_____________________________________________________________________
General
Cardington lies five kilometres south-east of Bedford and has a population of 290. The village consists of estate cottages clustered around the village green. Many of the cottages in the village bear the initials ‘JH’ or ‘SW’.
SW relates to Samuel Whitbread, the brewer, who was born at Maltings Farm, which is the red bricked building to the west of the green.
JH stands for John Howard who was one of the first prison reformers and after whom the Howard League for Penal Reform is named (founded in 1866). He used to live in the white washed Georgian house which lies to the north of the church.
Cardington is most famous for the airship hangers at Shortstown and the fate of the R101. The bodies of the men who died in the airship disaster are buried in the small cemetery at Cardington.
Cardington
_____________________________________________________________________
Airship Hangers
The old airship hangers at Cardington aren’t actually haunted but people still feel that they are an unlucky place.
On 4th October 1930 the great airship the R101 slipped her moorings for a flight to Karachi over six thousand kilometres away. This was the start of a journey that would end in disaster and the death of all bar six of her passengers and crew. The flight had been brought forward by the then Secretary of State for Air, Lord Thomson. He wanted to fly to India and back in time to make a grand entrance to the Imperial Conference of Dominion Prime Ministers in October. Because of this the airship was launched before it was really ready. As it took off it couldn’t gain any altitude so the Captain had to order four tonnes of water ballast, half the total to be dropped. The airship struggled across the channel through heavy rain which increased her weight. Just after crossing Beauvais at 02:00 the airship hit a hummock of earth and burst into flames. One eyewitness said that she barely cleared Beauvais church steeple. As the airship was filled with fifty thousand cubic metres (fifty million litres) of hydrogen the temperature was enough to melt the metal superstructure and the only people to survive did so because the water tanks burst and swept them out of the airship.
Even though the hangers are not haunted, several local people have reported that their homes are. The ghosts are said to be those of members of the R101 crew who have returned to search for their loved ones.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
Cardington, Airship Hangers
|