The Airship Heritage Trust was set up in 1985 by a group of dedicated enthusiasts and relatives of the original crew members. Over the last few years, from its humble beginning, the Trust has grown and worked very hard to where it is today, with its membership spanning many countries worldwide.
Our Objectives
To foster and promote the study of the history of airships and to present this to the public
To stimulate public interest in the role of Cardington as an airship base, and encourage the preservation of it’s principal buildings
To promote the development of a national museum and study centre devoted to the airship
Today, the Trust operates with a council of 5 volunteer Trustees bringing a broad spectrum of interests and knowledge in lighter than air history and a passion for sharing this for the future. Any AHT member can join the council, and we also have non-Trustees who can attend the council meetings and bring their wealth, knowledge and experience to the running of the Trust.
Many of the members do not live in the Bedford area, however still help out in promoting the Trust with lectures and displays in their own locale. We have an extensive photo archive, a large number of display photos and also many materials and artefacts which we can show to a school or society. We are always looking for new members and volunteers who have an interest in lighter-than-air history.
We work alongside the Higgins Museum, Bedford, the Fleet Air Arm, Yeovilton, and Bedford Creative Arts to assist with displays and funding for special LTA events, as well as working with Bedfordshire County Council to assist with local historical knowledge.
Our in-house magazine “Dirigible” is distributed free to members worldwide, three times per year, and is also recorded as a science journal by the British Museum, and the Smithsonian Museum and Library in Washington, USA. The lecture programme is proving very popular, as members undertake lectures to history societies and also other interested organisations, often requesting further talks on other parts of the British lighter than air history. Along with our magazine, our members receive regular updates via our newsletters throughout the year.
We have set up an office, LTA library and archive, along with small display items, situated near Nottingham, which we are using for a digitisation project, to bring as much historical material online and to be shared with the public. We are more than happy to have visitors to the office and come and see some of the items we have, and use the library for research.
We have a small display of airship-related items, and shown here is a small selection of some of the items on display
Some work carried out by the Trust
We are always pleased to do as much as we can in promoting airships to the public, as per our primary objective. Shown below are a number of ways we have been doing this in the last few years.
The Organisation
Set up in 1985 by the relatives of the 1921-36 airship programme and originally known as F.O.C.A.S. (Friends of the Cardington Airship Station).
The work carried out by a dedicated band of enthusiasts can be followed in “Our History”, which provides full insight into many of the little-known trials and tribulations that have made the road we have travelled to get where we are today.
The Trust has been determined to establish a national airship museum at a suitable location, but changes in ownership and use of the airship sheds at Cardington have meant that the Trust has had to look elsewhere for a home.
An alternative venue at the nearby Shuttleworth Collection was explored but proved unsuitable. The Trust is now in active discussions with the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton for some of the Trust’s collections to be incorporated into their displays, reflecting the historic links between British airships and the Royal Navy. Throughout this period, the AHT has been supported by the Rope Trust, a charitable organisation linked to the family of Sqn Ldr Michael Rope, a highly talented airship engineer who died on the R101.
With much of the original collection added over the years, the collection includes many unusual artefacts and rare photographs. The AHT records and administers a major source of British airship history.
Trust has moved its collection with a partnership with the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton, with a major part of the Trust’s collections to be incorporated into their displays. The Trust’s extensive library is housed at Cranfield University Library and is available to members and the public.
Since 1987, one of the principal objects of the Airship Heritage Trust, as set out in its Articles of Association, has been to “stimulate public interest in the role of Cardington as an airship base and in the conservation of the principal buildings thereof”. It has not – and never has been – the Trust’s role to seek the preservation of the whole of the Cardington site nor to seek the retention of the flying field for current or future airship operations. Following the restoration of the Shorts Building, our main aim must now be to try to ensure that the two Cardington Sheds are preserved as historic structures, irrespective of whether they are used for lighter-than-air purposes in the future. It has been the policy of the Trust over a number of years not to comment on planning applications relating to the Cardington site because these have not, generally, been in conflict with the Trust’s principal objects. However, individual members of the Airship Heritage Trust have been entirely free to submit comments and objections to the relevant planning bodies if they have wished to do so. Following discussions with both English Heritage and Bedford Borough Council regarding the current planning applications submitted by Fosbern Manufacturing Limited, the Trust’s Council has found no reason to depart from this policy in the present case.
The 2010 R101 80th Anniversary year featured an extensive display of some of the collection in the new gallery at the Bedford Museum.
Due to the global pandemic, the R101 90th Anniversary exhibition and commemorations were put on hold and delayed until 2021. We worked with Bedford Creative Arts and the Higgins Museum in Bedford to assist with the “Airship Dreams: Escaping Gravity” art installation, along with the community’s curatorial exhibition, open in July 2021 and running until March 2022.
Today, the AHT continues to strive to carry out its objectives in the promotion of the study and history of airships. Many of our members offer lectures to organisations and along with a mobile display which can be seen at local events. The Trust has close links with the RAF Museum, British Balloon Museum and Library, the Airship Association and many other organisations.
In October 2025, to mark 95 years since the loss of the legendary R.101, the Trust brought history to life at The Higgins Museum, Bedford. Visitors were treated to a fascinating display of original artefacts and stories, alongside an immersive Virtual Reality experience that let both children and adults step aboard the R.101 and discover the wonder—and tragedy—of Britain’s great airship age.