Cardington Airship Hangers
Thursday, 20th April 2006 by
The Cardington Airship Hangers were originally built to house the R101 airship which was intended to be used to ferry cargo and passengers from the UK to India in the 1930s. These airships, as you can tell from the size of the hangers were huge, over 700ft long. Unfortunately on its maiden voyage the airship crashed into a hillside near Beauvais, north of Paris. The crash ignited the hydrogen gas bag and fire quickly engulfed the entire airship. This spelled the end of the British attempt to create lighter-than-air aircraft and the R101's competitor, the R100, was scrapped despite a safe trans-atlantic trial flight.
The South hanger is now owned by Airship Technologies, who are trying to revive the airship business. The North hanger is used as a super big sound stage for films. Most of the outdoor Gotham Cty scenes for Batman Begins were filmed inside the hanger, aswell as several recent James Bond films.
Thanks: Loz
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A bit weird that they would name the sequal airship 100 after the 101!
(wikipedia information disclaimers apply) 🙂
They were actually built at the same time. The idea was that if you had two competing teams trying to design the same type of craft, they’d try to out-do each other, hence you’d end up with better airships.
Sadly, instead you ended up with a rushed design and major flaws.
Frickin hell! They’re huge!
The R-100 flew to Canada and back safely, before the R-101 set off…
they are huge but actually they should be called airship sheds not hangars. airships are built in sheds.
the airship heritage trust have loads of info on the airships and the site in general, and video clips too.
trev
http://www.airshipsonline.com
i was in them a few years ago, a guy there said each hanger has 44 million cubic feet in each, not sure if thats floor coverage ? there is also a 10 story block of flats in one and thats not even close to the roof ! it took me 30 mins to get to the roof by the stairs in them. They also filmed the last series of Red Dwarf in them ! and did u know they werent built in Bedford, they were first Built in Sounthampton and dissmantled in 1902 and transported up to Bedford and reasembled. Vauxhalls use to keep their cars in hanger 1 but the rusted bolts from the roof were dropping and going through the bodys of the cars
well the age you give them is not quite right, shed 1 was origionally built in 1916 at cardington for the shorts bro, shed 2, (the building and batman one) was origionaly errected at pullham norfolk.
for the Imperial airship scheme the R101 and R100 project shed 1 was enlarged from 700 ft to 812 ft and heightened too, shed two was dismantled from pullham and the same alterations were made, they are not identical if you look closely however.
ford used to store cars up there but as you said the bolts kept damaging them, also in the early 90’s paul mcartney practiced up there with a husge stage for a world tour.
trev
http://www.airshipsonline.com
English Heritage, in their formal description of the Grade 2* Listed Building (“Cardington no.1 shed at RAF Cardington”), give the dimensions as 812 by 275 by 180 feet. If the shed were flat topped, that would suggest a cubic capacity of 1,140,539 cubic metres. It adds that in 1926/7 the shed’s length was increased from 700 to 812 feet and its height was raised from 145 to 180 feet to take the R101 airship.
i go past these on a regular basis and can tell you that they also filmed some of the new charlie and the chocolate factory there. there are some of the ‘wonka’ vans parked outside the hanger and can clearly be seen when driving past!!
OMG i hate those i am at the under 11 and i am very scared when i pass it, i pass it every 2 months to goto ipswich and it scares the life out of me! i think they should be demolished! i also know that bat man was filmed there ! and charlie and the chocolae factory wasnt please let them be knocked down however they cant be knocked down because they are now listed hopefuly aliens will take them away! 1 time we came write close to it and i could see the lock, i hated the rust looked like blood yuk!
I went past these yesterday on the train, they are collossal. Glad they are listed, nice to preserve a hit of recent history
i work in the right one and i don’t know what you are on about any locks looking like blood because the doors don’t need a lock they are that huge. They slide open and they take up to 20 minutes to open. the right hanger is in a lot better condition to the left one seen as it has been renovated. and plus you wouldn’t have been able to get up that close seen as there is 24 hour security so you don’t get close. (olympus security).
My boyfriend and i passed these two magnificent buildings a month ago on our way by train into London and then back again. You can’t really miss them, can you. There they were in the middle of beautiful countryside. Absolutely huge. we were so impressed by their sheer size that we’ve been looking them up on the internet since. We were trying to hazzard a guess at what they were used for and some of our answers have proved right. Then i found some photo’s of them from ground level and aerial and they’re just awesome. If we’re ever in the area we will definitely be trying to get as close to them as possible to have an even better look at them.
by any chance suzi do you and your boyfriend have a white car ? lol
Lol..No Andrew we don’t have a white car. Why…are you being bugged by sightseer’s in white car’s ? Lol.
haha well someone the other day came down with their boyfriend in a white car, and they were taking pictures on site, and someone locked the gate and they couldn’t get back out lol.
wow, cool.
check out the Bird Eye view, the right one has the doors partly opened. http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=spj6w1gyy6vx&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=11731190&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
I wasn’t aware you could do that, Andrew. I thought there was 24hr security on the place. Me and my fella were just going to get as close as the perimiter fencing and walk around that to have a look at them.
lol well security didn’t lock the gates i think it was the people who work on the airships at the back, the people were taking pictures and they went back to the gate and were locked out. and there is 24 hour security it’s just because sometimes the security have to go to other parts of the site and not be able to check the cameras constantly lol.
