A statue by Maltese sculptor Anton Agius commemorating the Greenham Common protesters has finally found its permanent home, in the foyer of City Hall in Cardiff.

The statue, known as the Greenham Marcher, was put up in honour of the group of 36 women, four babies and six men, who in 1981 completed a 125-mile march from Cardiff to Greenham Common in Berkshire to protest against the storing of American nuclear weapons in the UK.

The live-in protest had continued for 19 years.

This is the first of Mr Agius' works to be put up overseas and it is getting wide coverage through a website explaining the history of the protest.

The statue was organised by Thalia Campbell, one of the original group, who lives in Wales. She has been fighting for the statue for over 10 years.

When she first came to Malta two years ago she was struck by Mr Agius's works.

"Only on the last day of our five-week stay did I realise that Anton was alive and well, and that he lived in Rabat, and there and then I went up to meet him with my husband Ian," she told The Times two years ago.

"I showed Anton the photos and the video of the march and he was extremely enthusiastic.

"A couple of days later I phoned to ask him when I could talk to him some more about the statue and he surprised me saying he had already worked a model in plasticene. Incidentally, the plasticene had belonged to the Maltese sculptor Antonio Sciortino."

The statue shows a determined and confident woman in her mid-30s wearing a shirt sporting the peace motif adopted by campaigners for nuclear disarmament.

She holds in her left hand a bunch of brambles, nettles and thistles which the campaigners had presented to an American commodore at the American base in Wellford.

On her right arm she holds a baby who, in turn, is nursing a dove representing his yearning for peace. The woman wears an iron chain round her waist that doubles as a belt, recalling the time the marchers for peace chained themselves to railings at 10 Downing Street in London, the office of the British prime minister.

The woman's hair is held back with ribbons reminiscent of the purple, green and white ribbons that the suffragettes used to wear during protests at the beginning of the 20th century calling on the government to grant the right of franchise to women.

When contacted, Mr Agius said he was very honoured to have had a commission for a monument in a public place, especially one which has such international significance.

www.wfloe.fsnet.co.uk

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