Greenham Common

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Cold War Sites, Greenham Common May 16, 2013

For Sale, Control Tower, one careful owner!

Following on from the news that Greenham Common’s iconic Cold War control tower was to be sold we can now confirm it is up for Auction by West Berkshire Council. The control tower at the former RAF Greenham Common, which for many was the front line of Britain’s Cold War, was left unused by the US Air Force in 1990 when the base closed and has stood as silent witness to what was the biggest Nuclear weapons base in the UK. Under the localism act, Greenham Parish Council have been given “first refusal” of the building and now they have confirmed they will be bidding, they have 6 months to raise the […]

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Cold War Sites, Greenham Common Apr 21, 2013

Do you know what this is?

Crane Support, a photo by Cloudsurfer_UK on Flickr. No its not a quiz, we are actually intrigued. This structure is one of 3 that obviously formed some kind of loading/unloading depot but beyond that we haven’t got a clue. Its located just east of Greenham Common near a place called Waterside Copse. (Google Maps http://goo.gl/maps/3mMfN) If you have any info on this site please drop us a line.

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Cold War News, Cold War Sites, Greenham Common Apr 19, 2013

Control Tower Safe

The Control Tower at the former RAF Greenham Common has been granted Listed Status protecting it from demolition or redevelopment. The future ownership however isn’t so safe. West Berkshire Council has officially announced plans to sell the building and under a local right to bid scheme Greenham Parish Council has until April 16th to exercise its purchase option. The Parish has expressed an interest in the site with a view to turning into a visitors centre, something that has been sadly lacking at Greenham Common along with a museum about the history of the base. Built in the 1950’s the control tower is one of the few remaining buildings that […]

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Cold War Sites, Greenham Common Apr 18, 2013

Silo’s for sale

The former GLCM Alert and Maintenance Area (GAMA) at the RAF Greenham Common is currently for sale on the open market by its current owners Flying A services. Flying A purchased the site when the base was closed and have attempted several unsuccesful changes of use for site including Car Storage, Secure Data Storage and even Aircraft Storage however all planning applications were refused and given the site is listed as a scheduled monument it is unlikely any change of use would ever be approved. The schedule listing also preserves the site preventing redevelopement. Interestingly the sales listing compares GAMA to Stonehenge, which has a similair monument status, but it […]

GAMA Silo at Greenham Common

Cold War Sites, Greenham Common Apr 17, 2013

Greenham Common – Britains Front Line

 Laying in the Berkshire countryside just south of Newbury sits an open stretch of common land. Its actually made of two neighboring commons, Cookham and Greenham. Stand however on the random piece of tarmac in the middle of the wildflower haven and you start to notice things. A control tower, random US style fire hydrants and wires sticking.out of the ground, and wait, whats that? Missile silo’s? In 1941 Greenham Common was acquired to build an airfield, the first runway being laid in 1942. It was used by RAF training units initially before being handed over to the US Army Air Force (USAAF) Ninth Air Force. It was used by […]

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Greenham Common, Politics Apr 17, 2013

Farewell to a Cold War Warrior

On the day we started this blog a great warrior of the Cold War was buried in London. Baroness Thatcher (1925-2013) was conservative leader and primeminister of Great Britain from 1979-1990 which is the period many believe to be the most dangerous time of the Cold War. Together with US President Ronald Reagan they had a mutual distrust of communism but worked hard to organise treaties to secure nuclear weapons balance (MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction) and eventually to reduce nuclear arsenals across the superpowers. Thatcher was the first western leader to welcome Soviet Premiere Gorbachev and it was the summits with Gorbachev & Reagan that led to the collapse […]