The legendary Greenham Women’s Peace Camp has a big anniversary in 2021 – on September 5th 2021 it will be 40 years since the first women arrived, having marched from Wales, to set up a peace camp outside RAF Greenham Common.
We are running events and celebrating all year (contact us if you’d like to be involved, all welcome!) and our anniversary celebrations will culminate in a weekend of festivities in early September 2021.
Here’s what we have planned so far.
Before we start, we should say that we are planning with Covid in mind. If we are not able to travel, we are exploring ways for people to march and ride the distance virtually, in their local area. All events at the overnight march stops will be created with digital broadcast in mind, so whether the march goes ahead or not, people can join remotely.
Recreating the March
From 26th August to 3rd September 2021 we will be re-creating the march from Cardiff – join us on foot, or ride or roll with us for as much of the journey as you’d like.
We’re expecting to march between seven and seventeen miles a day, keeping as much to the original route as we can, and staying overnight where the original marchers did, bearing in mind 40 years of development and new roads!
There will be a bike ride from Cardiff to Greenham split over Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd September. This will be approximately 60 miles each day with an overnight in Bath/Melksham. We’d LOVE women-led bike clubs, or women’s officers/women’s groups within bike clubs, to get involved!
Click here to express interest in being part of the march or the bike ride, and to see the proposed march route. We are working on the bike route which will be firmed up shortly.
The weekend
On arrival at Greenham, we’ll have an arrival celebration. On the Saturday there will be an exhibition supported by us at the Control Tower Museum on the Common. And then on the anniversary Sunday itself, we’ll be running a series of events with the museum and local partners including talks, debates and singalongs and workshops including banner and bender making! Find out what Greenham Women are campaigning for now and bring your campaigns along to be the change you want to see in the world!
Legacy
Finally, the events we create will be recorded for posterity and to create a digital legacy. We’ll be inviting participants to contribute their memoirs and give us their feedback as part of this so you’ll be making history as well as celebrating it!