This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Barbara. Barbara was easily persuaded to visit Greenham with a group of women from Hackney after an upbringing by politicised parents. Her black father and white mother had taken her to see concentration camps in Europe where she learnt the danger of power with no responsibility. She recalls going on demonstrations with her family and experiencing discrimination due to race and class, including police brutality and dishonesty. She also talks about her decision to take her daughter, Ellen, on demonstrations, the strength of having women's protests and the importance of women having status. Barbara found Greenham to be a peaceful and friendly place where she felt safe. Barbara was interviewed by Vanessa Pini in February 2021.
This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording. Betty was very involved in the peace movement and anti-nuclear occupations before going to Greenham in 1981. She recalls the process of the camp becoming women only and how protestors learnt the art of Non-Violent Direct Action. She speaks of the power of carrying Greenham home as thousands of women refused to stay in the kitchen, instead, going to university and doing things they wouldn't have dreamt of doing before. Betty was interviewed by Rebecca Mordan in 2019.
This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording. Although most well known for their work during the Miners' Strike and Women Against Pit Closures, Caroline Poland, Anne Scargill and Betty Cook discuss how the actions of the women at Greenham Common influenced their own activism and protest strategy, their memories of visiting the camp and the long-lasted alliances they forged with the Greenham women during the 1980s. They were interviewed by Sara Sherwood in Barnsley in 2019.
This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording. Celia helped set-up and run Hayford Peace Camp a a sister camp to Greenham Common that allowed both men and women to protest together. She visited Greenham for Embrace the Base and describes how they decorated the wire fence. She describes protest activities including cruise watch at night in cars along the M4 and monitoring the transport of goods in and out of the camp. Celia is a wonderful artist and made many of the banners for Hayford and discusses the song and dance that surrounded the peace movement. With her husband, Celia hosted many members of the Hayford Peace Camp in her house and relates the sacrifices and impact of protesting on family life. In a particularly touching moment, Celia reads out a poem that her daughter had written aged 16. Much of the interview is structured around looking at photographs and material Celia had collected relating to the peace camps. Celia was interviewed by Kitty Gurnos Davies in 2019.
This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Clare and Polly. Clare's parents were Catholic and part of the Pax Christi peace movement. Polly's parents were a part of CND and she joined them from a young age on demonstrations. Neither stayed at Greenham but both made frequent day visits with supplies and fresh vegetables. The only occasion that Clare stayed was one February night when she woke in a bender with 4 inches of snow on her feet - 'Iave never been so cold in my life'. Both discuss the role of men in helping at Greenham a visiting the women with children, bringing supplies, helping with Cruise Watch. Clare, also involved in Cruise Watch, describes driving at night to watch the missile convoys: 'They were terrifying, it was like being in a horror movie.' Polly and Clare were interviewed by Leslie Lyle in Kent 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. 3 Generations at Greenham, her mother Ursula, daughter Diana and granddaughter, Fenella. Diana has been a pacifist all her life and set up the Totnes Women for Peace. In 1982 she went to the first Greenham demonstration of women's hands around the fence. She had been on many mixed demonstrations which were often violent and thought that women could do it differently. She lived at Greenham part-time for nearly 3 years. She took part in all of the actions including: The Black Cardigan Demonstration, Easter, Dragon Day Bunny Party. She reads a very interesting letter she sent to her children about the Easter Action she attended with her 3 years old daughter in April 1983. Her mother attended all the demonstrations and was arrested (aged 63) for dancing on the base along with 80 other women and spent 3 weeks in Holloway as examples. She has a press cutting about her mother 'Gran's Strip Ordeal' as Ursula refused a strip search. Diana was arrested and insisted at being tried in her local court supported by many Greenham women. She speaks very eloquently about the creative conversations with women from around the world (including the miners' wives) sitting around the fire and trying to escape the smoke. She talked about how the women put 'energy' into the vehicles breaking down when they were being removed or making them invisible when trying to hide. 'We really believed in those spells' as they always seemed to work. Diana was interviewed by Tricia Norton in 2019.
This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and photographs of Elspeth, Julia and Gerd. Elspeth is interviewed with her close friends Julia Bell and Gerd Browne. They met through a Cambridge peace group and were on one of the first walks from Wales. They produced a book, 1983/4, an anthology of women's writing, 'MY COUNTRIES - THE WHOLE WORLD FROM SAPPHO TO GREENHAM', now out of print. They felt empowered by the Greenham experience, Elspeth going on to be a successful potter, Julia, already an artist, inspired to continue, and Gerd opening her own bookshop. They were interviewed by June Hughes in Cambridge 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. Anni was 19 when she went to the Embrace the Base demonstration at Greenham and decided to stay at the camp, moving into Green Gate. She was there the day the missiles arrived and talks about feelings of powerlessness at the escalation of the arms race and the importance of taking action, belonging and acceptance she got from the camp. Anni now runs women's choirs saying that singing with other women feels like 'coming home'. Anni was interviewed by Isabelle Tracy in 2019.
This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Annie. Annie went to drama college then travelled for a while with her girlfriend. In 1984 they decided to visit Greenham for a night and she remembers the police unzipping their tent and saying 'Weare coming in to rape you'. After that comment Annie felt she awanted to do something so she came back to Greenham with her girlfriend and stayed at Blue Gate. Annie is bursting with anecdotes about actions, big and small, how painful it was sometimes to be non-violent in the face of a frustrated and angry police and military, the experience of court, prison and day to day camp life. Annie was interviewed by Rebecca Mordan in 2019. She was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).
