TURNING AIRSHIP DREAMS INTO REALITY: LINKING ART, SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY How the pandemic has given an arts project new impetus and relevance. This year sees the 90th anniversary of the final flight of the R101 airship, which took off from the Cardington Sheds in Bedford on 4 October 1930. Airship Dreams, a new place-making arts project, has been launched by Bedford Creative Arts (BCA) to mark the occasion and celebrate the town’s important role in airship history, linking art, society and technology. The R101 was to herald a new era in luxury travel and prove the post First World War might of the British Commonwealth. This dream, however, was crushed in a matter of hours when the airship crashed in France en route to India, killing most of its 54 passengers. The tragedy derailed airship development, which never recovered. It also had a lasting impact on the local Bedford community, in particular Shortstown, which was formed to house airship works staff during the First World War. And it continued to house the workers and crew of the R100 and R101 during the great British airship project of the late 1920s. Working closely with internationally renowned Bedford-raised artist Mike Stubbs, together … Continue reading TURNING AIRSHIP DREAMS INTO REALITY: LINKING ART, SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY