Marchers' blog

Stuart's new playmates

Stuart: Yesterday two very important new marchers joined us – Ben, aged 6, and Matt, aged 8. They walked with us for the final mile into Bromsgrove, carried our banner and sang our songs.

We had a great picnic in a recreation field together and ventured onto the swings, slide and roundabout and even managed to scare Tim and Ele (from the Christian Aid campaigns team).

At the evening meeting at the local Baptist church Ben and myself had a well deserved rest in reclining chairs while Matt drew numerous pictures of Simon and drew a great cartoon of his talk on climate change.

Matt and Ben are super cool guys who were very keen to join us all the way to London but they have an even more important job to do as our No.1 supporters in Bromsgrove. It’s a tough mission but I’m sure they’re up to it.

No time for chocolate

Rosie: Over the last two days we've been walking through Birmingham's greenbelt, passing Bournville, home of Cadbury.

It has really interesting history as one of the first planned communites which George Cadbury built in the 1880s to give his workers decent housing.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the chocolate factory!

Today we've entered Worcestershire, ending up in Bromsgrove - our last mile into the town we were accompanied by a crowd of supporters. Afterwards, we had a lovely picnic along with our good friend Spoz, Birmingham's poet laureate.

I've been talking a lot to Dwijen about the need for big business to shift social responsibility from auxiliary departments to chief executives and directors.

He also spoke about all the industrial development in his homeland Bangladesh. We really do need to increase the profile of the damage of producing goods in countries where environmental regulations are non-existent or not applied.

Birmingham

Rosie: The reception in Birmingham was absolutely fantastic. Islamic Relief put us up for two nights and looked after us magnificently.

On Saturday night we were treated to an incredible feast of Indian food at a restaurant. The dishes were so mouth-watering we skipped starters in order to tuck in to the mains and we were filled beyond to the brim.

On the day of the rally on our final miles to Millennium Point we were joined by hundreds of people. We taught some of the younger people our carbon cutting songs. (the lyrics of one are below).

When we got to the rally we were treated to some fantastic speeches and performances from great musicians. Lemar had great charisma on stage and the voices of SHAAM were beautiful.

The highlight for me was listening to two Epstein songs. The first ‘Leave your light on.’ Lead singer Ollie did point out that he was referring to candles not incandescent light bulbs!

The second track I loved was ‘ It won’t be an easy ride.’ The march certainly has certainly confirmed that message and I suspect will continue to do so. But it’s only the start of the long journey to a low carbon future.

Climate change effects the poor

Even though we polluted more

That’s why we are walking one thousand miles

Even though it will take a while

Less rain where they need it

Melting ice sheets engulfing coasts

So if we want to sunbathe in Skegness

Then we’re going to have pollute less

Birmingham rally

Find out how what happened at Bank Holiday Monday's highly successful rally in Birmingham , including what BRIT and MOBO winning singer Lemar thought of the day.

And check out Lemar appearing on Sky News to talk about cutting the carbon

Viaduct musings

I have to say that the past two days of walking through Derbyshire have been the most beautiful of the march so far; walking through rolling hills covered in trees, climbing over stiles.

We walked over the giant Monsal Dale's Headstone viaduct over a V-shaped valley and this inspired a debate over whether human engineering or the natural landscape was the most magnificent.

We then found out that when the aqueduct was first built in the 19th century, there had been a large amount of opposition from local people.

It was then later in the day that I discovered from the host that I was staying with that dry stone walls, that are so characteristic of the Derbyshire countryside, were also opposed by local people when they were first built.

I wonder whether people hundreds of years from now will admire today’s buildings and developments in the same way that we now admire architecture from the past?

I think even though people have always stood up to protect and conserve the beautiful places that they live in, what we are marching for now is not only driven by an attachment to familiar environments but by the conviction that the whole world and all the people and animals in it are at risk.

Have human beings ever been so aware of the incredible inter-connectedness of the world?

Have a look at Rosie’s blog on the Guardian Environment website

Everybody can do something

Simon: Most of the march I’ve been picking up rubbish I’ve found on our route despite some marchers saying that it’s too big a job for one person. This reminded me of a line in a song I once heard: “No one can do everything but everybody can do something”.

