Veteran eco warrior Swampy has come out of retirement to join anti-HS2 protestors in a wood that inspired children’s author Roald Dahl to write Fantastic Mr Fox.
On Wednesday, October 7, Swampy was up an 80 foot beech tree at Jones Hill Wood between Wendover and Great Missenden in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire.
The proposed high-speed rail line is due to cut through the wood and campaigners are in a stand off with contractors and black uniformed security guards, who have erected fencing around the area in preparation for clearance work
The 47-year-old, who joined the protest last Thursday,was with eight or nine others in a tree house. He refused to talk to a reporter telling another campaigner he did not like “the cult of celebrity.”
They were supported by other protestors who are camping on the ground.
At one point Swampy, who is now said to use his real name Daniel Hooper, seen on abseil attached to the tree house.
Speaking on a mobile phone from the tree house one woman said: “We are resolved to
to stay here. How long that will be for depends on what they (the contractors) do.”
Swampy would not speak. She said he did not want to get involved in the cult of celebrity.
The father of three gained national prominence and celebrity status in 1996 when he was the last campaigner to leave a network of tunnels that had been dug in an attempt to prevent an extension of the A30 in Devon.
His celebrity status led to him being a guest on the TV news quiz Have I got News for you.
One of the protesters said that Swampy’s son was also protesting at the site at times.
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