I was about to post my adventures on the 59 bus from Euston going ' south of the river ', when I came across Michael Palin's campaign to rebuild the Euston Arch.
http://www.eustonarch.org/index.php
The proposed redevelopment of Euston Station now presents an opportunity to rebuild the Arch.
Wow ! How fab would that be?
The loss of the arch in the late 60s was an act of outrageous out-and-out vandalism. 'Would any European country allow such a landmark of architectural history to be removed, on economic grounds, without some attempt to raise the money for its preservation?'
Despite John Betjeman’s battle to save the Euston Arch it was demolished amid widespread protest.
As always the wonderful Dan Cruickshank has all the information you could ever want and its well worth the read:
http://www.eustonarch.org/betjeman.html
Demolition kick-started the conservation movement. Betjeman and his friends were better prepared when it came do battle to save St. Pancras Station.
Thank you Sir John.
Now its our turn to do our bit for London. Follow the link below and see what you can do to return the romantically majestic Euston Arch – the first and greatest emblem of Britain’s mighty railway age.
http://www.eustonarch.org/action.html
We will have to wait a little longer for the blog I actually was writing but I thought this so interesting and important that it had to come first.
ttfn.
Fascinating stuff - and despite Mr Cruickshank being one of the most irritating TV presenters, good on him for fighting this battle. He has apparently excavated the stones from the river, but the planning permission for its rebuild and restoration on the Euston site has unfortunately become embroiled in the endless debates about the planned high-speed rail development for the London-Birmingham route, and the arguments continue, even this week, as Camden Council has come out against it: read more. Shame. Jx
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