list and about 100 people arrived with perfect timing. Being short of duration, free of loud music and relatively free of drugs, locals were not upset although the quarry is near the village.

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Steventon blockade

Oxford supporters of the Newbury by-pass protest attempted to blockade the gates of a former institution at Steventon where security guards working at the Newbury protests were staying in dormitories. The first attempt was not very successful despite lock-ons and arrests so a better action was planned for the early morning of 6 Feb 1996. A tripod of scaffolding poles was swiftly erected at each of the two gates and a protestor sat up each one.

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Ken Saro Wiwa picket

In the preparations for the Newbury by pass protest, a phone tree was set up in Oxford, which proved not so useful at Newbury, but worked well when it was first used on the night Ogoni activist Ken Saro Wiwa was executed in Nigeria. It came over the 6pm news, and by 8pm 80 people were picketing the Mobil garage (now Waitrose) in Headington and cars were effectively turned away

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Magdalen Garden Party

As a protest against the stopping by Magdalen College (13 years earlier by a ditch and hedge) of a popular access route at the north end of Angel & Greyhound Meadow, a camp during the first weekend of the University year was set up and advertised to freshers (one or two came), in a field known as Bat Willow where trees suitable for cricket bats grew.

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Shirburn Castle trespass

Following the formation of The Land Is Ours, a trespass camp was made on the land of the Earl of Macclesfield near the M40 Chiltern cutting. The next day some of the trespassers went to visit the Earl in his castle

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Council chamber lie-in

As part of a campaign to resist the many planned housing developments along the Oxford canal/railway corridor, three protestors used their right to a three minute hearing to say nothing and lie on the tables in the Council Chamber, which all councillors but one respected silently. On 1 April 1995 there was a link hands along the canal action with about 1000 people taking part. People were also asked to sign direct action pledges (a tactic which had worked at Oxleas Wood in London) and about 50 were signed.

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