Uncover the Common history this half-term

PERHAPS more so than ever before, this is a fine time of the year to get out and explore some of the beautiful open spaces we have on our doorstep before the weather and other restrictions close us all in again for the winter.

In previous years Greenham Control Tower has offered guided walks around the common, drawing attention to the physical reminders of the common’s important role in the Second World War and the Cold War.

This year, as a contribution to the Thatcham Festival, the Control Tower has prepared a set of illustrated notes to help visitors take a self-guided walk around the common; an ideal family activity for the autumn half term.

Starting at the iconic Cold War Control Tower, the walk takes in the memorial to the men who died on the common in

December 1944; the remains of one of Europe’s longest runways; the USAF Control Centre with its chilling ‘de-contamination suite’; the ‘fire plane’, and the infamous bunkers which once housed 96 cruise missiles, each of which carried a nuclear warhead nine times more destructive than the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

The notes are full of fascinating facts and include an easy to follow map.

The complete walk is just over two miles so, taken at a leisurely pace and allowing a little time to gaze at each stop, most people will be able to manage it easily inside one-and-a-half hours. A narrated virtual tour, which includes a number of fascinating archive photographs, is also now available on the tower’s website www.greenhamtower. org.uk/heritage-open-day-2020/ The self-guided walk notes are available free of charge from the Control Tower, Thatcham Council Offices and Thatcham Library.

Also available from the Control Tower and West Berkshire Museum is a brilliant new Heritage Walking Trail around Newbury, which picks out sites in the town with a significance to the Second World War.

The walking trail complements the exhibition currently installed in the Control Tower. Guided tours of the tower continue to be available each weekend.

October Half Term