Cardington was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

on the Bedford to Hitchin Line which served the village of Cardington in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, England. Opened in 1857, it gave more than a century of service before closing in 1962.

History

Cardington station was opened by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

in 1857 as part of its main line from Leicester to Hitchin, built to allow it a direct route to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

without using rival

London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...

metals but having running powers over the

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

main line from Hitchin to King's Cross. However, when the Midland Railway later built its own route from

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

to London St Pancras, the section between Bedford and Hitchin was demoted to a mere branch line, over which passenger traffic was minimal and services were reduced to a shuttle by 1880. The establishment of an

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

factory in Cardington by

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

increased passenger and freight traffic through the station. This continued after the war when the coalition government approved a project to build two large airships, the

R100 His Majesty's Airship R100 was a privately designed and built British rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop a commercial airship service for use on British Empire routes as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The ot ...

and

R101 R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Mi ...

; the R101 was built at Cardington, the R100 in Yorkshire. This required the construction of two large sheds at what was then known as the

Royal Airship Works Cardington Airfield, previously 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. Most of the former RAF station is in the parish o ...

. The inter-war years saw a decline in traffic with the introduction of buses between Bedford and Hitchin. Traffic picked up again during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

when the site became

RAF Cardington The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

particularly when troop specials were run to enable conscripts to travel forward to their basic training camps. The introduction of

railbuses A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed ...

after the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

did little to improve traffic, and the line closed in 1962.

Stationmasters

*John Antill 1857 - 1863 *A Spriggs from 1863 *William Wood ca. 1870 *Charles Pryor until 1872 *G. Hartshorn 1872 - 1873 (formerly station master at Water Orton) *William Thomas Davey 1873 - 1874 *Samuel Watkins 1874 - 1888 *John Gammons from 1888 - ca. 1914 *John William Cornell (afterwards station master at Teversall) *Mr. Adkins until 1931 (afterwards station master at Daventry) *F. Aldridge ca. 1935

Present day

The station building remains in private ownership and is a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The owner has affixed the former

distant signal The application of railway signals on a rail layout is determined by various factors, principally the location of points of potential conflict, as well as the speed and frequency of trains and the movements they require to make. Non-provisi ...

on the exterior of the property.Oppitz, L., p. 134.

References

External links

Cardington station on 1946 O.S. map
{{Closed stations Bedfordshire Disused railway stations in Bedfordshire Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1857 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962 1857 establishments in England Charles Henry Driver railway stations Grade II listed buildings in Bedfordshire