IN 1989, the Thatcher government announced the “biggest road-building programme since the Romans” and one of the new schemes was the M3 extension past Winchester across Twyford Down.
With local groups having fought the planned road for decades with little success, in the early 1990s there was a shift to direct action.
Concerned about the proposed road’s impact on the land, the so-called Dongas Tribe, named after the ancient trackways in the area, set up camp on the Down.
Skilfully using original interviews, letters, memoirs, photos and poems, the authors of this book, Helen Beynon with Chris Gillham, paint a vivid picture of outdoor living, with many people recalling a deeply spiritual connection to the land.