Author(s): Oliver Ramsbotham
Publication date: August 2016

This file includes the recorded audio of the interview with Mary-Ann Stephenson, along with a transcript, a summary of the recording, and a photo of the interviewee. At the time of the interview, Mary-Ann was the Director of Women's Budget Group, an independent network of academic researchers, policy experts and campaigners. Date of interview: 20/11/2019. Length of recording: 00:52:23.

This file includes the recorded audio of the interview with Dr Akima Thomas OBE, along with a transcript, a summary of the recording, and a photo of the interviewee. At the time of the interview, Akima was the Founder and Clinical Director of Women and Girls Network, a holistic therapeutic service working with women and girls surviving violence. Date of interview: 02/07/2020. Length of recording: 00:55:32.

The collection includes the born-digital records of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, British Section (WILPF).

The first series of records consists of oral histories recorded as part of a project called 'These Dangerous Women', to mark the 100th anniversary of WILPF.

This sub-series contains the recording of the interview.

This sub-series contains the recordings and a summary of the interview, together with documents relating to the content of the interview.

Papers related to interview narrative - interview part 1 [00:44:49] - as follows:
Photograph of an International Observer Service Certificate issued to Margaret Turner by the National Electoral Observer Network - South Africa 27-29 April 1994;
Photograph of an article by Margaret Turner 'Elections in South Africa May 1994' (2 pages).

Papers related to interview narrative - interview part 1 [00:37:58] - as follows:
Margaret Turner's Badge for the Women's International Coalition for Economic Justice (WICEJ);
Margaret Turner's WILPF business card.

The item is related to interview narrative - interview part 1 [00:49:48].

Photograph taken on the day of the interview.

This collection includes digital archives produced by Greenham Women Everywhere, a partnership project between Scary Little Girls Association and The Heroine Collective.

The project was funded by Heritage Lottery South West and Supported by The University of The West of England in Bristol, Cornwall Council, Falmouth University, The Women’s Library at The London School of Economics, The East End Women’s Museum, Goldsmiths University of London, The Hypatia Trust, The Feminist Library, Kresen Kernow, the UK Parliament Vote 100 Project and Dreadnought South West.

This series inludes the oral history testimonies collected as part of the Greenham Women Everywhere project between 2019 and 2021. Each folder includes the audio recording of the interview together with a transcript of it, and a photograph of the intervieew/s where available.
The project team has travelled the UK interviewing the women who formed the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp. This is the largest collection of oral testimonies of the women yet collated, digitised and made available to the public.

Please note more interviews will be added in the coming months.

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Ailsa.
Ailsa had young children when the camp was set up in the 1980s and she got to know about Greenham thanks to her local CND group. She only stayed overnight once and mostly visited during the day and for the big demos. She talks about monthly peace camps at Aldermaston and Burghfield and how they went to court to 'get recognition that camping is a form of protest'. She also talks about other groups linked to the peace camps, such as Nuke Watch and Nuclear Information Service. She mentions the power of songs, NVDA and how reading 'Children of Hiroshima' was a very formative experience for her - at the end of the interview, she reads an extract from the book.
Ailsa was interviewed by Jessica Layton in 2019.
She was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Ann and Sally Bell.
Ann was a PhD student when she first went to Greenham and Sally an American citizen living in the UK. The women met at Greenham, living permanently at Orange Gate between 1983-85. They found in Greenham a place where women grew in confidence, could 'be themselves', many women 'becoming' feminists in a space free of male hierarchy. Both women believe Greenham had a major impact on the Cold War as its existence and actions opened up debate about nuclear weapons. They remember Greenham Women as a generation that went on to achieve remarkable things, and believe Greenham gave them, personally, the confidence to understand you do not have to follow the rules if you believe they are wrong. In addition, Greenham provided them with a strong moral foundation to pass on, and the ability to question everything.
Ann and Sally were interviewed by Nicky Arikoglu in 2019.
They were photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Ann.
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.
Ann was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Anna and Mary and one of Mary.
Greenham was not the first time Mary was actively involved in social and political movement; prior to Greenham she had been supporting peace movement for years. Both Mary and her husband played an active role in Greenham in the 1980s. They had a van together that they would use to go from Bristol to Newbury, transporting goods to the women (fire wood and blankets etc.). Mary never stayed at camp overnight but had a good relationship with Orange Gate, and was part of actions such as codified phone-chains which signified when blockades would be best used to stop camp invasion. Anna attended a Quaker school and showed large interest in political movement from a young age, inspired by her mother's activism. With her mother, she attended camp as a young adult. Anna stated that with the climate change activism happening at the time of the interview, young people might think that Non-Violent Direct Action (NVDA) is a new concept, but Greenham paved the way for this.
Mary and Anna were interviewed by Emily Strange in Bristol in 2019.
They were photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Avryl and Tembre.
Avryl, her mum Marlene, her daughter Tembre, her sister, niece, neighbour's kids and friends all travelled to Embrace the Base from Dorset after hearing about Greenham through a women's consciousness raising group and CND. Avryl remembers Greenham being very welcoming, feeling at home and safe sitting drinking tea and chatting to women. She talks about the huge lesbian community which Avryl became part of, finding safety with women that she couldn't find anywhere else. She recalls putting ribbon and children's toys on the fence, the holding of hands and the power that came from that.
The community of women Tembre grew up with had a powerful impression on her. She is now a circle song leader; gathering women to sing, and feels she must have absorbed Embrace the Base as a child. Avryl reads some of her mother Marlene's poems about Greenham which feature in her book of poems and writings. The interview ends with Tembre singing a beautiful rendition of one of her grandma's poems, who she says found her tribe at Greenham.
Avryl and Tembre were interviewed by Vanessa Pini in March 2021.

