Paul Brown, Shyama Perera and Martin Wainwright
Saturday 2 April 1983
guardian.co.uk
The peace movement exceeded its highest hopes yesterday when about 70,000 people linked arms to form a human chain between three nuclear weapons centres in Berkshire.
The demonstration stretched for 14 miles along the southern ridge of the Kennet Valley. It was doubled up for much of its length, and three of four deep in places.
The western end was Greenham Common, the proposed cruise missile base on the fringe of Newbury, and the eastern end was the Royal Ordnance atomic weapons factory at Burghfield, three miles from Reading. In between the chain passed the main gate of the atomic weapons research establishment at Aldermaston.
Coaches brought peace movement members from all over the country, and formed a snail's pace procession of their own. In the air nine helicopters and two light aircraft, one towing a banner saying "CND Kremlin's April fool," added to the general clutter.
The chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Mrs Joan Ruddock told a rally after the chain had been broken up that the day had been an unprecedented success. "It is a great victory, and especially a victory over the Government's propaganda," she said, "We have defeated the Government today."
When he arrived back at Heathrow from his trip to the Berlin wall, the Defence Secretary, Mr Michael Hesteltine, countered by calling the marchers "naïve and reckless." He said every mile they marched, every yard they stretched, strengthened the Kremlin's case.
He said his messages to those demonstrating was simple: "You do so in freedom and that freedom is freedom is your right. However much inconvenience and cost you cause to the majority who do not choose to follow you don't imagine for one moment that we will risk that freedom."
In Germany, demonstrators began a weekend of anti-nuclear marches which they hope will attract 500,000 peace campaigners.
The only incident was at New Ulm, an American base where Pershing-2 missiles are due to be deployed in December. One person was bitten by a police dog and one was arrested by police, who later used a Land-Rover to jam the main gate shut.
All of the women arrested were released in batches during the day.
Thirty members of the Metropolitan Police mounted branch were among the 1,000 police drafted in, but most of them were needed only to sort of the huge traffic jams,
The operations cost the police £58,000 for two days, but officers were almost invisible on a route clogged by demonstrators.
The Assistant Chief Constable of the Thames Valley, Mr Wyn Jones, said last night that he was delight with the peaceful end to the demonstrations.
He said: "I am delighted with the way things have gones over the past two days. There was no recourse to a policy of mass arrest. The whole thing was achieved peacefully.
"I regarded our primary intention as being to ensure the employees at Greenham Common and Burghfield who wished to gain access were permitted to do so and were permitted exit from the bases. In that respect our intention was carried out.
"I feel the policy I have adopted to date is a successvul one, and the best for us. Of course local residents have been inconvenienced, but we have had only complaint of alleged damage to a car."
The police put attendance figures at 40,000, saying the estimate was based on previous experience, aerial surveillance and they 685 coaches which they said were present. CND's estimate also based on a helicopter count, was 100,000. It had earlier been calculated that it would requite 40,000 people to make the chain. Allowing for the fact that the chain was several people deep in places, the number of demonstrators is likely to have been at least 70,000.
Lord Fenner Brockway, who is 94, was carried in his wheelchair on to scrubland at Padworth Common where a rally was held later in the afternoon. He said he had never known the peace movement to be stronger.
There will be further CND organised demonstrations outside bases, but a priority for the rest of 1983 will be a national canvassing campaign to try to win supporters.
Yesterday's demonstrators were largely young, and there were a good number of babies.
A bishop was there - Tony Dumper of Dudley - and so was at least one actress, Julie Christie, as well as a good number of older people.
Three policemen outside Aldermaston Sported daffodils given to them by demonstrators. Dozens of illegal photographs were taken of Burghfield, and the job vacancies board outside Aldermaston was filled with scribbled categories like "KGB agent" and "Argentinean scrap merchant."
Before the chain was formed at 2 pm, Burghfield's parish church of St Mary the Virgin had its largest congregation for years. The corps of local worshippers was swollen by CND visitors, who filled all the pews, stood at the back, and sat on the floor and the steps of the font.
The smallest lay in a pram with two helium filled CND balloons attached, and plenty of toddlers made excited contributions to moments of silent meditations.
"Children have their own form of silence,/2 said the rector, the Reverend Jimmy Morrison, charitably." And I'm sure that it is very pleasing to the Lord."
Toddlers apart, the atmosphere was skin to one of those Polish services when the power of the church is harnessed independently of the state. Mr Morrison, who has been at Burghfield for two years, made no secret of his sympathy for the demonstrations. "Many of you, I am sure, will be joining the chain," he said. "We give you a very warm welcome here."
There was laughter when he criticised the human love of private property, and made an obvious reference to some of him more grumpy neighbours. "It's mine," he mimicked. "Get off.
"You can't camp here." Most local people ignored there visitors, but there were signs of both opposition and support. The Hatchgate pub at Burghfield boarded up its ground floor windows, and Mr Peter Burisky, at the Six Bells, refused to admit demonstrators.
The Manor House, on the other hand, offered lavatories and two children waved from another house until they vanished when the curtains were drawn by a grown-up hand.
Excitement ran high on the chain as 2 o'clock approached, and the demonstrators prepared to let off balloons and clares.
"We kept getting rumours that the chain was complete," said Lizzie Hollis, down from Nottingham with Mick Cassidy, in one of the eight coaches hired by the city's CND. "The a steward would come pedalling along frantically shouting 'Not yet! Not yet!"
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