A Trip To Highams Park Station
I went to Highams Park station, as the Internet rumoured, that there could be gluten-free jam doughnuts near the station, at a shop called the Community Larder.
I took these pictures.
Note.
- The restored signal box, that I talked about in An Unusual Office Property has been used as a creperie. Unfortunately, it appears to have gone out of business.
- The Community Larder had a good selection of cakes, including some that were gluten-free, but no gluten-free jam doughnuts, as they are delivered on Saturdays.
- Crossing the roads by the level crossing is a nightmare.
- The station needs a step-free bridge.
The 3D Google Map shows the level crossing looking from the East.
Note.
- The railway runs North-South through the station, with South to the left.
- The signal box is on the South-East corner of the level crossing.
- Hale End Road runs East from the level crossing.
- The Community Larder is on the South side of Hale End Road.
Sorting the road traffic out will be difficult.
An Unusual Office Property
I went to see this property at Highams Park, as it was featured in Open House.
The refurbishment is not complete yet, but it would make a lovely small office for a professional, who needed a lot of light. In fact the developers will be using it themselves as part of a favourable deal with Network Rail, that would appear to ensure that the signal box gets sympathetically restored.
Obviously, you’d have to like trains.
There’s more on the signal box and its history on the Highams Park Forum.
One point to note in the pictures is the subway under the tracks, shown in the picture with the train approaching. Was this subway dug under the tracks to stop idiots crossing when it wasn’t safe? And was it dug without disrupting the train service?
Before Overground – Highams Park
A Station With A Garden – Rating 7/10
Highams Park station, is one of those that doesn’t need a great deal of work to make it one of the best stations on the Overground.
It is one of the few stations, where because there are three ways to cross the tracks, step free access isn’t the greatest of problems. Although, when the new trains come, it might not be a bad idea to make sure that the platform edge is matched to the train.
The Anonymous Widower 