Without Ann and Karmen, Greenham would not have existed. Believing women’s voices needed to be heard in a male dominated world of politics and anti-nuclear movements, they initiated the 1981 Women for Life on Earth walk from Cardiff to Greenham Common USAF base. Their aim was to initiate a public debate with the government regarding nuclear weapons, in particular Cruise missiles, to engage the media and make Greenham a household word. Ann believes Greenham “had big implications…it gave a lot of different possibilities to a lot of women.” “I can’t say that Greenham stopped the arms race because I think it was one of many factors which made it imperative that leaders take disarmament seriously…but it changed the atmosphere.” Visiting Russia in 1983, they met with the Moscow Group for Trust, a peace group independent of the Soviet state, as well as with the official Soviet Peace Committee. For Karmen, “Greenham was a protest of its time…I don’t think it would happen today…it would be moved.” It enabled, “thousands upon thousands of women …(to) connect with women in other countries … maybe it changed the direction of their life.’
Ann and Karmen were interviewed by Nicky Arikoglu in 2019.
She was photographed by Christine Bradshaw © 2019. https://www.christinebradshawphotography.com/
