1960s Architectural Failures
Yesterday, I went to or through four stations; Highbury and Islington, Euston, Manchester Piccadilly and Huddersfield.
Huddersfield is a Grade 1 Listed Building which means it is one of the finest buildings in the country. The others are three of the worst examples of how we designed and built stations in the 1960s.
So it got me thinking about what are the worst examples of 1960s architectural design, that I’ve seen. I’ll start with the three I’ve already named.
Euston station – I probably went to Liverpool a couple of times from Euston before the current station was built and I have vague memories of catching trains there during the building in perhaps 1965 to 1967. The design shows classic “Think Small” attitudes as it was deliberately built with foundations that couldn’t support development above. Only twenty or so years later, Liverpool Street station was remodelled, which shows how good design can be applied to old buildings. Since then St. Pancras and Kings Cross have been rebuilt using similar thought processes to those used so successfully at Liverpool Street. One does wonder what would have happened at Euston, if the rebuilding had been a few years later. Euston is now to be rebuilt for HS2 and I suspect they’ll get it right this time.
Euston has another big problem, that you don’t see on the surface. The Underground station is one of the worst in London, with no step-free access, innumerable staircases and escalators and a dingy cramped ticket hall. The only good thing about Euston station is that coming off a train, it’s easy to walk to a bus, as I did last night. But try taking a heavy case on the Underground.
In some ways, Euston’s problems with the Underground should have been solved, when they built the Victoria Line, which opened at around the same time as the new Euston station. It just showed how bad project planning was in those days. The fact that the Victoria line was built on the cheap didn’t help.
Highbury and Islington station – This suffers badly because of the decision to build the Victoria Line on the cheap. Again it is not step-free and it perhaps is one of the worst stations for disabled access in the Underground, as when you get down the escalator, you then have a tunnel and a staircase to get to the platforms. At least the Overground platforms have lifts to the surface. Since I have moved to the area, the station concourse has been opened up considerably and it is not dark and cramped like it was a couple of years ago. To be fair to Transport for London, I think they’ve achieved the improvement without using tons of money. But solving the problems of access to the underground platforms will be very expensive.
Manchester Piccadilly station – This suffers in that it doesn’t have enough platforms and lines. Additionally, of all the main stations in the country, it probably has some of the worst connections to other means of transport. It makes you wonder if it was designed as a cheap stop-gap solution to accept the new electric trains from London. They are spending a fortune on the Northern Hub, but will it get rid of all the hangovers from the 1960s and all the resulting layers of sticky tape? Only time will tell, but judging by the improvement of planning in recent years, it probably will. If you want to read about planning failures in the area, read this Wikipedia topic about the Ordsall Curve, which is a crucial part of the Northern Hub. It would appear that it had the go-ahead ( and money) in 1979.
So that’s dealt with yesterday’s examples, what others can be added to this list?
Kings Cross station – Although not specifically 1960s, but a few years later, this now virtually demolished extension was best described as a wart on the face of the Mona Lisa. The man who designed it, must have had the biggest conservation stopper of all time. I can’t wait until I see the new Kings Cross plaza in the autumn.
Various stations – There were a lot of stations built in the 1960s that I don’t like, although some are listed. I would start with a short list of Harlow Town, Stevenage, and Walthamstow Central. Railways have a lot to answer for, but some of their worst excesses were reserved for buildings like this signal box in Birmingham. Many reckon that Birmingham New Street station is another bad example, but at least the operation of the station seems to be pretty good. In fact the planned reconstruction of the station; Gateway Plus, is all about greater passenger comfort. So yet another 1960s monstrosity will bite the dust. Gateway Plus has this condemnation of 1960s thinking.
The current New Street station was built to cater for 650 trains and 60,000 passengers per day, which was roughly the same usage it experienced when it was first constructed. It was believed that demand for rail travel would decrease. However, it now caters for 1,350 trains and over 120,000 passengers – twice its design capacity. Passenger usage of New Street has increased by 50% since 2000.[2] It is predicted that passenger usage of the station will increase by 57% by 2020.
We do seem to have cut corners for decades and only now the chickens are coming home to roost.
Playboy Launch A Non-Nude App
I read of this in the Sunday Times, but it’s here in Tech Dirt.
It’s not much good for me, as I don’t buy Apple products.
So perhaps that old chestnut about buying it for the articles might be true. As now you can?
Mother Knows Best
Yesterday, Slummy Mummy in The Times had two interesting thoughts courtesy of her mother.
The first was an absolute gem.
Since it’s people in towns who like badgers, we should exchange them for urban foxes.
Now that’s an idea! But it might get rid of the last few urban hedgehogs. The second was a sensible aside on the subject of horsemeat.
You’ll be glad to know that everything is shop-bought,” she says, opening the fridge door with a flourish. It is full of Findus lasagnes.
