A history walk around the London Paddington Station area and gongoozling
Yesterday I set off to Paddington Station to meet up with the group I joined last Autumn for a guided history walk around Paddington and Maida Vale. We were blessed with a gloriously sunny day and high temperatures of 26C/78F, although the day started slightly cooler as we head for Autumn.
Paddington Station was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel back in 1864 taking inspiration from The Crystal Palace (the huge glass 'greenhouse' built for the London Great Exhibition in 1851). You can see the shape of the supporting struts inside - Matthew Digby Wyatt, an associate of Brunel, designed the decoration on the metal.
More photos under the cut with several Paddington bears and the definition of gongoozling...
The outside of the Station. There has been various remodelling over the years, but many of the original features survive.
Next to the front of the station are the original headquarters of the Great Western Railway - a gorgeous Art Deco building (check out the lights!). Now a hotel.
Inside this interesting part of the ceiling was above the turntable which turned the steam trains around so that they could leave the station again
A statue of I.K. Brunel inside the station (with two current staff having a break and sitting on his plinth!).
There's also Paddington Bear! This one is set up for people to sit next to him for a selfie :D
Next to a seat painted with Paddington and his marmalade sandwiches.
This very moving statue ('Soldier Reading a Letter') commemorates the 3,312 men and women of the Great Western Railway who gave their lives "for King and country" in two world wars. Designed by Jagger.
Above the statue is the old station master's offices which meant he had a very good view of what was going on in the station (his entrance to the right of the statue). Paddington Station was where Queen Victoria took her first train ride, and there was a specific waiting room designed for her which has recently been restored (which was only for First Class Passengers, so we weren't allowed in). Online photos here.
Trains!
We walked out of Paddington around the back of the station to see the Regent's canal which pre-dates the railway. This canal linked London to the Midlands by joining with the Grand Union Canal and goods were transported up and down the country by barge before the railways made this obsolete. The building on the left used to be the stables for horses, but is now the executive staff HQ for St Mary's Hospital!
Picturesque houseboats and barges in what is known as the Paddington Basin.
This is a fascinating short bridge that moves and curls up to form a sculpture. You can see a 19-second timelapse of what the looks like on YouTube here.
We walked on and came across another Paddington Bear. This one is flocked in blue...
More interesting sculptures a little further on. This is 'walking man' by Sean Henry commissioned in 2003 - painted bronze and life-sized, it looks incredibly realistic.
Opposite him is the companion piece 'standing man'. I think he looks quite grumpy.
Across the tracks we could see the 'Battleship' building. The former Paddington maintenance building, built in 1964. Now for sale!
Modern times - a barge with a new purpose.
'Little Venice' where the Regent's Canal joins with the Grand Union Canal. This area was named Little Venice by the poet Robert Browning. Watching boats drift by for pleasure is knows as gongoozling.
Wildlife
The former toll cottage. In front of the building, the canal had a gauge for measuring how deep in the water a boat was. Based on the depth the cargo weight was calculated, and a toll was collected.
An area with an old slope to allow the horses to go into the canal for a drink and to cool off on hot days.
We passed St. Mary Magdalene's Church which has the most amazing interior, but unfortunately was closed on Thursday! For those interested you can see the interiors here on their Wiki page, but I will go back at some point as it looks amazing.
It always surprises me that there are rural scenes like this in the middle of London.
Victorian architects - why leave a dull blank wall, when you can embellish it like this! The Maida Vale area of London.
The Prince Alfred pub - built in 1856 the interior retained some interesting Victorian quirks such as the 'snob screens' which allowed the upper classes to hide away from the lower classes.
Beautiful faience tiling in the entrance to the pub (and Guy our guide)
Etched glass windows
One of the snob screens with more etched glass.
We finished our tour outside this hotel. Alan Turin was born in this building when it was a maternity hospital - there's a blue plaque for him on the outside.
