Though we have perhaps too many foxes on the streets of London these days (and some who like to make a mess in my garden on its fringes) badgers are I think generally pretty rare. But a couple of weeks ago there were rather a lot of them at Tate Britain (I still think of it as the Tate Gallery) on Millbank, in a dense crowd.
There were badger faces, badgers sitting on people’s heads, on their belts, on placards and almost everywhere you can think of,
and you can see quite a few more of them in Cull Politicians, Not Badgers in My London Diary. There were also a few celebs around, including this guy:
although not being a fan of Queen I had no idea who he was when I took this picture, but apparently he is guitarist Brian May, and a keen supporter of the badger cause.
The crowd was pretty tightly packed around the small low stage, with rather a lot of stewards getting in the way of photography – I’d decided to stand a little back to be able to use a longer lens, and it was difficult to get a clear view.
I didn’t stay long at the protest, as I had a personal event to attend, a memorial service for an old friend in Southwark Cathedral, and so missed the badgers marching past Parliament and the rally afterwards. But I did meet the badgers later in the day when some of them returned to Parliament Square and danced in front of Parliament.
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My London Diary : Buildings of London : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage
All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated are by Peter Marshall and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.
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