A Day Out With A Maths Addict
Got back from the march just after 5pm (having bailed out slightly early, but having a two-year-old along isn't 100% of a laugh). To pre-empt the traditional police underestimate of the turnout (20,000, however the organisers claimed the *police* told them at least 100,000), here's my rough estimate (having walked the length of it):
Known facts
* The start of the march left Grosvenor Square at 13:25, because I photographed it there.
* I got to Downing St., still with the start of the march at 14:25 (I took the first photo there at 14:28), so 14:30 for reaching Parliament Square is about right.
* The distance between the two points is about 4100 yards (2.3 miles) by the route marched.
* Therefore it moved at 2 to 2.5 miles per hour, allowing for a certain error in measuring distances
Assumption time
* Break the march into rows of about 15 people wide, which the photographs I have suggest is reasonable.
* Each row is about 1.5 yards apart
Travelling at 2mph, in an hour you would see:
* 3520 yards of people
* 3520/1.5 = 2346 rows
* 2346 * 15 = 35,200
Travelling at 2.5mph this comes out at 44,000
Now, the thing is, I reckon there was a good deal more than an hours worth of people there. I watched from opposite Downing St. (because thousands of people booing Blair is music to my ears) from 14:25 to just about 15:05 (I photographed the police horses by the MOD at 15:06) and there was no end to it - Whitehall up to Trafalgar Square was just as full as it had been when I got there. People were still arriving in Parliament square at 16:00, I remember the bongs.
So that's at least and hour and a half, which means our bounds go out to 52,800 to 66,000 people marching.
UPDATE
I'll try and get some photos up now the nipper has dropped off, but in the meantime some other bloggers have got there first..
* Septic Isle, who apparently never heard of Jeremy Hardy before. Comedian, actor and general left-winger, hated by fascists and one of the funniest men alive, if you're reading.
* Lenin has a good article from before the march, plus a growing number of comments from those who were there.
* The Sharp Side
Lenin's comments link back to here and suggest that people were still coming in at 17:00, long after I'd gone. Feeding in a 2.5 hour march gives us between 88,000 and 110,000, assuming the same density of people.
There was at the very least
There was at the very least 50,000, and I don't think the STWC may be far off in saying 100,000.
More thousands
More thousands
That's not including what must have been thousands who didn't make it to Parliament Square having stopped off earlier because of the heat. We were near the back and saw loads of people on the way who had stopped or were leaving.
Easily 80-100,000 there.
big media's attempt to
big media's attempt to downplay the magnitude of the protest is, unfortunately, to be expected. in most cases, its alignment with government policy is perfectly natural and there is little we can achieve in criticising it.
the BBC, however, is funded by the license fee and has a specific mandate to report without bias. its blatant attempt to downplay the size of the demonstration while overblowing what little support there is for israeli policy is contemptible. i think everyone should head to its feedback page to express your rage.
Actually, make the complaint
Actually, make the complaint here [bbc.co.uk].
Telos, Thanks for the link.
Telos,
Thanks for the link. I've written a complaint to the BBC and sent it off. I've also published it.
Not sure the speed was 2mph,
Not sure the speed was 2mph, I'd say it was faster - I filmed at the top of piccadilly - check the speed that people are walking - really fast. There's no way the demo was less than 50,000,
check this clip here [about 1:20 in]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXqG_RAt0NU