Lets hope that Richard and i don’t encounter any problems whenever it is that we try to get up close and personal with them. Lol.
We live in the new estate opposite. When we were looking at show homes a couple came in and asked if the sheds were going to be demolished – when they were told no they walked out. We on the other hand thought they were and are fantastic. I can just wonder what it was like back in the old days… there was a modern airship moored out side yesterday – imagine how impressive R101 or R100 would have been…
I pass these every day going to and from work. I looked on a road map to see what they were I was so intrigued. I think it’s fantastic that they are now preserved – people are too quick to demolish older buildings these days. I see them from the main road and they look huge – they must be enormous up close. The airships must have been massive too – I had never really thought about that before!
Me and a frien of mine kept driving past these huge buildings, and were so curious we drove up to them and sneaked into the fence which was torn open(honest, not me!!!) , we managed to look inside the older building. Could not comprehend the sheer size, amazing place! so want to find somewhere where you can fly in airship….
I visited the outside of these amazing buildings a couple of days ago. I hoped it would satisfy my intrigue over the places but infact it has made me even more interested in seeing inside them. If anyone knows of how I could get a visit sorted out please let me know.
There is no way they should be pulled down, they have a certain charm that new building rarely have.
I’ve just come back from Bedford and drove past these amazing buildings – they are colossal and I – like may others – would love to take a closer look! I’m so glad they are listed buildings.
hey candy i start work at the hangers on monday they are used as make shift film studios and one of them still has part of the batman set in it come and have a look any time just ask for rob hooker on construction
Yes, saw them from the air the other day on the way back to Manchester Airport from Italy. No idea what height we were at but guess about 20,000 feet in our 757 and I pretty-much knew when I saw the buildings that they very well could be the R101 hangers. Nice to find this site that very well covers the big old things. Must watch out for them from my East Midlands train when I’m in the area next.
I went to visit the sheds in the mid 1980’s, when Airship Industries were still producing the Skyship 500 & 600 Series.
Don’t know if any of you are old enought to remember the FUJI advertising blimp, but that was stored in one of the sheds, being worked on.
Went in a side door, and the size is mind blowing, and cannot be described! I was told that next door, some government agency had built a block of flats, and were testing some fire prevention equipment. It was 0ver 20 storeys high!
My dad was alive when the R101 flew over Leicester on one of its tragically short test flights. He said it was like watching Leicester Town Hall fly over (similar size). I’d love there to be a revival of the old sized airships, but filled with helium (obviously!!) Anybody got a spare $60m?
A Boeing 747 can fit through the main doors with no problem. Apparently, they have been known to have their own weather system inside (ie foggy when it’s clear outside)!
A real pity access cannot be allowed – there is disagreement as to who actually owns the sheds and the surrounding area (lots of leases were taken out, and the one taken out by Airship Industries has become a minefield as they were taken over by Westinghouse when they went into administration, and nobody bothered to sort it out.
If anyone does have any info on how to gain access, please let me know as I want to pay another visit.
In 1946 I appeared in a photograph standing along side the open doors of the R101 shed and published in the Bedford Record (a local paper). Unfortunately I do not have a copy.
During the middle 50s the Parachute Balloon Traing Company used the shed for training purposes. Parachute decents were made inside the shed.
The shed, which is Grade 1 listed, is noe owned by the Building Research Establishment and I understand that is up for sale When last repainted I believe it cost £600,000.
Drove past them on Saturday, they are quite amazing. I was aware of them as a kid, but never quite knew where they were. A visit to Bedford FC revealed all, as the ground is very close by.
I can’t imagine why anyone would want shot of them, they have a beauty all of their own, and it was excellent to see one of them looked in particularly good condition.
I would also echo some of the comments here – would love to have a little tour around them! When we drove past on Saturday we couldn’t get all that close with the car, which is fair enough I suppose. I was pleased to see a sign for hybrid air vehicles whose website has a little video of a modern-day design flying – great!!
My late father had the good fortune to fly on one of the GoodYear craft in the 1970’s when tethered for one of its regular visits to Leavesden airfield, and he treasured the memory forever. Does anyone else remember the GoodYear ‘blimp’ as it was known (don’t know if the word ‘blimp’ is technically correct!)
I too remember these, I lived in Shortstown over the road, an estate of RAF married quarters.
I always knew what they were and do remember the goodyear airship – which I think was actually built there.
I also remember seeing the silver barrage balloons that used to be there as a fixture as well.
So please that they are listed and think they should be restored (costly I know) but they are magnificent structures, especially considering when they were built.
It was good to see the sheds play a small role in this weeks edition of Top Gear – thankfully James May didn’t break the door when he crashed into it whilst exiting the shed!