“They were on offer. I got them before they were withdrawn
I bet she’s not the only one who took advantage.
This Is Getting Beyond A Joke
After trying to boil me last year, this house is now trying to freeze me to death. I can just about get the heat up to 18.5°C, by having the boiler on full and controlling the valves manually upstairs.
As to having a bath, that is impossible. As we decided to take it out last week. But only on condition, I had a working shower. Guess what both showers are not working. Now they have done this before, so I suspect that could be down to the cold weather too! I just tried the shower again and took this picture.
My Stone-Cold Leaking Shower
Note how the water is leaking everywhere. The water was absolutely stone cold.
I suppose the shower isn’t too important, as I know that I can get one at my physio tomorrow.
But what did I do to deserve to be frozen to death? Or am I drowning, as my nose just never stops running with this rhinitis? But then, I had this chronic rhinitis for some years as a child, so I know despite it’s worst intents, it doesn’t appear to be fatal.
In some ways the worst pain I have is in my left humerus, where the school bully broke it. But that isn’t at all funny.
I suppose I could always move to somewhere like Mali, where I’m told it’s a bit warmer.
Patchy Paperwork
I was interviewed today, by a student from Liverpool University about some of the aspects of widowhood.
One thing that got me at the time of C’s death, was how professional some organisations and companies were and on the other hand how sloppy some others were.
I was moved to write to The Times, and this is my letter they published on April 16th, 2008.
The paperwork carried out when a relation dies should be standardised across all organisations.
I was widowed last year, and it is only now that I’m starting to get my life together. The response of the various government and local authority departments in handling all the paperwork involved has been very patchy.
Registrars: excellent, very sympathetic and efficient; Work and Pensions: bereavement allowance came through with a few hiccups, but not too difficult; Premium Bonds: system worked but could have been better; council tax: this was reduced automatically on signing a form by St Edmundsbury — totally painless; DVLA: its online systems worked well; winter fuel payment: found difficult to claim and missed it for last year.
The private sector wasn’t that much better, with some companies having people whose sole job appeared to be to deal with bereavement faring much better than those that didn’t. Some wanted death certificates, some accepted faxed copies and others took my word.
We need a lot more joined-up thinking in this important area, as, with nearly a million deaths in the UK every year, it would surely help the bereavement process for those left behind if every company, organisation, government department and authority were automatically notified. After all, if St Edmundsbury can do it here in supposedly sleepy Suffolk, then surely everyone else can.
Since moving to London, I could add a few to both lists, although nothing has been specifically about bereavement. In some ways the biggest surprise has been that the London Borough of Hackney hasn’t made any mistake, that has caused me the slightest bit of inconvenience.
My University Scarf Rides Again
I’ve started wearing my Liverpool University Engineering scarf again in this weather.
My University Scarf Rides Again
You don’t seem to see as many university scarves as you did, when I went to University in the 1960s.
But in this weather it’s very warm.
A Real Winner From The Shard
The Shard is not my favourite building, but I do admire the skill of those who designed and built it, even if the overall shape and height are in my opinion not right for London.
But they have now announced that London-based Mace will team up with British firm EC Harris to create the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah. There’s more here in this article on the BBC’s web site.
So we must be good at something!
The Shard Is Now On The Buses
A lot of the buses in London are now promoting The Shard.
The Shard Is Now On The Buses
The picture shows the advert on the side of a 277. I wouldn’t think this is that necessary as for the Leamouth end of the route, if you’re upstairs on the bus, you can actually see the building.
I wonder if advertising the view from a building on the side of a bus, is a bit like advertising a film? With films, they are usually not up to much, so is the view from The Shard, not the best view for the cost.
The ISA Rip-Off
It’s the cash ISA time of the year and I’ve just been looking at the rates. As to what an ISA is, it’s probably best summed up by this page in Money Saving Expert. Here’s the first paragraph.
A cash ISA is just a tax-free savings account. You don’t need to lock the cash away, many are easy-access. Each tax year EVERY person over 16 in the UK can put a new £5,640 in these accounts that pay up to 2.8%. And once in there, the money stays tax-free, year after year.
The rates are derisory and are very poor compared to what I get from Zopa.
Admittedly, there are tax advantages, but why can’t I get those with a peer-to-peer lender if I agree to lock my money away for several years?
The Oscar Pistorius And Vicky Pryce Cases
These two cases going through the Courts in South Africa and London, are in my mind not news and it is wrong they lead the BBC News.
The first is a tragedy for everyone involved and the second is a bit of political tittle-tattle that is all about the breakdown of a marriage, which went a lot more than wrong.
Why is the BBC wasting my licence fee on these sort of stories? The cases should be left to the tabloids.
The third story, the rise in the number of employed in the UK,should have led the News. Jobs are much more important than gossip.
The Anonymous Widower 