Fairford
| Fairford | |
|---|---|
 River Coln, Fairford |
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 Fairford
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| Fairford shown within Gloucestershire | |
| Population | 3,236 (2011 census) |
| OS grid reference | SP149010 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Fairford |
| Postcode district | GL7 |
| Dialling code | 01285 |
| Police | Gloucestershire |
| Fire | Gloucestershire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Welcome to Fairford Town Council |
Fairford is a small town in Gloucestershire, England. The town lies in the Cotswolds on the River Coln, about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Cirencester, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Lechlade and 9 miles (14 km) north of Swindon. Nearby are RAF Fairford and the Cotswold Water Park.
An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward extends northwards from Fairford to Quenington. The total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,031.
The town's secondary school is Farmor's School, an 11–18 co-educational Academy. The school is judged to be of outstanding standard, having achieved grade 1 in its Ofsted inspection in 2010. There is also a primary school, Fairford Primary, and a playgroup.
There is for 3 days every year RAF Fairford which hosts the world's largest military air show – the Royal International Air Tattoo. The event brings a boost to the economy of the town and surrounding areas.
In March 2003 "Flowers to Fairford" was held as a protest against the use of USAF Fairford as the base for the 14 B-52 bombers aircraft which were used to bomb Iraq. Several thousand people attended and there was a large police presence, but the event passed off peacefully and without incident.
Other people intending to protest certainly did experience an incident. The Fairford Coach Action group states that, "On 22 March 2003, the police used surprisingly extreme tactics to prevent more than 120 activists from reaching [the] legally sanctioned anti-war demonstration in Fairford, (Gloucestershire, UK). The demonstration outside a US Airforce Base in Fairford was well attended with estimates of up to 5,000 activists attending. Among the scheduled speakers on the day were writer George Monbiot and Caroline Lucas (MEP). The people who police prevented from attending were a diverse group with a broad range of affiliations. The main thing that they had in common was the desire to travel from London by coach and the intention of joining the legal protest in Fairford. Two of the four main scheduled speakers for the Fairford demonstration were travelling on these coaches from London. After the coaches had travelled two and a half hours from London, the coaches were stopped by police just miles from the demonstration. Using section 60 powers (of the Public Order and Criminal Justice Act 1994) police slowly searched the coaches for weapons for one and a half hours. The passengers cooperated with this search, and they were invited to reboard the coaches when the search concluded. NO ARRESTS WERE MADE FOR ANY BEHAVIOR OR ITEMS FOUND. Passengers now believed they were going to proceed to the demonstration at Fairford. After all the passengers boarded, the coaches were forced all the way back to London under a continuous 9–12 vehicle police escort." The Police action resulted in a Court Case
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