Doric Arch, Euston

I was rushing back to Maidstone for another appointment following long, but successful meetings near Kings Cross and lunch near Euston Station when I came across the one opportunity for my blip today.

Those of you who remember the old Euston railway station which was demolished in the 1960s will recall the doric arches at the front of the station building. Now all that is left is this little reminder in a shop window display of railway paraphenalia including a signal arm and (not visible here, block instruments that were used to control train movements on sections of track out of the station.

There was a great public outcry at the destruction of Euston station ;ead by the poet John Betjeman but it was to no avail, the modernists had their way. The great Vicorian edifice was replaced by what has been described as "hidious" and "a dingy, grey, horizontal nothingness". It has the feeling and sense of a municipal latrine. Michael Palin was somewhat less crude with his description which likened the new station to "a great bath, full of smooth, slippery surfaces where people can be sloshed about efficiently"

But, overall it was a productive, if busy day. A nice lunch the cost of which was borne by the expense accounts of the other people around me. Very generous and much appreciated.