Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.61.1.2
Object Name
ticket
Title
'Easter Action at Molesworth'
Place
Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, UK
People
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Molesworth Peace Camp, Royal Air Force (RAF)
Events
Molesworth Peace Camp
Description
A red paper ticket with typed wording: 'Easter Action at Molesworth. Coaches leave New Square on Sunday April 7th 7pm OR Monday April 8th 10am. Waged £2. Unwaged £1'. The ticket is for an unwaged fare on the Monday April 8th coach, and the other time and price have been scribbled out in pen. Both of the letters 'o' in 'Molesworth' are shaped like the CND peace symbol.
This ticket was to transport protesters to Molesworth Peace Camp, outside RAF Molesworth base in Cambridgeshire. The peace camp was established to protest the government decision to allow the United States Air Force to house 64 cruise missiles at Molesworth. The camp was set up by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) members in December 1981, and was used as a base for actions for peace and anti-nuclear protesters to travel to. Forms of protest at Moleworth included die-ins to symbolise the impact of nuclear weapons. While the camp was multi-faith, there was a strong Christian religious element to the protests at Molesworth - particularly Quakers, who maintained a presence throughout the camp's existence. The camp was founded on Holy Innocents Day, and the day of action on the tickets being scheduled for Easter, one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar, is evidence of this faith based protesting.
Molesworth Peace Camp existed from December 1981 until the cruise missiles were removed in September 1988. Unlike similar peace camps at RAF Greenham, the Molesworth Peace Camp was mixed gender, rather than women only. The Camp also hosted a multi-faith chapel, named Eirene, after the Greek word for peace. Cruise missiles are a form of missile which can be used to carry nuclear bombs, and as well as general opposition to nuclear weapons, protesters feared that housing nuclear weapons would make the area a target for attack by opposing Cold War powers in the Soviet Union. Before their ultimate removal, the cost to make the base capable of housing cruise missiles was sixty million pounds.
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