During the 1970’s there were a lot of National Front Marches in West Yorkshire. There were also marches against the NF.

I was living in Leeds but had a lot of friends in Bradford, and spent most weekends there. There was a great Gay Scene in Bradford, which centred around the Junction Pub, at the bottom of Leeds Road. My friend Lucy and I were there most Friday nights, to start our weekend.

I heard there was to be another NF march in Bradford in June 1976. There was also to be a counter march against the NF, organised by the Bradford Trade Council.

On the Saturday morning my friend Lucy and I left Leeds for Bradford. We headed to Lister Park on Manningham Lane where our section of the march was to assemble. It was another very hot day. We had arrived early so we went to the local pub for a couple of pints.

I was a member of the General Will Community Theatre Group in Bradford, and our march had a party/carnival atmosphere with many in fancy dress. Some of the General Will had made a long Caterpillar costume with several of them inside. At the head of the march was a giant Yellow Teddy Bear of the Yellow Teddy Bear Company. Although light-hearted it was a serious march against the NF and what it stood for.

We proceeded quite peacefully down Manningham Lane towards the City Centre. When we arrived in Forster Square, the march stopped and everybody sat down in the road as a peaceful protest.

At this point Lucy and I decided a trip to the toilets in Forster Square Station was necessary, so we left the march for a short time. When we returned the Police had completely surrounded the protesters sat in the Square and said they were all under arrest, for causing an obstruction we thought. Lucy and I were not allowed to re-join the protest, and had to remain outside the cordon. Still, we hadn’t been arrested.

After the march we were supposed to be going to my friend Ron’s flat for afternoon tea. Unfortunately, he was inside the Police cordon. He shouted to us that we should still go for our tea, but he had the keys to his flat. We politely asked the Police if we could get the keys from him; they flatly refused. So Ron decided he would throw them to us. His throw was short, and the keys bounced on the bonnet of a Police Car, and slid on to the ground. The Police were not impressed. I was told that if I tried to retrieve the keys, a police dog would be released. I could not believe it. I bided my time, and eventually I did manage to slip inside the cordon and recover the keys when the Police were not looking my way.

The people in fancy dress refused to remove their costumes and head pieces when they were taken to a Police Van to be photographed and finger-printed. I particularly remember a guy dressed as a cockerel, who adamantly refused to remove the cockerel head. They did get the people out of the caterpillar costume. Lucy and I were asked if we could take it back to Manningham, and it would be collected sometime. It was a very hot day, and the costume was very heavy, being made of some sort of canvas. It had also been painted with those powder paints, that comes off on your hands and your clothes. By the time we had struggled back along Canal Road and got back to Manningham, Lucy and I were covered in various colours of paints, on our clothes and mixed with the sweat of our hands. We were exhausted and in need of cleaning up. Fortunately, it all came off with some warm water and soap.

After our tea, Lucy and I went back into Bradford. We knew all our friends would gather at The Junction Pub, and we had to find Ron and give him his keys back, and thank him for the lovely tea. We sat in the pub, and throughout the evening, as they were released from Police Custody, people returned, each with their own story of the day and subsequent events. I don’t remember anybody actually being charged, but I may be wrong.