Main content

The Greenham Common women's peace camp

The anti-nuclear weapons protest was the biggest women-led movement in the UK since the Suffragettes. It began in 1981 and lasted for 19 years until the airbase was decommissioned

The anti-nuclear weapons protest was the biggest women-led movement in the UK since the Suffragettes. It began in 1981 when Ann Pettitt from Wales organised a women-led peace march from the Welsh capital Cardiff to the airbase at Greenham Common, where American nuclear-tipped cruise missiles were being kept. A small group of women decided to set up camp outside the fences of Greenham Common to continue their protest. Women from all over the UK joined the demonstrations, some travelled from Europe and beyond to lend their support. At its peak, thousands of women camped around the base, and some form of protest camp remained for 19 years until all the nuclear weapons were moved and the airbase was decommissioned. It's now an open nature reserve. Ann Pettitt has been telling Rebecca Kesby why the women were prepared to leave jobs and families to sleep out in the cold to try to stop a nuclear war.

Photo: Women from the Greenham Common peace camp blocking Yellow Gate into RAF Greenham Common , 1st April 1983 . (Photo by Staff/Reading Post/MirrorpixGetty Images)

Available now

9 minutes

Last on

Fri 22 Oct 2021 02:50GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 21 Oct 2021 07:50GMT
  • Thu 21 Oct 2021 11:50GMT
  • Thu 21 Oct 2021 17:50GMT
  • Fri 22 Oct 2021 02:50GMT

Podcast