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Bridget.
Bridget and Sue are the epitome of 'Carry Greenham Home'. They visited the camp many, many times, never staying long but bringing the ethos of non-violent direct action back to their local protests. They were part of a contingent of women chosen to go to the US during the legal action against Reagan and they spoke 'from the heart' at many meetings. They talk fluently, passionately and emotionally about Greenham; singing, actions, prison, the good and bad of the police and authorities, the power of love and creativity and their continued hope for a better future for us all.
Bridget and Sue were interviewed by Rebecca Morden in 2019.
Bridget was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording.
'Peace Woman refuses to pay fine, birthday in custody. Southampton Peace Woman, spent her 21st birthday in police custody at the start of a 7 day prison sentence for refusing to pay fines imposed after she took part in a blockade at Greenham Common.'
Carolyn Barnes shares the story behind the newspaper headline in the Southampton Daily Echo. She became involved with Greenham after moving from Bolton to attend Southampton University. She joined various groups including CND, 3rd World First and a local group 'Families Against the Bomb'. Her friend, Di McDonald, used to take a group of them to Greenham for demonstrations in her campervan.
Carolyn talks about being new to politics when first staying at Blue Gate, the cruise missiles being brought in, the excitement of a women-only space, treatment by the police, prison, poetry and impact on her family. She also recalls people not expecting women to stick up for each other and the different ways in which women reacted to the balance of power.
Carolyn describes Greenham as earthy, real, natural and primal.
Carolyn was interviewed by Tricia Grace-Norton in February 2021.

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Janet.
Remarkably Janet hand-wrote her entire PhD thesis at Greenham during a time when there were daily evictions. She remembers it being anarchic but not chaotic, a community of women that in her words, 'Had your back'. Janet took part in many small and large actions and particularly remembers one blockade where the seated women were rushed by mounted police.
Janet was interviewed by Sarah Learmouth in 2019.
She was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Fran.
Fran became known as the woman who invited people for tea in her tipi, immortalised in the photograph of her by Edward Barber sitting in front of a large sign saying 'Hello can you stop for a talk?'
She approached local residents in town as a 'hippy in disguise' to invite them for tea at the camp. Fran was at times a signatory on the bank account, was interviewed many times, and spoke about Greenham at the UN.
Fran was interviewed by Florence Weston in 2019.

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Hannah.
Hannah was at Blue Gate and starts by describing her time at Greenham as 'Fun. With a capital F. U. N.' She talks about vigilantes, her time in prison, evictions and infiltrations of the camp by one particular journalist. Her overriding memories are of the women she met, how being around women all the time created an experience that was markedly different to the mixed protests she joined afterwards and what made Greenham special to her and why it should be remembered by us all.
Hannah was interviewed by Rebecca Mordan in 2019.
She was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).