Today's talk on the "history and future of Greenham Common" proved to be extremly popular with over 60 people attending.
The first talk, given by Jonathan Sayers, looked at the history of Greenham Common. Jonathan noted that a military base was located on Greenham Common in 1740, as depicted on maps of the time. In the 1860’s, the common was the usual place for military men to rest whilst travelling to Salisbury Plane.
From left to right: Adrian Wallington, Jacky Akam, Dr Nick Young, Jonathan
Sayers and Leanne Corcoran (Tesco). Photo by Paul Young.
However, it was not until 1930 that the common was first used by the RAF as an emergency landing ground, although only two bombers ever landed there.
By 1935, Germany had once again obtained an air force. This later escalated into World War II. By 1939 / 1940 the Army had 160 Acres of Greenham for their use. By 1941, the Operational Command Unit was developed and the common saw three runways of 3,000ft, 4,00ft and 6,00ft with 2,300 personnel. The USAF arrived in September 1942 and by 1944, the Common was completely run by the USAF.
October 1963 saw “Greased Lightening” breaking the speed record for travelling from Tokyo to London with the aircraft landing after its trip at Greenham. The trip took 8hours and 35minutes which is half the time of the previous record.
The base was closed in 1992 and the MOD sold the base in 1997 with the fences being removed in 2000.
After a short break for refreshments supplied and manned by Tescos, Jacky Akam from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) and Adrian Wallington (Ranger for Greenham & Crookham Common) from West Berkshire Council talked about the present and future of Greenham & Crookham Commons.
They both highlighted the range of wildlife present including Adders, Nightjars Dragonflys and others. Adrian showed how the common was managed in order to sustain an good environment for a range of wildlife. This management ranges from cutting back bushes and trees to scraping soil.
Jacky described the Living Landscape project which includes Greenham and Crookham Commons but extends much further. One of the aims is to educate people about the environment, which is done with talks such as the one given today, but also with walks which can be done on your own with a map they supply or as a guided walk with BBOWT.
The talk ended with questions from the audience and a vote of thanks given by Dr Nick Young, Chair of Thatcham Historical Society.
Original Abstract...
Greenham Common historian Jonathan Sayers will present “A history of Greenham Common” largely covering its history as a RAF base but also taking a quick peek at what lay there before the base. In the second part of this talk, Jacky Akam from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) and Adrian Wallington (Ranger for Greenham & Crookham Common) from West Berkshire Council, will discuss the present management of this countryside site and the future plans.
Location: Memorial Hall, Brownsfield Road, Thatcham, RG18 3AG