LNER station garden competitions / beautification

[jukebox]

Can anyone shed any light on the practice of landscaping ends of platforms and other lineside spaces that the LNER did in the latter years of their existence?

 

There is a photo from around 1947 in "The Worlds Railways and How They Work" (Odham) that shows a very tidy grassing:

 

 

I have noticed that plantings like those small bushes appear lineside in period photos taken outside of Kings Cross, as well as parts of the Tyne Dock-Consett route.

 

I also recall a copy of BRill that detailed the visit of an inspector to a rural station in a special train, judging this sort of thing.

 

Can anyone shed some light on the extent and longevity of this sort of thing - or did it, if you'll pardon the pun, die out as the railways ran down in the 1960's.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

 

 

 

 

[50A55B]

That’s just north of York station. There are photos of these features being well tended into the 1960s but I get the impression they were left untended from sometime in that decade. The odd privet bush survived out as far as milepost 1 into the 1980s, I think electrification works swept away the last remains.

[luckymucklebackit]

The Scottish station that used to have pretty much a stranglehold on any "best garden" awards was Aberdour.  The station now has a thriving visitor centre and has kept up the old traditions of well kept gardens.  IIRC It won the National Rail Award for "Small Station of the Year" in 2018

 

Jim

[50A55B]

There’s a small cameo of the features in the photo at Goathland on the NYMR, near the water tank on the up side.