please empty your brain below
Good to see that it's been restored with humility. Next time I'm in London I'll try and remember to pay it a visit.

Gordon | Homepage | 15.11.07 - 8:12 a.m. | #

History is repeating itself..

This is not the first time St Pancras has been used as an International Station.

Until the 1960s "Boat Trains" to Tilbury Docks regularly started from the station. These were often "P.& O." Boat Trains carrying emigrants to Australia and New Zealand on the first leg of their journeys to the other side of the World. Travelling via what is now known as the Goblin Line via South Tottenham and Barking to Tilbury Docks station.

IsarSteve | Homepage | 15.11.07 - 1:31 p.m. | #

And if Broad Street had been saved...
http://www.urban75.org/london/br...oad-
street.html
...a simplier Tube map and direct trains from the square mile to Paris?

felix | 15.11.07 - 3:24 p.m. | #

Looks lovely, must go there soon!

Tina from Surrey | 15.11.07 - 5:08 p.m. | #

Brilliant to see this series of posts - I worked on the winning bid team for the organisation that built CTRL 105 so it has very personal relevance

AFC30K | Homepage | 15.11.07 - 10:20 p.m. | #

roof ... marvellous
meeting place sculpture... dreadful
undercroft ...nice(but would be better if they could have ensured that more small independents were there instead of the usual tawdry parade of high street brand names

overall ambience...rather cold and excluding
especially if like me you only went to look around the place to see what all the fuss is about - that so much prominence on the main station platform level should be given to a champagne bar is beyond belief while our 'poor cousins' from the midlands have been made to disembark at some annex block tagged on (what seems like half a mile away,) like an architectural afterthought

call me an old cynic but that giant clock is there for a reason... to distract people from spotting the emperors new clothes

steve | Homepage | 18.11.07 - 9:19 a.m. | #

I went to have a look on Saturday, afternoon. I had been earlier this year, before it opened.
The place was as I expected very cold. I was surprised that the Eurostar booking office is such a long walk away from the check in. At Waterloo they were opposite each other.
The "Champagne Bar" was also a let down. It was not a long bar as I had imagined, but simply a long row of tables and chairs, with a bar in the middle.
Eurostar had provided some free entertainment, with a couple of bands and some waiters doing some comedy routine.
The bare bricks downstairs made me think of being in a dungeon.
The area beyond passport control looked very bleak, with lots of metal pillars supporting the roof.
The large empty space outside check-in was devoid of seats and people with suitcases were sitting on the floor!.
The only thing I found in the stations favour was that you had a much better view of the Eurostar trains than you did at Waterloo.
I took the 59 bus from St Pancras back to Waterloo, it took 35 minutes, on a Saturday at 5.30pm.

John

John | 18.11.07 - 7:01 p.m. | #

but on a more upbeat note... it appears that the old original ticket offices with their splendid carved panels are being restored - i wont hold my breath though until i see that its not been assimilated by starbucks or some other

steve | Homepage | 19.11.07 - 10:35 a.m. | #

This is one of the most thorough posts on the whole internet which has anything to do with Hounslow and I think it is a great thing as Hounslow is a great place and we need more people telling others about who great it is!

Plumbing In Hounslow | 21.08.10 - 9:53 p.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy