lets not forget, we were on high alert for years, F 111 jets with nukes were left engine running at USAF Upper Heyford 24 hours a day
I Once popped up to Upper Heyford ( part of the site was being used as a industrial unit ) a few years back, Myself and Youngest daughter went to collect a surf board from a courier who couldn't get it to us in time ( we were going on holidays in a few days ),after picking up the board We Ignored a " keep out " signs, weaved around some bollards and cones ( I might have had to jump out and move 2 cones ) and had a drive around the site, up and down the runway where the planes were waiting, took a picture of the " active runway sign " which is a canvas in my shed ( dont know why ? ? )
then went in one of the armoured aircraft hangers where the aardvarks were parked ( it was being used to store farm machines ), the old control tower was still standing, some of the concrete buildings were massive, I mean 3 M of concrete thick walls, then drove over to the old housing bit, they still had the supermarket standing ( also had a cinema on the site ), the old houses were being pulled down ( they are building a new posh estate on a bit of the site )
a fascinating site, spent 2 hours having a nose around, bumped into security who said as long as we didnt go into any buildings it was fine
saw a great painting on a wall ( which I later found out was a patch that the USAF crew wore ) it said " F111, Warsaw Pact central heating "
I believe the UK have tried to have the site a " world heritage site " to protect its history, but it failed, a shame really, as its a fascinating bit of history and with a little preservation could be a nice day trip out