Truth and Justice

A meeting at Piccadilly Gate this afternoon. I got there too early, and it being lunchtime I went for a 20 minute stroll.

Nearby sits the long empty former London Road Fire Station. This huge building, completed in 1906 by a Swinton firm, also contained an ambulance station, a police station, a coroners court, and more. It's grade 2* listed and not so much a building as an edifice. They don't make buildings like this any more. Edwardian confidence had yet to be blown apart by the disastrous European conflict of 1914-18.

There is an interesting history to this empty building over the last 20-30 years. Suffice it to say that after Britannia Hotels had moved on from the scene, Allied London took over and are the new owners. Let's hope they come up with a plan for the building that works commercially for them, but manages to retain this part of the City's history without damaging its integrity. It won't be easy I'm sure.

I really like the sculptures on the building exterior. These in the blip are Justice (to the left, sword in hand), and Truth (to the right, mirror at the ready). In this era of fake news (we used to call it lying) and attacks on the judiciary, more relevant to 2017 than I would ever have imagined.