Last weekend I went to see my parents. My mum was appearing in her choir’s entertainment evening again (three years seems to have gone very quickly!). We got to St Pancras station, only to find that the train was cancelled and the next one wasn’t for another hour or so. Usually, this would cause me to lose my usual fairly reserved librarian persona and step into the role of Enraged Ranting Woman, but this time I didn’t really mind. I don’t really know why, but it may have been just because I like St Pancras station a lot. As we had time on our hands, we decided to go and look at the station in more detail. I took some pictures. I fear I am turning into a railway geek like my dad and my uncle. Never mind.
Meeting Place, by Paul Day
I love the huge sculpture (above), but I also really like the freize round the bottom of it – you can just see it in the above photo. It’s really detailed – I could have spent far too long looking at all of the panels.
I also like the roof of the Barlow Shed:
The Barlow Shed
Sir John Betjeman likes the roof, too:
Sir John Betjeman, by Martin Jennings
I really like those sculptures – they are beautifully crafted. I also like the subject matter they have chosen – Sir John Betjeman and also the embracing couple.
This is what is so wonderful about the big stations, the art and the architecture. The old designers knew there were going to be travelers needing amusement. Union Station in St Louis is a wonderful Art Deco treasure which they have mananged to not screw up when they made it into a huge shopping arcade. I have found that many of the big international airports have discovered the virtue of art displays.
I finally did the Honest Scrap post, and enjoyed it quite a lot.
I love railway stations – when they’ve not been turned into horrible sixties-style monstrosities, as, unfortunately, quite a lot in the UK have. There are still lots of lovely ones, though! I would love to visit some of the stations in the USA – the St Louis one sounds lovely and I’ve always wanted to go to Grand Central in New York. One day I’ll do it!