Michael Horton, actor and later the narrator of the Paddington Bear series was in the FAA, Swordfish I seem to recall.

Septic.

(pedant mode on) its spelt michael horden 🙂 (pedant mode off)

the tornado hook is for emergency use only.
when it was designed they gave the aircraft relatively small wheel brakes for the size and weight of aircraft, and the main force of braking on landing is provided by the thrust reversers. from memory the wheel brakes only provide approx 25% of braking required to stop.
should a fault occur with the thrust reverse system the hook is dropped, and the RHAG (rotary hydraulic arrestor gear) wire is raised a little off the runway surface.

unlike navy style arrestor hooks, once the tornados hook has been dropped, it can’t be retracted, and it has to be re-stowed on the ground.

is google earth any good?….or is it in low res?

amendments are done to air publications, the one listed above is the change in terminology from general service parts to aircraft general spares (still in use today).

i’d say the difference between alteration and modification would be a mod is fleet wide, and covers all aircraft of that type, and is incorporated once the aircraft is in use. they are usually improvements in design that are incorporated once its in use.
alterations, i’d have thought are probably an up issue of a drawing used in manufacturing, such as adding the bracketry for desert equipment, this is kind of like a modification, but incorporated during the aircraft build.

cambridge tower was still in use until a few years ago, then they built a big new tower there, and the old one had the glass top floor removed, but the rest is still there.

bucking bar is the american name for rivet block, these are the big lumps of metal you put on the tail of the rivet to react against, as pictured above.
they come in all shapes and sizes, and are frequently modified for specific jobs.

i was in the RAF the summer they filmed memphis belle, stationed at honington, all through the summer we used to get beat ups by formations of B17’s and assorted fighters,and camera ships. and i remember one week when on nightshift, sunbathing out the back of my barrack block with a few mates mid afternoon hearing all this distant gunfire and engine noise, we looked up and there was a big dogfight going on!
it was almost like being there for real.

negotiations are underway to get a contract to upgrade and refurbish the aircraft. people have already been out there to do a survey on the aircraft.