In 1913, a site had been purchased by Armstrong Whitworth, the fourth constructor who, like Beardmore, Shorts, and Vickers, had competed for Government contracts to build rigid airships.
Location
The site was located near Selby in Yorkshire, and was intended to be set up as a base of all of it’s aviation activities, including the building of aeroplanes. Although the site was seen as remote, being away from main areas of manufacture and shipyards, which were along the densely populated River Tyne, the site chosen was closer to the mainline railway network.
During the First World War, some consideration was given to building and housing airships in dry docks, enclosed with a roof, or even tunnels within hillsides. These approaches were not taken seriously, and Armstrong Whitworth planned to house the airships by conventional means, in a purpose-built shed.
Airship Shed Construction
A large airship shed was erected on land close to the River Ouse in 1913. Like all other airship projects at the time, it was partly funded by the Treasury. The main contractor for the building of the shed was awarded to A.J.Main & Co., and a short branch line was constructed from the mainline, Doncaster to Selby line.
During construction, some future planning was undertaken, and it was agreed that the shed should already be enlarged, so that it would meet the future requirements of airships. By the end of 1916, a 700ft airship shed was nearing completion.
During the Spring of 1917, the first rigid airship was under construction, No. 25. Workers from the Vickers Barrow-in-Furness site were sent to assist with the construction of the ship. Armstrong Whitworth transported the components from their works in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
A railway siding had been placed next to the shed for the ease of transferring the components. At this time, the hydrogen plant was also completed.
The shed’s location was in the middle of a wood, and although this may sound very curious, as all existing airship sheds had been sited in open flat land. The reason for this siting was that the trees would act as natural windbreaks; however, it was later decided to fell the trees around the shed and artificial windbreaks were put in place.
The construction works at Barlow, being a twin shed, could construct two ships at a time. By the time the No.25 had made it’s first flight in the end of 1917, the R29 was taking shape under construction next to it. The R29 took flight not long after on 29th May 1918, and was delivered in June 1918 to East Fortune in Scotland.
As soon as the No.25 had vacated the space, the next ship, designated the R33, was commenced in its place. As sister ship, the R35, was almost completed by the time the Armistice was signed in November 1918. Armstrong Whitworth had hopes that there would still be a market for airships, and plans were underway to complete a second large shed at Barlow. Work continued on the R33, and in 1919, it was completed and walked out of the shed.
A plan had been proposed that the R33 make a trip to Newfoundland in America, from Barlow; however, the Admiralty intervened, as it didn’t want the R33 to return to the Barlow site, as it was not classed as an operational airship station, but a construction site. It was also a conflict of interest as the R34 was about to embark on it’s flight across the Atlantic. In April 1920, the R33 was flown to Pulham and carried out its long and successful life from the Pulham station.
R 39 Airship
The R33 was the last airship to be completed at Barlow. Despite the successes and speed of construction of airships during the war, the only follow-on order for Armstrong Whitworth was for the R39, an Admiralty A Class ship. With the R33 completing her flight worthiness trials in March 1919, the shed was vacated and so the construction of the R39 could begin.
It was later on following the Armistice, that the Government decided to cancel the order for the Admiralty A Class ships, and so the order for the R39 was cancelled; however, some £90,000 (£4m 2019) had already been spent on the construction of the R39.
Later in 1919, the workers received notice of redundancy due to the fact that there were no further orders to fulfil.
The shed was later dismantled in the 1920s, and without the extension of the shed, it would not have fitted the plans for the next generation of airship.
The Hydrogen plant (silcol process) was sold and moved to the refurbished Howden site when the Airship Guarantee Company took over the Howden site in 1924
Today
The site was taken over by the army and over the course of its life consisting of initially the Barlow Stables & Park Farm during WWII it became one of the larger RAOC Ordnance Depots based around the old airship factory, it eventually expanded to cover its own mini railway lines system with a main line link consisting of full several tracks joining the main line to Goole, Hull York Leeds and then to anywhere in the country.
The depot utilised many of the groundworks from the old airship sheds, etc and eventually, after D-Day, it was also utilised as a Prisoner of War camp, one of many around the Selby area.
The depot, under the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) continued to operate until the late 1980s when it was closed down eventually with the forces reductions following the Berlin wall coming down, reunification of Germany and the demise of the old Soviet Union.
Drax Power Station took over the site to use it as an ash dumping site from the power station. Many buildings were demolished, although some were just buried in ash
The site today is part of the Drax Power Station site, and part forms a nature reserve.
Special thanks to Malcom Hutton for providing the information about the station after the airships