Giant HST image on bridge in Shepherd's Bush area 1990s?

[tomstaf]

Hi,

 

I came across this image (http://www.urban75.org/photos/protest/m4101.html) linked the the 'Reclaim the streets' protest on the M41 (now the A3220) at Shepherd's Bush in 1996. You'll notice there is a large executive liveried HST on the bridge in the background. Does anyone know which bridge it was and how long it lasted?

 

Cheers

 

Tom

[Oldddudders]

ISTR it wasn't a bridge at all - look for the supports and they're not there! Try this shot for the buildings on the right of your snap. https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=shepherds+bush+green&ie=UTF-8. The area has been redeveloped in tune with the major new shopping centre and the new London Overground station on the WLL. At that time there was a much narrower pinchpoint outside the Central Line tube station, leading to the roundabout. Haven't actually been there since 2004, but it all looks very different now, whereas the whole Green area was pretty much unchanged then from my first visits - with trolleybuses - in the early '60s.

[Revolution Mike]

Hi Tom

 

Another picture here:

 

Shepherds Bush Green by Steve White2008, on Flickr

 

Cheers, Mike

[Xerces Fobe2]

The HST was named, I think by Ken Livingston - Dave Wetzel the Chairmen of the GLC's Transport Committee at the time.

 

XF

[Pacific231G]

ISTR it wasn't a bridge at all - look for the supports and they're not there!

Sorry Ian and Tom but it most certainly was a bridge- I used to use it occasionally- and this view makes it a bit clearer

http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

You can see the central support as a single pole though as a footbridge the basic structure of a curved reinforced concrete box girder wouldn't have needed much support so I don't know if that was a later addition.

The footbridge was built to connect the West 12 shopping centre opened in 1967 with the north side of Shepherds Bush Green alongside the old Central Line station and there were inclined travolators at both ends. In later years I don't remember them ever working and the bridge became very rubbish strewn and unattractive so I tended to use the crossings instead. When the shopping centre was redeveloped in the 1990s the bridge was removed.

 

In its earlier days the bridge and its travolators even featured in the first two shots of the closing titles of The Sweeney (4th series 1978)

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYPSH4Q40y4&feature=related shots at 43 and 50 seconds

[lyneux]

As a local for the past 15 years (and having crossed this road at that point several times a week in that period) I think I can answer this!

 

By the way - I hate this bit of road and the horrible pedestrian crossing that exists here. It hasn't really gotten any better since the days of the bridge (look at the nasty railings) and is still very unfriendly to pedestrians. They re-built the pelican crossing when they built Westfield but it still doesn't take account of the vast numbers of people who use Richmond Way to access the tube station who end up just walking (or running) across in front of traffic. The pelican crossing should be about 50 yards closer to the roundabout. Anyway, rant over!

 

I remember seeing the train on the bridge go up when I came on trips to London to see my Uncle in the late 80s. I think the bridge pre-dated the train on it. It was a bridge linking the tube station with the old shopping centre that existed before West 12 (West 12 went up in the late 90s). The bridge got removed when the old shopping centre got demolished and West 12 was built (late 90s).

[tomstaf]

Thanks for the replies guys

 

Another idea to add to the layout...

 

Cheers

 

Tom

[melmerby]

Now:

 

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=shepherds+bush+green&hl=en&ll=51.504215,-0.218546&spn=0.009991,0.018904&hq=shepherds+bush+green&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.504191,-0.218711&panoid=kscoy4r-z9iuMJPJivq5YA&cbp=12,280.35,,0,-0.41

 

Keith