Airship Dreams: R100 - Cardington to Canada and Back with Roger Allton

On July 29th 1930, the R100 set off from Cardington Sheds, Bedford, to embark on its first Transatlantic flight to Canada. The airship arrived in Montreal a mere 78 hours later, staying in the city for twelve days and becoming an instant tourist hit, with over 100,000 people visiting the airship each day that it was moored there. However, after the tragedy of the R101 a few months later, the successful R100 was dismantled and the airship dream burst.

In this video Roger Allton from The Airship Heritage Trust tells the story of its eventful journey.

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This documentary is part of BCA's project "Airship Dreams". Airship Dreams is an artistic enquiry into Bedford’s airship heritage, drawing on the local community’s collective memory and imagination to explore our relationship with flight and air travel. Following a call-out to the community to share airship memories, artefacts and fantasies for an online archive, the project will culminate in a major exhibition at Higgins Bedford in 2021.

Find out more about how you can get involved at airshipdreams.com