The massed ranks of police and servicemen, more used to violent demonstrations, were bemused.Cruise finally arrived in November 1983, flown in by transporter aircraft over the heads of the protesters. In response, 50,000 women gathered to encircle the base again, this time holding up mirrors in a symbolic action meant to reflect back its horror. By now the world was growing used to the sight of Greenham women lying in the road in their hundreds, singing and holding hands, in front of massive green USAF trucks and missile launchers. And, in growing numbers, ordinary women of many backgrounds and political persuasions were caught up by the exhilarating collective belief that they could, after all, make a difference.There are not even any road signs for Greenham Common now History - or at least geography - has been rewritten.

Take the A339 for Newbury, heading towards Basingstoke, and you will drive past rows of trees; through them can be seen the perimeter fence of what was once the jewel in the crown of NATO, a US airbase with the longest runway in Europe. They call it New Greenham Park these days, as if that will shake off the ghosts.The guards on the gate are private ones, and the aircraft hangars are now occupied by small businesses. Where the Union Jack or the Stars and Stripes once flew from a pole near the main gate, there is now a dull grey flag bearing the name of a printing company. What used to be the chapel houses a martial arts centre, running t'ai chi lessons. Across the road, a low prefabricated building with smoked-glass doors is the leisure centre. Once a symbol of the special relationship between Thatcher's Britain and Reagan's global superpower, the site could now stand for Major's Middle England, land of the light industrial unit.No travelling salesman could fail to notice the peace camp, however, sprawled beside the slip road to the business park entrance like some unwanted settlement of New Age travellers Katrina Howse was there from almost the beginning. She had become heavily involved in the peace and women's movements while studying art at Sheffield University.