4 ms·

The Charing Cross, erm, cross is marvellous and yet so badly situated, the mind boggles. My ex-girlfriend was a tour guide and filled me in on it about twenty-f

by vr46 3y ago

The Charing Cross, erm, cross is marvellous and yet so badly situated, the mind boggles. My ex-girlfriend was a tour guide and filled me in on it about twenty-five years ago and NOTHING has improved. Look at where it is on the satellite image: https://maps.app.goo.gl/A7ZF3acr35XnN1AX7?g_st=ic https://maps.app.goo.gl/A7ZF3acr35XnN1AX7?g_st=ic

OJFord 3y ago
I'm not sure what you mean, but it's not the original location (or design) according to the OP. It has been there since 1865 though, so if you think it's awkward wrt the infrastructure that's developed since then really it's the other way around and I'm not sure who you expected to do what over the last 25y? Or am I missing a joke?
- vr46 3y ago
  It’s a replica, for sure, but it is still a commemorative monument, and it was specifically commissioned by the railway company and restored about fifteen years ago, with some bollards added to protect it from cars, but it’s forlorn and feels neglected sat shielded by the railing and then across a car park. I was leaning against it a few months ago waiting for a friend, lamenting that so much of London’s heritage and history gets so much attention and this poor thing is almost designed to be ignored.
  - OJFord 3y ago
    Oh I see - I didn't understand that you liked it but thought it would be better appreciated elsewhere from your first comment. I think I'd argue that's at least partly due to changed attitudes about railway stations. In 1865 I think it would've seemed grander and more prominent, more of a presence while bustling about between horse-drawn and train carriage, calling a porter, etc.; today's stations themselves are not grand, we bustle in broadly the same ways but perhaps more busily, heads in phones, between machinery that moves more quickly, and what was perhaps once a fairly open free for all semi-square is not, from memory, a taxi rank and a road divided by the cross?
    - vr46 3y ago
      Very true, the railway fell from prominence but in the last twenty years, London has been seriously revamping its stations to possibly recapture some of that old, well, prestige and glamour are probably overstating the drive, but certainly to make them more useful, robust, commercial and extract more from every square foot.

by vr46 3y ago

OJFord 3y ago

I'm not sure what you mean, but it's not the original location (or design) according to the OP. It has been there since 1865 though, so if you think it's awkward wrt the infrastructure that's developed since then really it's the other way around and I'm not sure who you expected to do what over the last 25y? Or am I missing a joke?

vr46 3y ago
It’s a replica, for sure, but it is still a commemorative monument, and it was specifically commissioned by the railway company and restored about fifteen years ago, with some bollards added to protect it from cars, but it’s forlorn and feels neglected sat shielded by the railing and then across a car park. I was leaning against it a few months ago waiting for a friend, lamenting that so much of London’s heritage and history gets so much attention and this poor thing is almost designed to be ignored.
- OJFord 3y ago
  Oh I see - I didn't understand that you liked it but thought it would be better appreciated elsewhere from your first comment. I think I'd argue that's at least partly due to changed attitudes about railway stations. In 1865 I think it would've seemed grander and more prominent, more of a presence while bustling about between horse-drawn and train carriage, calling a porter, etc.; today's stations themselves are not grand, we bustle in broadly the same ways but perhaps more busily, heads in phones, between machinery that moves more quickly, and what was perhaps once a fairly open free for all semi-square is not, from memory, a taxi rank and a road divided by the cross?
  - vr46 3y ago
    Very true, the railway fell from prominence but in the last twenty years, London has been seriously revamping its stations to possibly recapture some of that old, well, prestige and glamour are probably overstating the drive, but certainly to make them more useful, robust, commercial and extract more from every square foot.