At Old Liverpool St Station
Many readers wrote objecting to the first version of the scheme to redevelop Liverpool St Station but now there is a new version all those objections have been discarded. If you want to stop this new proposal for a monster tower of 20 storeys on top of the station, blocking natural light from the concourse, please write a new objection before 4th July.
CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO OBJECT
Yesterday, Spitalfields Life readers crashed the City of London website trying to object, so if you were unsuccessful then please try again today, or write an email or letter.
Let us take a stroll through old Liverpool St Station as it was in the nineteenth century, courtesy of this magnificent gallery of photographs from the Bishopsgate Institute collection. Like a journey through the stomach of whale that swallows humans by the score, did the wondrous behemoth ever appear as awe-inspiringly labyrinthine and majestic as it did then?
Photographs courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
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Last Chance To Save Liverpool St Station From The Monster Block
Pity there are no slightly more “modern” ones, say 1945-60, whilst steam was still dominant.
Liverpool St as I remember it from my childhood, infact (!)
Have successfully completed the objection today after yesterday’s failure! Cannot believe that this monstrosity would be allowed and also how they got away with not showing the complete model to the public!
I visited yesterday to look around again. I hoped that this would summon the word gods to make my objection the one last straw before they abandon their plans entirely.
I remember when they stuck the front porch on and the modern retail units on the concourse, I wasn’t a fan then but I concur with the notion that we cannot live in a museum. However, we can still make transport buildings beautiful.
I can imagine the French reaction to plans to plonk something on top of Gare du Nord, or Gare de Lyon. The latter has been linked to a shopping centre, but it’s mostly below ground level and far enough away that it doesn’t impact on the station building. Then there is Le Train Bleu restaurant, celebrating the romance of the legendary route to the sun. In Italy, Milano Centrale is a temple of fascist architecture. Again, multiple retail units below ground level do not impact on the station as it was meant to be seen.
Why can’t we do this? St Pancras has a bit bolted on the back but the station concourse is visually interesting against the backdrop of the wonderful Victorian gothic architecture. At night, you can sip champagne and see the stars. More of this please!
I’m sure people will remind me that the route to Clacton on Sea probably doesn’t have the same appeal, but why not? Travelling by rail should be desirable and encouraged.
I will of course, also include all of the Victorian Society’s very valid points, but, you can also see stars in the night sky above Liverpool Street station from the concourse. Long may there be starry skies.
In that second photo from the top………..Do you notice the little kiosk, where one can sit down for a moment and just take a break? I’ve decided I want that to be my outpost for today, so I have brought along a book to read. Its in my tapestry carpet bag. But, there it will stay. Because there is so much to look at. The passing folk. Men in bowler hats. Ladies sweep by with plumed hats.
Children skitter along, noisily. This big cavernous place is scary for them. To me, it is heavenly.
I speculate — where is everyone going? Destinations? Reasons for travel? I scan around and see
the eternal clocks, high above us. The criss-crossing beams, shards of light. Signage. Aisles/platforms between the tracks; luggage wagons and porters. Every shape seems so refined, so cohesive, so efficient. A news agent stand is right nearby. I could empty my bank account there, wanting every publication, every postcard, every inexpensive art print, every tiny leather bound travel diary, match book, map, and more. I’ll just stay put.