Today, September 2, the Greenham women’s anniversary march reached Marlborough and will arrive at Greenham Common tomorrow. The original march took place forty years ago on August 26, 1981 when a group of 36 women, 4 men and several children set off to walk from Cardiff to Greenham Common RAF airbase near Newbury to protest against the US nuclear missiles stored there. This led to the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp which became one of the largest and longest nuclear protests in history.
The anniversary march, tracing the exact route of the original and entitled ‘Greenham Women Everywhere’, set off from Gorsedd Gardens opposite City Hall, Cardiff on Thursday 26 August. They reach Hungerford today and will be joined by hundreds more tomorrow for the last leg of the walk to Greenham. Many more are joining in for the weekend events on Greenham Common.
One of the walkers, Vanessa Pini, told Marlborough.news, “We want to mark the anniversary. We want to celebrate what the Greenham women did by living there for so many years to get the nuclear weapons removed and to bring down the fence because it was common land – to get the land returned to the people.”
The march co-ordinator, Rebecca Mordan, who was taken to Greenham Common as a child, hopes the march will help raise awareness of how powerful the protest was and ensure its place in history.
An exhibition by Jemima Brown to mark the 40th Anniversary of the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp is being held at the West Berkshire Museum along with satellite exhibits around Newbury and at The Base, Greenham. For more information click here.
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