Following Unusual’s significant infrastructure programme for Central London for The Golden Jubilee celebrations in June, they were contacted by The Countryside Alliance, who had specific infrastructure requirements for what was initially described as a ‘large march’. In the end, there were over four hundred thousand marchers.

The main requirement of Unusual was to provide a focal point to the march in the absence of a rally at the end. Due to the number of people involved, it was essential that the focal point addressed the need for efficient dispersal at the end of the march.

Unusual designed a 28 metre wide double arch structure to span the width of Whitehall. Two of these units were positioned directly north and south of The Cenotaph. Between the two structures, the marchers were counted and a digital messaging board on the southern arch displayed the total number of marchers, who had passed through the counting zone. Built with standard GP truss, the structures were clad on the faces, sides and top with branded mesh banners. Prefabricated in sections at Unusual’s base in Northamptonshire, the arches were transported on four 40ft trailers to Whitehall.

The time available for installation was distinctly tight. The earliest possible start time was 0630 on Sunday morning. Production riggers Robin Elias and Simon Stone each had a rigging team, a 30 tonne crane and a few hundred thousand marchers descending upon them sometime soon after ten ‘o’ clock. The arches were built; the cranes, telehandler, trucks, vans and cherry picker offsite and all branding in place for 0945. 1730 sameday – derig and clear Whitehall by 2000, when the road reopened to traffic.

The focus of the march was clearly on Whitehall as the press and TV pictures illustrated. The marchers felt that their purpose was clear once they were counted and dispersal was effectively achieved. By nine ‘o’ clock on Sunday evening, there was no sign that anything had happened in London.