Battle of Brightlingsea
19th May 1995
The day started off with rumours that the live export of calves were coming through Brightlingsea, for the first time today, many emotions, and trouble flared. Isla was arrested again, onlookers had seen it all. The Sea Sabs tried to stop the Caroline from entering the port by blocking its way. The police use two launches to stop them.
On occasions there were protests in the evening, the police were not amused, there was almost a routine about the morning demonstrations. If there was another in the evening the police had to send more officers back down into Brightlingsea to contain the crowds. Most people did not really understand why the Police did this in such big numbers. What could they do except shake the fence and shake their fists at the guards who were always on the dock.
The sea sabs were a few people who decided direct action was the way to go. Their intention was to try and stop the Caroline from reaching the port while the tide was up, to stop the exports on this one occasion. They had lots of encouragement but not a lot of luck. The police scrambled two police launches to stop their activities.