It was a really good tour and I learned a lot about an area I've only ever passed through (although I used to work in another part of Maida Vale back in the day). I'm looking forward to next week's tour, but I don't think the weather is likely to be as lovely as it was on Thursday!
Paddington Station was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel back in 1864 taking inspiration from The Crystal Palace (the huge glass 'greenhouse' built for the London Great Exhibition in 1851). You can see the shape of the supporting struts inside - Matthew Digby Wyatt, an associate of Brunel, designed the decoration on the metal.
More photos under the cut with several Paddington bears and the definition of gongoozling...
The outside of the Station. There has been various remodelling over the years, but many of the original features survive.
Next to the front of the station are the original headquarters of the Great Western Railway - a gorgeous Art Deco building (check out the lights!). Now a hotel.
Inside this interesting part of the ceiling was above the turntable which turned the steam trains around so that they could leave the station again
A statue of I.K. Brunel inside the station (with two current staff having a break and sitting on his plinth!).
There's also Paddington Bear! This one is set up for people to sit next to him for a selfie :D
Next to a seat painted with Paddington and his marmalade sandwiches.
This very moving statue ('Soldier Reading a Letter') commemorates the 3,312 men and women of the Great Western Railway who gave their lives "for King and country" in two world wars. Designed by Jagger.
Above the statue is the old station master's offices which meant he had a very good view of what was going on in the station (his entrance to the right of the statue). Paddington Station was where Queen Victoria took her first train ride, and there was a specific waiting room designed for her which has recently been restored (which was only for First Class Passengers, so we weren't allowed in). Online photos here.
Trains!
We walked out of Paddington around the back of the station to see the Regent's canal which pre-dates the railway. This canal linked London to the Midlands by joining with the Grand Union Canal and goods were transported up and down the country by barge before the railways made this obsolete. The building on the left used to be the stables for horses, but is now the executive staff HQ for St Mary's Hospital!
Picturesque houseboats and barges in what is known as the Paddington Basin.
This is a fascinating short bridge that moves and curls up to form a sculpture. You can see a 19-second timelapse of what the looks like on YouTube here.
We walked on and came across another Paddington Bear. This one is flocked in blue...
More interesting sculptures a little further on. This is 'walking man' by Sean Henry commissioned in 2003 - painted bronze and life-sized, it looks incredibly realistic.
Opposite him is the companion piece 'standing man'. I think he looks quite grumpy.
Across the tracks we could see the 'Battleship' building. The former Paddington maintenance building, built in 1964. Now for sale!
Modern times - a barge with a new purpose.
'Little Venice' where the Regent's Canal joins with the Grand Union Canal. This area was named Little Venice by the poet Robert Browning. Watching boats drift by for pleasure is knows as gongoozling.
Wildlife
The former toll cottage. In front of the building, the canal had a gauge for measuring how deep in the water a boat was. Based on the depth the cargo weight was calculated, and a toll was collected.
An area with an old slope to allow the horses to go into the canal for a drink and to cool off on hot days.
We passed St. Mary Magdalene's Church which has the most amazing interior, but unfortunately was closed on Thursday! For those interested you can see the interiors here on their Wiki page, but I will go back at some point as it looks amazing.
It always surprises me that there are rural scenes like this in the middle of London.
Victorian architects - why leave a dull blank wall, when you can embellish it like this! The Maida Vale area of London.
The Prince Alfred pub - built in 1856 the interior retained some interesting Victorian quirks such as the 'snob screens' which allowed the upper classes to hide away from the lower classes.
Beautiful faience tiling in the entrance to the pub (and Guy our guide)
Etched glass windows
One of the snob screens with more etched glass.
We finished our tour outside this hotel. Alan Turin was born in this building when it was a maternity hospital - there's a blue plaque for him on the outside.
It was a really good tour and I learned a lot about an area I've only ever passed through (although I used to work in another part of Maida Vale back in the day). I'm looking forward to next week's tour, but I don't think the weather is likely to be as lovely as it was on Thursday!