30/09/2022
Just been sent this amazing story from David Pratley - Helter Skelter to share with you all.
33 years ago today, 30th September 1989 we had waited until the Thames Valley Police unit, The Pay Party Unit had flew over Oxfordshire in an helicopter looking for illegal Acid House Parties setting up, Then as they flew off into the Distance, All the Lorry’s, Artics , Fairground Rides, Circus Bigtops and Crew Left our Family’s Fairground Depot and headed at Pace to Walkers Farm Adderbury, There was 2 Police Cars sat outside our gate waiting to serve me and Keith Hopkins with an injunction to ban us from being in Oxfordshire that weekend, ( they followed the convoy 😵💫)I’d been parking 10 minutes away and getting home over the fields through the back way.
We got set up and opened slightly late. Thames valley police turned up with their Barristers to stop the Party, we had hired a Barrister ( Who prosecuted the police as a career ). Who filmed the police when they came and threatened them with being unlawful in their actions ( we have never seen the video ) we told them it was a private members party and proudly gave the police our membership list of 3000 members ( we had taken the Banbury Phone book to a lady where we live and she had typed up 3000 names addresses, and phone numbers in the same order as the phone book ) Thames valley police and barristers inspected the list and accepted it 😎
The Party was allowed to go head 🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿
We had a great party, but never got the numbers we needed , ( everyone that put money into the event lost it! ), A London Event called Phantasy was on the same night, the police turned up in force and tried to stop their event and the security fought and CS gased the police untill the crowds got in, so the police backed off for fear of affray and let the party happen. And many years later Inspector Burrell of the Thames Valley Police, Pay Party Unit told me at a Film Premier about the Dance Scene-in Soho , it was him that had turned up with Thames Valley Police Barrister’s to stop our event and he had been impressed with our Strategy for the event, We had laughed and discussed that time in general, I told him of the Phone book membership list and could not believe they hadn’t picked up on it, everyone on the list was from Banbury and surrounding Villages. He Confessed he hadn’t realised and they didn’t have the confidence to stop the party legally as our Barrister was well known to them and he was filming their actions, So Thames Valley Police left the Party and laid out all the Helter Skelter road signs they had made, Diverting lots of traffic away from the event. ( I told him I would next see him in court 😋)
At 21 years old our initiation into the Dance Scene…….
Happy 33rd Anniversary Helter Skelter!
