RAF Greenham Common was opened in 1942 and was used by the US Air Force during WW2 and during the Cold War and later on as a base for nuclear weapons and it was finally closed in September 1992 after the Cold War ended. It is probably best known for the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp held outside its gates in the 1980s in protest against the stationing of cruise missiles on the base.
Nowadays, one of the few remaining buildings left at the former air base is the Control Tower, which is the subject of our visit. It has three floors, with a café on the ground floor and a Visitors' Centre on the first floor housing a permanent exhibition on its Cold War history, together with a space for further exhibitions and displays as and when required. The Observation Area on the top floor is very popular as it offers panoramic views across the Common.
We are meeting up at 11.30am for a private guided tour lasting about an hour or so, which will allow us to learn all about its history and to observe real-time air-traffic control displays which provide a feeling of what it would have been like to scan the skies across the Common when it was an operational site.