Greenham Control Tower celebrations mark 25 years since Greenham Common reopened to public

Visitors to Greenham Control Tower (GCT) marked 25 years yesterday (Tuesday) since the common returned to public use after decades of military occupation.

The celebrations involved a variety of stalls, guided nature walks, wildlife spotting, pond dipping and children’s activities around the control tower – as well as the unveiling of its new Common Stories Room.

The digitally-focused space, located on the ground floor, is intended to give visitors an idea of what to expect on the floor above.

And its first exhibition, entitled Seven Days on Greenham Common, tells the forgotten story of world speed record breaking.

GCT director/trustee Dave Thomas said at the ceremony: “A marvellous job has been done here.

“It may be small, but it’s perfectly formed. We’re still finishing it off.

“This [current project] started out as a little twinkle in a few people’s eyes about two years ago.

“It’s not just about us telling you about things we know happened here.

“We want to hear stories from the people of Newbury. There’s a lot of things in people’s attics.”

George Brown, ‘the father of sprint motorcycling’, set 11 world speed records and 16 British speed records on his self-built motorcycle on the former runway in 1966.

His son Tony Brown, himself was a six-time world speed record holder, visited the control tower with his grandson Jordan for the first time in nearly 60 years.

He described having an exhibition dedicated to his father as “overwhelming”.

He said: “I never thought much about it back in those days; it was just something we did off our own back.

“It’s what we wanted to do, to try and get some more records back for England.”

He stayed at the former officer’s mess building nearby while his father made racing history.

He added: “It’s just very nice to see what I’ve grown up with. I’m with my family, still riding bikes today.”

And the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust also celebrated taking over management of the common 25 years ago with a range of family-friendly activities.

Newbury MP Lee Dillon addressed the site’s rich history and biodiversity.

He told newburytoday: “It’s been a really successful day encouraging all the people to come up and enjoy the common they’ve got.

“It’s great to see so many different charities and organisations up here.

“We were able to give a talk about how the common came to be from a legislation point of view.”

BBOWT seasonal warden Zoe Huggins, based at the Greenham and Snelsmore Commons, said: “It’s nice seeing lots of people around, coming up and enjoying the event.

“It’s always a popular site anyway, but just to have everyone all come together, it’s really a nice sense of community. A lot of people appreciate this place.”

Greenham Common forms the largest area of lowland heath in West Berkshire today.

But the land was requisitioned twice by the military from 1941 until the base closed in 1992.

Before that, residents faced regular aircraft disturbance and the base reached international fame with anti-nuclear peace protests in the early 1980s.

Councillors, MPs and residents campaigned tirelessly for years to restore public access to the whole common.

Once the base closed, a trust (now the Greenham Trust) purchased the land and developed Greenham Business Park, removing and repurposing remnants of the former airbase.

It sold the Greenham and Crookham Commons to West Berkshire Council in 1997 for just £1.

Greenham Parish Council bought the derelict Cold War era control tower in 2014.

It worked with various groups to restore and reopen the building as a museum and visitor centre in 2018, which we still enjoy today.