Bronze Revisited

I know it's been blipped before, but after being so taken with the wonderful bronze pieces in the exhibition yesterday, I had little choice but to search out the bronze statue in St Pancras Station, as we went for the train home this morning.

For those who aren't familiar with it, 'The Meeting Place' is a 9 metre high bronze statue designed by Paul Day and intended to evoke the romance of travel through the depiction of a couple locked in an amorous embrace. It was placed beneath the station clock in the newly refurbished St Pancras Station in 2008. Apparently, it met with some critical derision at the time, mainly for being too obvious and kitsch. All I can say is that it is very popular. There are always people looking at it and taking photographs. And, having learnt so much yesterday about how these statutes are made, I am much more in awe of it than I have been on previous occasions.

Round the plinth of the statue is a bronze frieze depicting scenes from railway life. (The planned section showing a commuter falling into the path of a train driven by the Grim Reaper did not make it to the final piece!). I am always taken by this bit as there is so much detail. And I have noticed that the dog's head is much shinier than all the rest of the frieze. I'm sure that's as a result of people stroking it!