# RAF Harrington and a return of sorts....



## godzilla73 (Oct 25, 2019)

Haven't been on here in quite a while (it would be fair to say that I have let life get in the way of exploring recently, which is a sorry state of affairs). But, recently my work has taken me up to darkest Northants, and a chance encounter with a book about aviation in the county led me to RAF Harrington and the Thor Missile sites. There are a few interesting bits left, but quite a bit of it is used for farm storage. After visiting, I read John Boyes' book "Project Emily" which gives a really detailed account of the Thor Missiles in the UK and this filled in some of the gaps for me. Anyway, on with the pics - it was a hot sunny day, which actually made the phots a bit harder to take!

The main structures left are the blast walls, which were designed to protect personnel and equipment when the missiles were launched.





https://flic.kr/p/2hAdijX

The missile itself would have been kept under a canopy and brought forward for launching. The canopy is longer but you can get a decent sense of the back and front of the launch area, and there's a fair amount of ironwork left from where the trailer- erector would have been and you can still see the grooves it ran along. 


https://flic.kr/p/2hAdhQW


https://flic.kr/p/2hAdhhg


https://flic.kr/p/2hAckhR


https://flic.kr/p/2hAck5r 

A couple of other interesting bits and bobs...there are sumps and reservoirs all over the place for fuel run off. Apparently the missiles leaked to buggery and the prospect of having highly flammable rocket fuel pooling everywhere was a very real risk. Don't know if the gate I went in was original. I know the road entrance was on the other side of the site, opposite the memorial for the Carpet Baggers who flew out of here in WW2


https://flic.kr/p/2hA9uY7 


https://flic.kr/p/2hAckuV


https://flic.kr/p/2hAdic7


https://flic.kr/p/2hAcjFL


https://flic.kr/p/2hAdiXA


https://flic.kr/p/2hA9vHP

I should say as well, this is just one of the three launch pads. Couldn't get to the other two and wider bits of the site for various reasons, but it's well worth a look if you're a Cold War type.
Thanks for looking
GDZ


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## The Wombat (Oct 25, 2019)

interesting.
thanks for sharing


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## Sam Haltin (Oct 26, 2019)

An excellent report but I found the museum website of more historical information.

https://harringtonmuseum.org.uk/history-of-harrington-airfield/


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## krela (Oct 26, 2019)

Interesting that, thanks!


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## fluffy5518 (Nov 3, 2019)

BLOODY HELL !! Godzy ! How the devil are you mate ?
In the words of the immortal Notsensibles from 1980(they have since split up) "i thought you were dead."
Good report - always into Cold War relics. I have done a couple of former Thor Missile bases but not RAF Harrington, although it is on the list !!
Let's hope this heralds the dawn of some more explory goodliness. !
Great to have you back - i will PM you in a couple of days !!


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## BikinGlynn (Nov 3, 2019)

good to come back with a local one to me ;-) nicely done.
If u have time the museum there is well worth a look


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## godzilla73 (Nov 10, 2019)

fluffy5518 said:


> BLOODY HELL !! Godzy ! How the devil are you mate ?
> In the words of the immortal Notsensibles from 1980(they have since split up) "i thought you were dead."
> Good report - always into Cold War relics. I have done a couple of former Thor Missile bases but not RAF Harrington, although it is on the list !!
> Let's hope this heralds the dawn of some more explory goodliness. !
> Great to have you back - i will PM you in a couple of days !!



Hey Fluff. Good to see you're still keeping the Cold War faith. I have really let my exploring slip, but this particular trip brought a lot of good memories back for me and I am determined to get out there again. Stay in touch mate.
GDZ


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## godzilla73 (Nov 10, 2019)

BikinGlynn said:


> good to come back with a local one to me ;-) nicely done.
> If u have time the museum there is well worth a look



Thanks - I did get to the museum and thought it was great. From a Thor point of view, it has quite a lot of photos and maps of the site that are not on the internet so well worth a visit.
GDZ


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## Baudot_Messenger (Nov 16, 2019)

Interesting thanks. 
Have visited two former Thor missile bases in the last two years, RAF Ludford Magna and RAF Caistor. Have some photos but - new member. Will upload when a bit more familiar with procedures.


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