Victoria Stations

A relatively early start up to London. I say relatively as when I was working I’d be up earlier than that to get on the treadmill again.

Another meeting about the new learning environment being developed for prisons. It’s looking very good although the time scale is beyond tight. We were asked for our views on various elements of the system so that the developers could ensure it met all the needs we could envisage. Still much more of this sort of stuff to do especially with the test sites where the learners and staff can have their input too.

The meeting was up near Euston. I caught the tube up in the morning from Victoria but walked from Euston back to Victoria after the meeting. Always fascinating walking across London.

Todays blip is of the entrance to Victoria Station. I wonder how many people who’ve seen this view have noticed the contrasting styles between the London, Chatham and Dover station on the left and the London Brighton and South Coast Railway on the right. They were arch rivals and essentially until 1923 they were two separate stations. After that the two became one under Southern Railway as shown on the left hand building.

I’m about to finish Simon Jenkins’s book Britain’s 100 Best Railway Stations which gives a fascinating insight into the multitude of different architectural styles used in the building of our network’s stations. No expense was usually spared and thankfully nowadays the buildings are being restored and celebrated rather than obliterated as they were in the 1960s and 70s.