| | ‘I rejected a job in
insurance to live in a tree.’
Kate Bonner, 32, from Dorset, became a tree protester in
1995. She now runs a nursery school.
|
| | ‘I had always done what my | | | | house out of pallets lashed to a |
| | parents expected of me, studying | | | | tree. At night, the houses rocked |
| | hard and going to university. | | | | and creaked like boats, but it felt |
| | Afterwards, I could either follow the | | | | incredibly [id:81191]n though |
5 | | career path they wanted, or break | | 60 | | I was 30ft up in the air. |
| | out and do something more | | | | |
| | positive. | | | |
| | ‘I had just been offered a job in | | | |
| | insurance, which promised good | | | |
10 | | pay and prospects. My parents | | | |
| | wanted me to take it, but | | | |
| | I disagreed with the ethics of the | | | |
| | industry. | | | |
| | ‘I’d heard of a tree-protest site | | | |
15 | | near where I lived at the time, in | | | |
| | Guildford, Surrey. The council was | | | |
| | planning to widen a road and build | | | | ‘One day, a passing motorist in |
| | a huge incinerator in the middle of | | | | a big, flash car saw me washing |
| | a housing estate. After watching | | | | my face in a bowl and yelled: “Get |
20 | | coverage on the local news, | | | | a bath!” He probably saw me as |
| | I decided that I wanted to make a | | 65 | | some dirty crusty. |
| | difference. Although I had never | | | | ‘Everyone found their natural |
| | protested about anything before, | | | | roles. My job was to get wood and |
| | this felt like the right thing to do. | | | | water. When we needed food, we |
25 | | ‘When I told my parents I was | | | | hitched into town. A lot of our |
| | planning to become a protester, | | 70 | | supplies came from supermarket |
| | they were deeply disappointed. | | | | skips at the back of the |
| | They care about the environment, | | | | supermarket. On the day we heard |
| | but believe the right way to get | | | | the protest had been successful, |
30 | | things changed is to go through | | | | loads of police and council |
| | your local councillor or to write to | | 75 | | members showed up and the |
| | your MP. But, at 23, I was full of | | | | atmosphere was amazing. |
| | determination. | | | | ‘Next, I moved to a site at |
| | ‘It was a cold winter’s morning | | | | Lyminge Forest, Kent, where we |
35 | | when I left. There was only one | | | | eventually stopped a holiday |
| | person awake on the site. He told | | 80 | | village being built on 440 acres of |
| | me they needed long wooden | | | | woodland. By then, I was a bit fed |
| | beams for building tree houses so, | | | | up with the hardships, and I was |
| | with £60 in my pocket, I went to the | | | | missing my family. |
40 | | nearest reclamation yard. | | | | ‘I had no regrets about moving |
| | ‘I arrived like Father Christmas | | 85 | | on. I felt I had made a difference, |
| | with this truckload of wood and | | | | and experienced a freedom most |
| | said, “Can I stay?” | | | | people only dream about. I would |
| | ‘I was there for the next seven | | | | never have got such satisfaction |
45 | | months. There were about 50 | | | | from selling insurance policies. |
| | people on the site. Many, like me, | | 90 | | ‘I now help run a children’s |
| | were from comfortable, middle- | | | | nursery at an education centre in |
| | class homes. We went from | | | | Dorset, where I am surrounded by |
| | ordinary, mainstream lives to a | | | | beautiful countryside and people |
50 | | very basic, communal lifestyle. My | | | | who believe in an organic, |
| | parents would not visit me on site | | 95 | | sustainable lifestyle. My |
| | and, for the next four years, we | | | | relationship with my parents has |
| | lived separate lives with occasional | | | | come full circle and we are now |
| | phone calls to each other. | | | | much closer than ever before.’ |
55 | | ‘I built my own very simple tree | | |