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In the course of our daily reporting, we often uncover unusual projects, places, or connections that don't make the final cut. Instead of keeping it to ourselves, we're pleased to share our weekly Architrivia.
Located just outside of Bedford and about an hour's drive north of London, the RAF Cardington Airship Works remain today as a testament to early 20th-century technological innovation and creativity. The former airship sheds were the birthplace of Britain's zeppelin industry, in a time when the airship was viewed as the future of air travel. Consisting today of Sheds One and Two, restored between 2007 and 2015, the 800-foot long, 170-foot high hangars dominate the rural landscape, their massive size just as impressive today as it was nearly a century ago.
Originally built in stages between 1915 and 1926, the first shed was constructed by the Short Brothers in nearby Shortstown, before the shed and the entire operation were nationalized and moved to their present location in 1919. They were placed under direct control of the RAF who then built a second shed to match the first, which was subsequently expanded to its current dimensions. Having proven their mettle with the construction of Airships R-31 and R-32, the pioneering private airship company was viewed at the time as the perfect asset for the RAF.
Once under military control, RAF Cardington expanded the British airship fleet with the construction of R101, sister ship to R100 (built off-site). Both airships were completed in 1929 as part of a national initiative to create a worldwide commercial airship passenger and mail service to serve the breadth of the British Empire. Of the two, R100 proved to be the most prolific. Its well-documented Trans-Atlantic flight to Canada during the summer of 1930 provided Canadians with their first — and for many, last — glimpse of the short-lived technology in action, as the magnificent vessel filled the skies of Montreal, Toronto, and Niagara Falls.
Like something out of a Jules Verne novel, R100's arrival in Canada during the summer of 1930 brought with it the level of international coverage and national excitement and pride usually reserved for royalty. Its 78-hour voyage from England to St-Hubert, Quebec, was greeted by cheering crowds. The airship's passage over Montreal, Toronto, and Niagara Falls followed closely over the ensuing weeks as eager viewers followed its path in hopes of a first-hand look at the future of flight.
Despite its successful beginnings, the enthusiasm for airship travel faded quickly back in England. Cardington's own R101 suffered a fatal crash on October, 5, 1930, upon the event of its much-anticipated maiden voyage to British India. Getting only as far as the outskirts of London, R101 experienced a combination of mechanical failures that resulted in its crashing to the ground only a few hours after take-off. 48 of the 54 passengers on board died either instantly or as a result of their injuries in the days that followed. The incident, predating the crash of the Hindenburg by seven years, led to the near-instant demise of the British airship industry. RAF Cardington's airship operations, along with all others across the nation, closed down immediately following the crash.
Despite the fateful end of Britain's airship industry, RAF Cardington was retained and used for the production of military, weather, and research balloons. The RAF maintained control of the facility up to the mid-1960s, at which time the former airship sheds entered into a prolonged period of other uses, including aircraft engine testing, automobile testing, and even as a recording studio for artists including Paul McCartney, U2, and AC/DC. Indeed, from the 1970s to the present, the massive hangars have been used for various music and film productions, including Star Wars: A New Hope and Rogue One (as the Rebel Base at Yavin), as well as the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy, and an episode of BBC's Top Gear.
Its present use as a studio and testing facility has proven highly successful due to the size and scope of the two recently restored sheds. The former RAF Cardington property has most recently been purchased by a local developer, and now Bellway Homes is set to build up to 1,000 new townhouses upon much of the former grounds. While the sheds will remain in place, there will be no substitute for the tranquil setting the facility has enjoyed for the better part of a century.
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