Ok. I mentioned this last night whilst talking about the @IntBCC and the #bombercommand airfield photos.

It’s a bit of what happened next, a bit of archeology. Nowt very in depth (I’m not an expert), nothing hugely technical or explained historically to an extent. Missiles. /1

As we all know, from 1945 onwards, big war went nuclear. Various iterations followed and by the late 1950s the U.K. acquired the use of #Thor, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system. That’s the tall one above. The USAF also operated these in the U.K., so a natural choice /2

These entered service in 1958, and stayed until the V-Bomber force with #BlueSteel took over in the mid 60s. Now, everyone thinks missiles pop out of Bond villain-esque silos? Not Thor. They departed from launch pads like this below /3

So, almost time for google maps views. These launch pads make it quite easy to pick out if an airfield was a Thor launching site. Most were in #Lincolnshire, some in #Leicestershire/ #Northamptonshire and the first in #Norfolk at Feltwell - near the US bases. /4

Let’s start with a really obvious one. North Luffenham, just off the A1 near #Stamford. The launch pads are in the SE corner of the old airfield and - currently - well preserved showing their original foot print. Most stations seemed to have three /5

Moving up a level of decay, three more #Thor sites, where nature and farming have partly reclaimed the “history”. These are Breighton, Bardney and - slightly differently to most - the former #FighterCommand airfield at Coleby Grange (now called “Rockets Farm”!) /6

You may note some other interesting concrete at Breighton; more of that shortly (see pic 1). Other bases there is almost no trace left of the airfield or Thor. In sequence, Polebrook ( #SWW B17 base), Folkingham and Ludford Magna (SWW Lanc base with #101Sqn) /7

And here’s a close up of the remnants at Folkingham /8

So, what was the other hard standing at #Breighton?

#Bloodhound. Probably the mainstay of the Air Defence missile system throughout the Cold War (Sandys anyone?). They were kept in missile batteries, and are again quite easy to spot if you know what to look for. /9

So, here we have (right next to the A1) Woolfox Lodge (another SWW bomber base) and Barkston Heath (SWW troop carrier base). Note the former, like Breighton in two squares of 16, the latter has a more dispersed layout (possibly due to undulating ground) /10

So if you’re out and about in the sky or walking around an airfield post #Lockdown3 and see any of these bits of architecture and archeology on an old airfield, hopefully you’ll know know what they are. /11

For an excellent resource on #Thor, please visit the excellent Carpetbaggers Museum (RAF Harrington) website:

https://harringtonmuseum.org.uk/thor-missile-deployment-in-the-uk/. /end