I was moved by the thousands of people who gathered to protest against Heathrow expansion earlier this month.
A community banding together to defeat a monster is a familiar enough plot, but sadly this is no fairy tale or ancient legend.
Our fiend is threatening old and listed buildings and aiming to pull down homes where families have lived for generations. Not even successful schools are safe from its greedy grasp.
All this to expand an already busy airport at a time when cutting our carbon footprint, slashing pollution and slowing global warming is meant to be a priority.
Protestors in The Make a Noise March chose a unique way to show how forcibly they felt about this scary spectre and demonstrate their gritty determination to fight it.
Seen from the air, a giant NO made up of protestors which included politicians, environmentalists and villagers, was starker than any placard or petition.
Mr F and I bought our first home in Harlington, one of the places which would be adversely affected by a new runway and terminal. It had a village pond, annual fetes, and a GP who knew us all and delivered our children in the local maternity home.
Our daughter was christened in St Peter and St Paul, a church so ancient it is mentioned in the Domesday Book, but planes taking off from a new runway would practically scrape the roof of the church, making it unusable for future generations.
Harlington is only one of the Heathrow villages which would be affected if a third runway is agreed; Sipson would disappear completely.
BAA does not have a divine right to pollute the air, deafen residents and demolish our community, just because it is the biggest boy in the playground.
Though understandably defending its commercial interest in an increasingly competitive market, I am sure, even if T6 and runway 3 are granted, it will not rest until it has taken over most of West London.
The borough has a good record on protest. Remember the defeat of mighty Warner Bros which wanted to build a theme park on Hillingdon House Farm in Uxbridge? And look at how far the courageous Harefield Hospital campaigners have come!
People Power is flexing its muscles again in Hillingdon and will not go down without a fight. Which side are you on?
