Operation Solstice 1991 `BATTLE OF THE BEANFIELD’

We made a film ’Operation Solstice’ about the experiences described within this website. It was screened by Channel Four in November 1991, after completing the civil actions at the High Court in Winchester. The Police Federation and various authorities were trying to get injunctions to prevent the screening. They failed. It caused an outcry!! ’OPERATION SOLSTICE recounts the story of how 420 people were arrested on 1 June 1985 on their way to Stonehenge to hold the 11th People’s Free Festival. Using video footage, the police radio log, photographs and personal testimony to recreate what became known as the `BATTLE OF THE BEANFIELD’ This documentary presents horrifying evidence of the semi-military tactics employed by police as they smashed up travellers’ homes. This portrait provides a good background to what was, at the time, the longest running civil case in British legal history when 24 people sued the police for damages.’ OBSERVER 3 November