Mothers, Missiles and the American President 

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Mothers, Missiles and the American President

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BBC One - Mothers, Missiles and the American President

How three sisters risked it all to take action over the threat of nuclear war in the 1980s

The story of the housewives from the Welsh valleys who became front page news, faced prison and even took on Ronald Reagan, all in a fight to stop nuclear bombs coming to the UK.

It’s 1981. Diana and Charles wed, Raiders of the Lost Ark storms the box office, and the threat of nuclear war feels increasingly real. Living in the Rhondda Valley are well-known family the Brinkworths: seven sisters and one brother raised by their mum and bus driver dad. Eldest sisters Susan, a young mum, and Christine, are busy housewives. Fearful over news Britain is to house American cruise missiles, they join a local CND group. When a 120-mile protest march from Cardiff to Greenham Common, where weapons are to be based, attracts little press attention, the pair, little sister Lesley and friends chain themselves to the railings in their town square and camp out for a week to raise awareness of the permanent women’s peace camp now at Greenham. Things escalate as the Rhondda women live at the Greenham camp for weeks at a time. They face ridicule, the threat of violence and even prison, eventually taking on President Ronald Reagan himself to stop the arrival of the missiles. This is the story of the housewives who risked it all to change the world.

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Mothers, Missiles and the American President

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