Guest jim s-w Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Hi all We have an ugliest station thread running but what are your thoughts on britains most beautiful station, past and present? Cheers Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 New Street I presume Jim? Beauty is in the eye of etc. etc...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welly Posted November 21, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2010 Mainline station - York comes straight to mind. London terminus - Paddington. Smaller stations are difficult to decide, is it location or buildings? Location, Barrhill on the Stranraer line comes to mind. Building - well it's not easy to spot from a passing train but I nominate Lincoln ( in semaphore days ) for the well kept buidings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Actually the next station down the line from Pokesdown isn't all that bad..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 London: St. Pancras (exterior), Liverpool Street (interior). To be honest I've never understood the attraction for Paddington.............but what do I know? Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jim s-w Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 New Street I presume Jim? Beauty is in the eye of etc. etc...... God no! I am under no illusions that new street is beyond grim. Interesting and a place that I have a strong personal link to but grim! Cheers Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 To be honest I've never understood the attraction for Paddington.............but what do I know? Me neither. It's the coldest, dampest & darkest of all the London Termini. St Pancras is a lot nicer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mcfarlane Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Cromford station in Derbyshire takes some beating. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Bits of Glasgow Central are nice, Newcastle is quite nice but York I think has been tastefully maintained as it has changed over the years. Manchester Piccadilly although modern has something since they cleaned up and repaired the roof. Had it stayed open Manchester Central would have looked wonderful today as it was a clean lined structure rather like St Pancras. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike J Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I'm with Welly on this one, as soon as I saw the OP it was York that sprang to mind, although St. Pancras runs it pretty close. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sulzer27jd Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I think for small stations Abedour in Fife has won the 'best kept' almost every year since they invented the wheel. J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim H Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 York, definitely. And I can see what people mean about Manchester Piccadilly. And Liverpool Street, for that matter. Also got a soft spot for Bristol Temple Meads. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Steven B Posted November 21, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2010 Some of the best smaller stations: Great Malvern Rannoch Ribblehead Happy modelling. Steven B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted November 21, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2010 Settle. 36E Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Yes, think I'll go for York - plus a Deltic of course. This is Pinza by the way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Of the larger and still active stations, it is certainly hard to beat York. Unlike so many others, the more modern accretions are relatively modest and do not impose themselves in most views. Nevertheless, to my mind, there is nothing to beat Brunel's original train shed at Bristol Temple Meads. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beacon Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 London St Pancras and Bristol Temple Meads as already mentioned. I've always been impressed by the outside of London Victoria and the inside of London Paddington too. If we can count disused stations then I'd go for Southampton Terminus although I suppose technically it is the adjoining hotel building that I think is beautiful. As for smaller stations I can think of many which have beautiful surroundings, but for the station building itself it has to be the big grand Victorian structures for me! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted November 21, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2010 Bradford on Avon is a very nice little station. It can't compete with larger stations in terms of the grandness of architecture but for a good example of a wayside station it has a lot going for it. image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brdg_BOAStn_P1010192.JPG Photographer = Bashereyre Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welly Posted November 21, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2010 I forgot about St Pancras when I was thinking of London! Yes St Pancras is better than Paddington by many miles! I was much more familiar with Paddington due to using it a LOT more often, travels to and from boarding school and the 50s out of it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 For sheer elegance Curzon Street Building has a lot going for it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Curzon_Street_Station_-Birmingham-UK.jpg It's supposed to to be integrated into the new High speed terminal, I beleive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
station cat Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 The platforms at Paddington are very airy and the roof over them is impressive, perhaps that's the attarction? I like the pinkish quality of the light there. I like Kendal, the station itself isn't great but the view is stunning. Exeter St Davids is fairly unspoilt too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 21, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2010 Nevertheless, to my mind, there is nothing to beat Brunel's original train shed at Bristol Temple Meads. Nick Which clearly makes it the most beautiful car park in Britain (if not the whole world?) It was even nicer when it still had railway track but definitely a bit on the grubby side. Most beautiful station currently in use for trains is York as far as I'm concerned, Paddington has always been let down by the Lawn area and it has become even worse since it was retiled with skating rink material and invaded by all sorts of little huts that sell things like burgers, writing pads, and underwear - it comes to mind as a very seriously failed attempt to emulate Liverpool St. St Pancras has a lot going for it because it is a nice structure and the paint is new & shiny but somehow it doesn't quite work for me and never has. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted November 21, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2010 Do preserved stations count? I'm hard put to recall precise individual details of all three, but the Bluebell's three stations take some beating to my mind. Ok, so I'm LBSCR-minded, come from the South East, and like the country-house design that T.H.Myres introduced in those and about a dozen others - indeed our last house in Kent (built 1887) was not totally dissimilar. I have every confidence other preserved lines can muster some strong competition! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Kemble gets my immediate vote... despite bit's of it having been removed after the Tetbury and Cirencester branches closed in the sixties. Perth too, always had a soft spot for it. Off to Paddington tomorrow for a HST course, must remember to look up! Nidge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 21, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2010 Kemble gets my immediate vote... despite bit's of it having been removed after the Tetbury and Cirencester branches closed in the sixties. Perth too, always had a soft spot for it. Off to Paddington tomorrow for a HST course, must remember to look up! Nidge The HSTs are the ones with a sort of pointy end Nidge - but surely you ought to know that And yes, the best bit of Paddington is looking up but don't forget the 'balcony' which overlooks Platform 1, that really is something in my view (and you get a good view from it but access not now easy I suspect). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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