Reclaim Chilwell

Reclaim Chilwell is a vintage pin badge commemorating the day anti-nuclear protesters in Nottinghamshire cut through the perimeter fence of a military base and occupied the grounds.

The green shoot and the wire

The badge shows a green shoot growing through a broken black perimeter fence. The wire curls back on either side of the stem, turning the plant into a simple symbol of nature reclaiming military land.

The contrast is deliberate. The fence represents military control, while the green shoot suggests life continuing despite the barriers placed in its way. It is a simple image of resistance, with no weapons, slogans or people needed to convey the message.

Rumours at the barracks

The target of the badge was the Chilwell Army Base in Nottinghamshire, a large military depot known today as Chetwynd Barracks.

In mid-1984, communities surrounding the base became alarmed by rumours that the British government planned to lease part of the depot to the United States Air Force. This raised fears that American cruise missiles and associated nuclear infrastructure might be brought into the area.

To oppose the proposed development, a direct-action campaign was formed. Led by organiser Peter Strauss, the resistance was coordinated from the Rainbow Centre, a hub for peace and environmental activism in Nottingham. There, activists planned how to resist the possible arrival of American military forces.

Forcing the perimeter

The campaign culminated in a large demonstration on Sunday, 1 July 1984. Supported by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and independent peace activists, the Reclaim Chilwell group gathered at the edges of the installation.

These demonstrators did not simply march along the road or stand quietly with placards. Instead, they took direct action against the boundary of the base, using bolt cutters and their collective weight to cut and pull down sections of the perimeter fence.

Once the chain-link fencing was pulled aside, activists poured through the gaps. They entered the restricted military grounds and staged a mass sit-in, using their own bodies to occupy the space and halt the normal operations of the depot.

Breaking through the fence

The slogan Reclaim Chilwell speaks to an understanding of the land itself. Before the concrete was poured and the military fences erected, the ground belonged to nature. The green shoot on the badge represents that natural world pushing through the boundaries imposed upon it.

On 1 July 1984, the protesters did what the green shoot does on the badge. They broke through the military perimeter and occupied the ground beyond it.

Reclaim Chilwell records a Sunday when a military fence failed to keep protesters out. On the badge, the fence remains broken, and the green shoot keeps growing.