I was at Shenstone again today. It was cold and wet. I have reported on this place before on this blog. I have been there many times in the last twenty years. The same protest repeated over and over. Not many know that I go. I don’t raise it in conversation after Mass, if someone asks about my week. I’ve never put it in a bidding prayer. Some that used to go no longer go. Some others have joined in recent times.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Engines Limited. That’s the name. ‘Limited’ they aren’t, of course. ‘Relentless’ might be more accurate, though this would not be recognised in legal argument or business parlance.
This experience is common enough among campaigners, ancient and modern. It was familiar to Jesus and the first followers. They even put it into a parable about a widow and a judge. Luke says this is to focus our minds on the need to keep praying. So, protest can also be prayer, then.
Paul – 27th January 2026
