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10. LONDON The sculptures of St Pancras Station and of course the Victorian Ironwork of the station roof Cameo Snaphots of the City of London *
Sir George Gilbert Scott was the principal architect for the design of St Pancras Station (1868-1874). However, the building of the 'great train shed', this magnificent example of Victorian iron & steel engineering, was the responsibility of W. H. Barlow in 1868, and is affectionately known as 'Barlow's Shed'. It uses pointed glass and an iron tunnel vault of an unprecedented span of 243 ft (~75 m) and a length of 690 ft (~213 m).
The famous St Pancras clock has been reconstructed by the original makers Dent, and now hangs proudly under the Barlow arch below which stands the Paul Day sculpture 'The Meeting Place' (see pictures below).
Sir John Betjeman was one of the people principally responsible for saving both the St Pancras Chambers and the St Pancras Station from demolition in the 1960s, thank goodness! In tribute to the famous poet and railway lover the sculpture by Martin Jennings has been designed to stand at platform level to celebrate the man and his lovely nostalgic poetry for a bygone 'railway age'. The poet is looking up in awe at the magnificent Victorian engineering splendour of the Barlow shed whilst catching hold of his hat.
The 'The Meeting Place' is a 9m high bronze sculpture of a couple locked in an intimate embrace by the world renowned sculptor Paul Day. The couple stand underneath the famous St Pancras clock at the apex of the great arch of the Barlow shed. Around the base is a wonderfully sculptured frieze of quite striking composition.
"The couple itself will be the icon of the sculpture but around the base, on the frieze, I look at all kinds of different meetings and one of the things that made me think about that was the film 'Love Actually.' At the airport scene, when you get all the characters together and suddenly the doors open and out come the people that have been away and you get all sorts of meetings and people being reunited. I think that is an interesting slice of life and in a way the relief around the base has to be a rich tapestry about people getting together again after being apart. All separation involves a suspended moment when one wonders is this forever?" Paul Day
I've photographed every section of the bronze frieze in an anti-clockwise direction.
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- See also 1a. Kings Cross Station and 1b. St Pancras Stations (see 10. for sculpture pictures)
London England docspics images pictures © Phil Brown Cheap rail fares to London bargain off-peak tickets for London-York, London-Birmingham, London-Newcastle, London-Edinburgh, photos images pictures © Phil Brown Rail tours Railway travel holidays special steam excursions A great steam heritage line and offers luxury Pullman coach dining trains European Rail tours US and Canadian Railway travel holidays special steam excursions A great steam heritage line and offers luxury Pullman coach dining trains Travelling by train always seems a pleasure, especially if through wonderful scenery either in England, Scotland, Wales or on holiday in the rest of the railways of Europe! The railway trip involves seeing or travelling behind a 'real' steam locomotive or heritage diesel in action and there is nothing like the sight and sounds of a steam train to invoke feelings of nostalgia in some of us, even more luxury by having a special trip out on a steam dining train! Booking Eurostar Continental Rail Travel Tour Tickets |
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