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![More information about these monstrous buildings can be found here [[228829]].
Click on this http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=15461 for some great photos and information about the sheds.](http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/40/88/2408888_cc6894af_120x120.jpg "TL0746 : Cardington airship hangars from the air")
![Dist:0.1km<br/>See [[724810]] for background to Shortstown and its village hall. The images on the sign commemorate the close association of the village with the nearby airship works.](http://s3.geograph.org.uk/photos/72/48/724823_74453fd7_120x120.jpg "TL0746 : Shortstown Village Hall sign")
![Dist:0.1km<br/>The development of Shortstown started when Shorts Brothers established the Cardington airship works in 1917, to provide accommodation for the workers there (hence the name). The MOD took over the site in the 1920s, with Shortstown providing accommodation for RAF personnel. More recently new housing has been built alongside the original development, with further expansion planned for the other side of the A600 on the site of the disused airfield itself.
The Village Hall was built in 2007 to provide much needed community facilities. See [[724823]] for closeup of sign on the hall wall.](http://s2.geograph.org.uk/photos/72/48/724810_ee6df3dd_120x120.jpg "TL0746 : Shortstown Village Hall")
![Dist:0.5km<br/>Balloons, similar to the war-time barrage balloons, being used by the Meteorological Office experimental unit based at Cardington in Hangar 1 on the left, partly hidden by the tree. Hangar No.2 on the right was then being used by the Fire Research Station based at Borehamwood (see [[TQ1995]]) for large-scale fire and explosion tests that could not be carried out at Borehamwood.
(Photo scanned directly from a High-speed Ektachrome 35mm slide.)](http://s1.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/61/47/2614773_72f5a820_120x120.jpg "TL0746 : Balloons and Hangars, Cardington, 1979")
![Dist:0.6km<br/>View from the central south staircase from about 40feet above hangar floor level. In this view towards the open doors at the west end of the hangar there are two fire test rigs visible. The 'Barrage Balloon' seen left of centre was operated by the Meteorological Office and was used by their scientists based at Cardington to take their instruments up through the atmosphere to around 10,000 feet height. Hidden behind the balloon and its winch lorry and other vehicles is a test rig for looking at the effect of gas explosions on buildings.
Just visible at the apex of the door opening is the underside of a catwalk 163 feet above the hangar floor - the centre of the three large linear objects. On the right of the taller fire test ring can be seen the NW staircase giving access to the centre catwalk and two lower catwalks towards the sides of the hangar. For a view looking the other way see [[2581498]].
(Photo scanned from a print made from an Agfa 35mm slide.)](http://s3.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/58/15/2581515_98790cfe_120x120.jpg "TL0846 : Airship Hangar No. 2 - interior view to west in 1994")
![Dist:0.6km<br/>Technically hangars, but generally and affectionately know as sheds by the people who worked there. For more information about these huge structures see [[228829]] and [[386264]].](http://s3.geograph.org.uk/photos/76/70/767071_1a01adc5_120x120.jpg "TL0846 : The Airship 'sheds' at Cardington")
![Dist:0.8km<br/>Looking towards the east end of the hanger from the south central staircase at about 40 feet above the hanger floor. By this date the whole hanger was in the care of the Building Research Establishment, into which the Fire Research Station had been merged in 1972.
Visible are in the foreground is a 5-storey tower used for investigating fire spread on external building cladding materials; behind and to the right is a gable wall and roof of a two-storey 3-bedroomed detached house, used for looking at problems of domestic fire detectors; mid-right of picture is a calorimeter hood used to measure the heat output of burning furniture and other items; rear centre is an eight-storey steel-framed office block built for fire and other structural tests, and to the left of that is a 707 fuselage used for work for CAA on improving fire resistance of aircraft seating. A view looking in the opposite direction is at [[2581515]].
(Photo is a scan of a print from a 35mm Agfa slide - see [[2581459]] for a similar view in 1970.)](http://s2.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/58/14/2581498_21e9cac7_120x120.jpg "TL0846 : Airship Hanger No. 2 - interior to east end in 1994")
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