C l a r e H o d d i n o t t


The Last Caravan

The Last Caravan

The rascally tracts of heathland at Greenham Common are layered with relics of the Cold War’s murky past. Amidst a blanket of gorse and bracken lie remnants of the area’s military history but the heavy weaponry located here in the 1980s, brought with it an alternative kind of conflict. The site became the unintended home of an all-female, anti-war movement that lasted for generations and exposed the secretive missions of this nuclear missile base.

Placing themselves at the physical location of the weapons was an act of symbolic and ideological significance which disrupted the usual order of conflict. The dramas that occurred at Greenham were not acts of military violence nor did the threat of nuclear war become a reality. Aggressive police action, hostility from locals and intense media scrutiny were directed at the Greenham women and their peace campaign. But they stayed put, and only when this particular battle was over, all the missiles gone and the common land finally handed back to the people, did the last caravan leave the peace camp.

Today, a true feeling of stillness exists in the Greenham landscape and nature is thriving in the ponds, and across the heath and woodland. This now untroubled refuge stands as testament to the spirit of resistance and reflects nature’s power to adapt and survive.










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