A Steamy Morning At Kings Cross Station
I had wondered why there was a train to Norwich on the destination board at Kings Cross station.
This is the reason why.
A couple of times in the 1950s or 1960s, I went to Ipswich from London by train with a Britannia Class at the front. I wonder if I was ever hauled by Oliver Cromwell.
I am not a particular enthusiast for steam trains, but they are very much part of the world’s technological heritage. I do think it as pity though, that we didn’t save more for posterity, as the enthusiasm they generate, is something that many of us need more of. It might even inspire more students to be the future engineers, we definitely need in this country and in fact most of the world.
It is also amazing to see a 1950s-designed steam locomotive amongst all of the high speed electrics, at possibly the best recently refurbished station in the world.
Imagine the excitement and probable increase in tourism, if every Saturday, we could see a vintage locomotive steam out of Kings Cross. The demand is probably there, but I doubt we have enough reliable main-line steam engines to provide such a spectacle. Remember that steam locomotives are not noted for their reliability.
Kings Cross Station In The Morning
As I left Kings Cross station at around eight this morning, I got a good view of the station and the square in front, in the morning light.
The morning is always the best time.
Although, as I returned tonight, the floodlit station looked even more magnificent.
What was the train to Norwich doing in the station?
Preston Bus Station
Preston Bus Station is a classic 1960s building in a brutalist style. I decided to visit, when I heard about the rows raging around the building as I discussed here.
The council has a problem in that the building needs a lot of repairs and have proposed its demolition. But there is a heritage lobby opposed to this and so the row is set to continue. The building has now been given a Grade 2 listing.
I quite liked the building and it does seem to my untutored eye that it does need a bit of work to be done.
But you can’t help but think that the building has problems that refurbishment won’t solve.
If you take the best train-bus interfaces in the country like Barnsley, Canning Town and now Kings Cross, the bus station at Preston is not in the right place for those arriving in the city by train. It’s akin to expecting passengers arriving at Kings Cross to walk to Euston to get a bus. They wouldn’t and I suspect in Preston they don’t!
So I come to the reluctant conclusion, that the bus station should be knocked down, despite the fact I like the building a lot.
The only way to save it, would be to create an innovative solution perhaps using a free bus that connects the rail and bus stations via the main shopping street.
But I suspect that has been looked at and discarded.
Incidentally, I wasn’t the only visitor interested in the bus station. There were perhaps three others photographing the building.
The New Waiting Room At Kings Cross Station
I returned to Kings Cross Square to take a few more pictures.
It would appear that the public has got the hang of the new square and is using it as a waiting room.
Everybody seemed very happy with the square and the sunshine.
One of the East Coast crew jokingly moaned about the lack of anybody selling ice cream. But who’d have thought that they’d be selling ice cream in front of Kings Cross station. They don’t yet, but the area today was a good sun-trap.
Do We Really Want To Save Preston Bus Station?
Preston Bus Station is an iconic building of the 1960s. As I’ve never used, let alone seen it, I can’t comment on the design, but it does evoke strong feelings.
The government has now given it Listed status, which doesn’t fit well with the local councils’ plans to demolish it. The BBC has a report.
I’m going to Manchester and Derby on October the first. I think it’s somewhere that deserves a visit! So perhaps, I’ll start in Preston and work my way down.
Looking at the map, it seems that the bus station, is not by the railway station. So perhaps the building is in the wrong place? After all the ideal railway station, should be integrated with the local buses, like say Barnsley, Canning Town or Sheffield.
The Fake House Is Coming On
I walked past the new house they’re building round the corner today.
The Fake House Is Coming On
It’s all looking good.
Oslo City Hall
I didn’t like Oslo City Hall. But then it was designed in the 1930s and opened in 1950s, so it’s of the same era as that great British eyesore; Battersea Power Station.
Oslo City Hall
it’s scale is all wrong and except for the clock, it has nothing to recommend it.
The Walkie-Scorchie
This is one of the nicknames of London’s newest skyscraper, usually called the Walkie-Talkie.
The building focussed the sun and melted parts of a car parked in the street. Note the cones to stop it happening again. There’s a report of the incident here in the Independent.
An Amazing Ruin In The Centre Of Birmingham
I saw this building yesterday, as I came into Birmingham New Street station.
An Amazing Ruin In The Centre Of Birmingham
Does anybody know what it is?
And The Winner Is!
They announced the winner of the Carbuncle Cup this week and the story is here in the Guardian. Here’s the first paragraph.
Cramped rooms with low ceilings and one small window facing directly on to a brick wall. If you crane your neck, you can just about see the outside world. It could be a description of the cells in Pentonville Prison, but these are the conditions enjoyed just down the road from the Victorian jail in a new student accommodation block for University College London – today announced as winner of the Carbuncle Cup by Building Design magazine, for the worst building of the year.
It might appear to some, that the judges thought the student residence at 465 Caledonian Road was even worse on the inside than the outside.
This is generally unusual, as I think we’ve all stayed in bad looking hotels, where the rooms were excellent.
The Anonymous Widower 