Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
60 years since the first CND Aldermaston to London march
Mass movements to avert apocalypse are back in the shape of climate change marches — and their origins can be traced to 1959, writes KEITH FLETT
A protester is dragged away from the gates of Aldermaston, 2001

EASTER 2019 is as late as the annual festival can be. It is more usually in late March or early April. That reminds us that it is 60 years since the first Aldermaston to London march organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) which took place from March 27-30, 1959.

There had been a march at Easter 1958 supported by the new CND but organised by local direct action groups. It had gone from London to the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. The demand in 1959 however remained the same: ban the bomb.

The route from Aldermaston through Berkshire and west London to central London was 54 miles. By the third march in 1960 many thousands were involved in marching, but 1959 still had significant numbers.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
GG
Obituary / 15 January 2026
15 January 2026

As the anti-fascist movement mourns the death of Gerry Gable, his long-time comrade and former Searchlight editor STEVE SILVER reflects on the life of an indispensable activist who spent six decades infiltrating, exposing and undermining fascism

Peace Park Nagasaki, Japan
Britain / 12 September 2025
12 September 2025
A ballot box arriving during the count for the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool, May 2, 2024
Features / 11 September 2025
11 September 2025

Who you ask and how you ask matter, as does why you are asking — the history of opinion polls shows they are as much about creating opinions as they are about recording them, writes socialist historian KEITH FLETT