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
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/2hAdijXThe 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/2hAdhQWhttps://flic.kr/p/2hAdhhghttps://flic.kr/p/2hAckhRhttps://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/2hAckuVhttps://flic.kr/p/2hAdic7https://flic.kr/p/2hAcjFLhttps://flic.kr/p/2hAdiXAhttps://flic.kr/p/2hA9vHPI 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
