Sun. September 4, 2011
Remembering Greenham
A personal reflection by CND Cymru Vice Chair Ray Davies:
“How proud I was to join the start of the march from Cardiff to Greenham common, 30 years ago. To be truthful, I didn’t really want to go on the march- I was up to my neck in the Steel Strike, but was bullied by the brilliant peace women from Cardiff and Newport, Sue Lent and Mary Crofton. Sue marched with her year old son all the way to Newbury. The women chained themselves to the main gate, and the peace camp was born, a presence at the US Cruise missile base to monitor its deadly weapons and tell the world of the dangers lurking behind its wire fence.They marched in protest at the threat to our planet posed by nuclear weapons, and against the Tory government and the Defense Secretary, Michael Heseltine, who took the beautiful common land from the people.”
The 30th anniversary celebration on Saturday closed a chapter in this dramatic story.
Jean Hutchinson outlined the legal battles fought in the courts. There was a screening of “Carry Greenham Home”, filmed over some weeks in 1982, which revealed how the camp transformed the lives of the women who lived there; dancing around the peace garden dedicated to Helen Thomas- a young woman from Newcastle Emlyn, who was killed in a car accident at Greenham; and songs of peace from Côr Cochion.
It was a remarkable achievement to maintain a continuous presence at the camp for 19 years. Thousands of women suffered hardship, imprisonment, bitter weather, evictions, and violent reactions from the police, MOD and the national press. The day when the last Cruise missile left the base was a vindication of all their sacrifices. The women then fought to reclaim the common land, and won a groundbreaking victory when the judge ordered the MOD to remove the fences and return
the land to the people.
Greenham Common was a beacon for the rest of the world, and women came from every corner of the globe to join the camp and the campaign to make a safer world for their children. As a result of their efforts, Greenham Common today is an oasis, with wild horses, rare wildflowers and butterflies.
Women from Cardiff and Wales launched this historic campaign, and were back at Greenham leading the dancing and singing, proud of their achievement for world peace.
Thank you, women of Greenham.
Ray Davies, Vice Chair CND Cymru
Wendy Lewis, Côr Cochion
