Missile sites at Harrington and North Luffenham listed

BBC News reports that two Cold War missile sties near Market Harborough have been given listed status:

The former RAF sites - in Harrington, Northamptonshire, and North Luffenham, Rutland, are the most intact examples of Thor missile bases in England. 

They were put on alert as the Soviet Union and the US came to the brink of nuclear war in October 1962. 

The USSR eventually agreed to remove its missiles from Cuba and the US pledged not to invade the island. 

The Thor missile site at the former RAF North Luffenham, Rutland, has been given a Grade II* listing. 

And the site at former RAF Harrington, Northamptonshire, has been listed as Grade II. 

The two sites still have concrete launch pads and blast walls, along with mounting bolts for the platforms that would raise the missiles into a vertical firing position

I have written twice before about Harrington - in February and March 2010. And I have again used the extraordinary photograph of a missile being driven through the blameless streets of Rothwell that I must have borrowed from the Harrington Aviation Museum website.

Lord Bonkers adds: They will be pleased in North Luffenham. At present South Luffenham gets most of the tourist traffic because of its connections with Herman Goering and Matt Monro.