Adrian, the old WWII runways around me are basically just concrete up to the grass. Interestingly though the closest one, Metheringham was one of the few fitted with the FIDO system for fog dispersal. This is from Wikepedia:
Metheringham was one of a small number of RAF stations equipped with an early experimental Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) system. The station was provided with seven large fuel tanks, which pumped petrol into two large pipes running up either side one of their runways. Once the open flame burners along the length of the main runway were ignited the intense rising heat would lift and disperse the fog leaving a visually clear and illuminated runway.
Not all RAF stations were FIDO equipped and when dense fog affected the county it was not unknown for aircraft from several stations to be diverted to RAF Metheringham for a safe landing, returning to their home stations when the foggy weather cleared. Volunteer observers at the surrounding Royal Observer Corps posts were specially trained and provided with coloured rocket flares (Code named Granite) to guide any aircraft lost in thick fog towards the limited number of FIDO equipped stations.
The only other airfields in Lincolnshire fitted with FIDO systems were RAF Fiskerton, RAF Ludford Magna and RAF Sturgate and there were only 15 FIDO stations in the UK, mostly on the east coast.
Disappointingly there is nothing left of the FIDO system now.