This rings true in every part of life including cutting the carbon. Just because it’s not necessarily easy and our individual actions alone won’t save the world, collectively they can.

Yesterday we past the disused Drakelow power station which is due to be replaced soon. Like the others we have past it had fences and barbed wire to protect the structures responsible for powering our homes and poisoning our planet.

The site also has a nature reserve. Whilst I’m not criticising them from trying to give back to the natural world it’s important not to let this distract us from the damage their industry does.

I was pondering this when we past a building site claiming to be environmentally aware and “improving the image of construction”. It’s quite clear we have to ensure that it’s not just image that improves but their actual environmental record.

This crystallised in my mind the importance of holding companies to account and why one of our key demands is the mandatory reporting of carbon emissions.

Getting more and more exposure

Chira: Yesterday morning, I went with Rachel and Lisa the campaigns team member to meet Amber Valley's Labour MP Judy Mallaber at St Anne Church, Ambergate.

It was a positive meeting. She said she supported the demands of the campaign.

I talked about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and she was very interested because she knows the country and has travelled there.

She said it was important for the UK to take a lead internationally in terms of fighting against climate change.

Our fame continues to grow as later in the day Derby television came to interview several of us.

Today, Bishop Geoff and his wife Kate from South Africa arrived to reinforce the team.

It was a very hot day after lots of cold, wet days. We walked 19 miles, walking in countryside and towns with some busy roads. It wasn’t an easy experience as it was so hot.

There were also more interviews - Rosalia and Mohamed had an interview with BBC radio. It’s great that we are getting people’s attention!

Now, Tim and I are off to the Greenbelt festival in Cheltenham where we are going to spend the weekend talking to people about climate change and telling them about the march. 

Find out what’s happening here http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/index.php?s=137

Sustainable Youlgrave

Angela: Today we had a really lovely walk in the Derbyshire dales. The most exciting aspect of the day was seeing small villages and towns taking the initiative themselves to set up local sustainability groups.

Youlgrave where we encountered our 500 mile mark had set up Sustainable Youlgrave. Over the past 18 months they have been working towards generating renewable electricity.

One project they are looking at is harvesting methane gas from farmyard manure to generate electricity. Another is encouraging solar panels on rooftops. These local initiatives have so much potential to deliver the cut in the UK's carbon emissions that we need of at least 80% by 2050.

However we do need a much better framework from central government to make it easier. One lady from Matlock climate action forum said to me, 'Why are solar panels and heat transfer systems not standard in all new build houses?' That is definitely a question that we need to ask the government.

Join our great shoelace petition: Email Gordon Brown now!

Half-way - the 500 mile mark!

Chira: Yesterday we had a well-earned rest day. We checked our emails, did our washing or went shopping. The local community and supporters were very kind and welcoming.

Risolat left yesterday morning and it was very sad. She was the youngest in the group and she was a very strong walker, she was at the front most of the time.

Her last day she was not feeling that well, I think maybe she had one last blister!

Today, we made it to the 500 mile mark - we're half way to London which is really exciting news for us. We took some photos at the tea break when we passed the 500 mile mark at Youlgreave and wrote 'half-way!!' on our placards.

At the beginning of the march, none of us could believe that one day we will be half way through the march. It was like a dream that we would walk 1,000 miles.

The very first step was like a dream too but now we can see that we are achieving our dream. We are walking in beautiful countryside again and we're about to stop for lunch in Winster.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you when we reach London on 2 October!

Join us in Birmingham - We will be in Birmingham next Monday 27 August for a rally and concert including Lemar, The Epstein, Shaam and local Poet Laureate Spoz. Hope to see you there. Find out more

Going off road

Neil: Buxton to Bakewell - We had to put on rough ground footwear today, there were extra miles but we were pleased not to be on a busy road. It was a lovely walk, very picturesque, everyone enjoyed it.

In the evening there was a panel discussion where Merryn spoke and the audience was very well informed about climate change. We stayed at the Methodist church and Friends meeting house. The food was so delicious that one helping wasn't enough!

We're looking forward to the rally and concert in Birmingham next Monday 27 August. Here's an interview with Lemar who's going to be performing. Hope to see you there.