The Lost Airship Base of Aberdeenshire

Did you know that the UK's most northerly airship base was tucked away in Aberdeenshire?

RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) Longside is the former WW1 airship base hidden in Lenabo forest. It was fondly known by locals as 'Lenabo Soo' noting that the airships looked like pigs (soo meaning sow/pig in Doric). The base was only operational for 4 years (1916 - 1920) as it never diversified and we found more effective ways to travel in the air! The airships patroled the shipping lanes in the North Sea and along the northeast coast looking out for enemy ships and u-boats, and checking on merchant convoys. The base was a bustling place for the people who lived there, with a swimming pool, theatre and a church. There was also a gas works on site and 3 large airship hangers. The base is now completely demolished and I don't have enough architectural knowledge to figure out what I was looking at 100% of the time. It was nice to have a guess at what some of it was though and discover new slabs and blocks of concrete. I would have loved to have had a map, but I'm fairly certain a layout of the base isn't easily found. Although we didn't see all of the ruins I'm not sure we'll be back - the woods are otherwise unremarkable. It was also a huge shame that people had dumped so much litter in the woods near the parking area.

Music: Empty Sky by Wanderers Trove.
Courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

Thumbnail photograph is of HM airship Gamma leaving its hanger. The airship is pre-1914 and it is unknown who took the photo. The photo is courtesy of the Imperial War Museum who have an extensive collection of digitial media.