Cardington, Bedfordshire, England
A view of Cardington Hangers
Cardington Hangers
Royal Air Force Cardington or more simply RAF Cardington is a former Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, with a long and varied history, particularly in relation to airships and balloons.
This location is inextricably linked to the airship accident involving the R101 (pictured left). This ship was built inside Hanger 1 and departed on her maiden voyage on 4th October 1930. This was to end in tragedy hours later when it crashed in a field in northern France, killing 48 people. There were 6 survivors.
According to Jones, the hangers are reputedly haunted by the crew of the R101. Security staff have reported "all manner of inexplicable phenomena", and their patrol dogs behave strangely. Contrary to this, King states that they are not haunted, but that it is homes in the village which are.
This event is renowned by Spiritualists and psychical researchers for its alleged communications with the deceased from the stricken aircraft in the days following the crash.
Pictured above is the R101 in flight courtesy of Victor A. Chapman.
Hangar 2,
Cardington Airfield,
Bedfordshire,
MK42 0TF.
For further information, please read Haunted Britain by Richard Jones, Haunted Bedfordshire by William H. King and Haunted Bedford by William H. King.
Location
Visitor Information
Cardington is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England.
Part of the ancient hundred of Wixamtree, the settlement is best known in connection with the Cardington airship works founded by Short Brothers during World War I, which later became an RAF training station.
Pictured left is a view of Cardington Hangers courtesy of Philip Jeffrey. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
