Out & About Autumn 2018

T he glass-walled observation room at the top of the Control Tower on the north side of Greenham Common offers a panoramic view of the decommissioned airbase, now a haven for wildlife. Over time, gorse, heather, bracken and wild flowers have re-colonised the common, which has become home to rare ground-nesting birds, lizards, great crested newts and 30 species of butterfly. Still visible from the vantage point at the top of the tower and to those who walk, run and cycle around the common, is a rectangle of tarmac, the remnants of a runway, one of the few reminders of the extraordinary history of the reclaimed common land. A far more prominent

presence on Greenham Common. It was first developed as an airfield in 1941 and the USAF arrived in 1942. General Eisenhower delivered his famous ‘ Eyes of the world are upon you ’ speech on the night before D-Day to the 101st Airborne Division – the Screaming Eagles – who were stationed at Littlecote. Inevitably, the presence of the USAF impacted on the working and social lives of those living around the base. The return of the Americans in the 1950s Cold War period sparked controversy when heavy bombers were stationed on the common. The unease continued when it was revealed that the base would become home to tanker aircraft in the 1970s.

When the decision to house 96 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Greenham was made in 1980, dissenting voices were heard almost immediately. Over the next 10 years or so, the common was the focus of much international news. The presence of both nuclear missiles and the Women’s Peace Camp, which grew throughout this period, caused great controversy in the area. Established in 1981, the camp remained for 19 years. At its height, in December 1982, 30,000 women joined hands

reminder of the role that Greenham Common has played on the local, national and international stage is the control tower itself. The tower was built by the United States Air Force between 1951 and 1953, and was an active air traffic control centre until its closure in 1992. The Grade II-listed building now has a new role, as a place where the stories of all those whose lives have been touched by events that have taken place on Greenham Common can be told.

Tower 1958 by Leon Schumacher

around the base to ‘Embrace the Base’. With the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the Americans and the missiles departed, but their presence has meant that Greenham Common has significance for servicemen and women, peace activists and modern historians the world over. The memories of those years will be preserved in the control tower and visitors will be able to learn about the history through digital displays and authentic objects and artefacts. Greenham Control Tower Ltd, a not-for-profit organisation

Following substantial refurbishment, and with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the control tower is now open as a visitor heritage attraction. Permanent and temporary exhibitions will tell the history of the airfield, the tower and the protests that took place around it, through the accounts of local people and American visitors who lived through the common’s more recent history. For 50 years in the 20th century, there was a military

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