Epilogue

Fallout

Atomic by Donna McLean

This book gives only a snapshot of the epic slice of history that was Greenham Common.  The story of Greenham itself, the activism and feminism, the history and outcomes, the politics within the camp such as arrived with Wages For Housework, the class lines that divided the gates and at times the policies, the alliances with other political movements such as the miners’ strike and particularly with the miners’ wives can all be read about in the many wonderful non-fiction books published by Greenham women themselves. 

The story of Greenham is the story of heroism in the face of brutality, it is the forebear of all non-violent direct actions and protest movements that have come since.  But for those who’d like to know what happened next in the story of Greenham Common, here it is. 

The cruise missiles were installed in the silos in the autumn of 1983, as planned by Thatcher and Reagan, and taken out on regular exercise through the English countryside; atomic bombs motoring through sleepy Berkshire villages to undisclosed locations where soldiers pretended to fire them at Moscow. Despite beatings, arrests, imprisonments and worse, the women of Greenham persisted to resist.  They never stopped.  They made sure through song and shout and talk and humour, through the creative endeavour of protest no matter what, that their voices continued to be heard. In June 1988 the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was ratified by Reagan and Gorbachev.  By 1991 all the cruise missiles had been removed and the military base dismantled.  In Gorbachev’s speech to the United Nations he cited the women of Greenham Common as his inspiration, while one of Reagan’s advisers later said that his decision to adopt a “zero option” policy came “straight off the women’s banners”.  In 1997 Greenham Common was designated public parkland and by 2000, nineteen years after the first women arrived to set up camp, the last of the fence was torn down and the land fully returned to the people.

A watchtower has been turned into a café, an aircraft hangar hides amongst car showrooms, a snake painted on a post holds the gate to a parking lot, the silos are still there, still fenced.  There is a Peace Garden near where Yellow Gate once stood.  Few other signs remain.  What does remain clear is that it was more than a protest against political insanity and nuclear threat, against stealing the common land; it was a collection point for thousands of women to wake up, escape violence, find safe space and be who they wanted to be.  It changed lives, and not just the lives it saved.  Those who protest now are the sons and daughters of Greenham. Greenham Women are everywhere.  We owe them our deepest thanks. 

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