8.5 m Greenham Common

I hope you can join me on this walk which starts in Crockham Common at the east end of Greenham Common. The walk then goes through some lovely gentle north Hampshire countryside on the southside of Greenham Common, and with some good views. We pass Headley Stud (now an equestrian centre rather than a stud) and walk across Sydmonton Common until we walk north and up to Greenham Common itself. 

Greenham Common has many reminders of when it was a cold war airbase used by the RAF and USAF. We first view the cruise missile bunkers that are still in military control. The walk then continues round the common to the Control Tower where there is a cafe and toilets and stop for lunch. The cafe has a limited menu but food is cooked on the site with such things as bacon baps, soup, sandwiches, cornish pasties, cakes etc. The viewing platform upstairs in the control tower is well worth a visit to see the view and a small exhibition about the site when it was operational.

Greenham Common is very open and flat and is exposed to wind. If there is a breeze then I do suggest you bring a wind proof jacket. 

After lunch we cross the common again at the point where some of the old runway has been left. In its time it was the longest runway in Europe at over a mile in length. We pass other reminders of its military use such as search light stumps. The common has also featured in some Star Wars films and Top Gear.

Once we are back at the car I suggest we do a short drive round to visit the Peace Garden which is on the site of the original Women’s Peace Camp which closed on 5 September 2000 after 19 years of continuous presence. The garden is  outside Greenham Common at the Yellow Gate. I had hoped we might walk there but the track is not a pleasant one round the back of industrial buildings, and then you need to walk back again the same way. It is still worth a visit even if it a bit forlorn these days.