Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations

by Simon Jenkins

Overview

It is the scene for our hopeful beginnings and our intended ends, and the timeless experiences of coming and going, meeting, greeting, and parting. It is an institution with its own rituals and priests, and a long-neglected aspect of Britain's architecture. And yet so little do we look at the railway station. Simon Jenkins has traveled the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Waterloo to Wemyss Bay, Betws-y-Coed to Beverley, to select his hundred best. Blending his usual insight and authority with his personal reflections and experiences—including his founding of the Railway Heritage Trust—the foremost expert on Britain's national heritage deftly reveals the history, geography, design, and significance of each of these glories. Beautifully illustrated with color photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of social history shows the station's role in Britain's imagination; champions the engineers, architects, and rival companies that made them possible; and tells the story behind the triumphs and follies of these very British creations. These are the marvelous, often undersung places that link the nation, celebrated like never before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780241979006
Publisher:	Penguin Random House UK
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	897,785
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Simon Jenkins is author of Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations, A Short History of England, England's Thousand Best Churches, and England's Thousand Best Houses. He is the former editor of the Evening Standard and Times, and a columnist for Guardian and Evening Standard.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Great Journey 1

The Station in the British Imagination 32

The Hundred Best 42

Stations No More 44

Maps 46

London: Termini

King's Cross 52

Liverpool Street 58

Marylebone 62

Paddington 66

St Pancras 71

Victoria 76

Waterloo 79

London: Suburban & Underground

Baker Street 88

Battersea Park 90

Canary Wharf 93

Crystal Palace 96

Denmark Hill 97

Gants Hill 98

Peckham Rye 101

Southgate 101

Southwark 104

Surbiton 106

Westminster 107

South-East

Battle 114

Boxhill & Westhumble 116

Brighton 117

Eastbourne 120

Portsmouth & Southsea 123

Ramsgate 123

Sheffield Park 125

Slough 127

Windsor & Eton Riverside 130

South-West

Bath Spa 136

Bournemouth 139

Bristol Temple Meads 140

Dawlish 145

Eggesford 148

Exeter St David's 151

East Anglia

Bury St Edmunds 156

Cambridge 158

Chappel & Wakes Colne 160

Hertford East 162

Ingatestone 163

Needham Market 164

Norwich 165

Stamford 168

Stowmarket 170

Wolferton 171

Midlands

Birmingham New Street 178

Cromford 181

Gobowen 181

Great Malvern 183

Hereford 186

Leamington Spa 187

Leicester 188

Loughborough Central 190

Nottingham 192

Shrewsbury 194

Stoke-on-Trent 197

Wellingborough 200

Worksop 201

North-West

Birkenhead Hamilton Square 207

Carlisle 207

Carnforth 210

Chester 212

Grange-over-Sands 214

Liverpool Lime Street 215

Manchester Liverpool Road 218

Manchester Oxford Road 222

Manchester Victoria 224

Penrich 229

Preston 230

Ulverston 232

Yorkshire & North-East

Beverley 238

Darlington 239

Durham 241

Goathland 243

Hebden Bridge 244

Hexham 246

Huddersfield 247

Hull 248

Middlesbrough 250

Newcastle Central 253

Newcastle Jesmond 257

Ribblehead 258

Sheffield 260

Tynemouth 262

Whitby 264

York 265

Wales

Aberystwyth 275

Berwyn 275

Betws-y-Coed 278

Cardiff Central 281

Dolau 282

Porthmadog Harbour 283

Scotland

Aviemore 292

Edinburgh Waverley 293

Glasgow Central 294

Gleneagles 299

Glenfinnan 299

Perth 302

Pitlochry 304

Rannoch 304

Stirling 307

Wemyss Bay 309

Acknowledgements 313

Glossary 315

Bibliography 318

Photographic Credits 319

Index 322

Editorial Reviews

"[Spreads] enthusiasm by inviting the reader to join in a game of admiration." —Telegraph


"However spectacular the book's photographs, it's the author's prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages." —Times


"A most beautiful book . . . full of information. I'd like to travel to every one of the stations. Simon Jenkins is a blessing to the nation, keeping an eye on our buildings and making sure they are not forgotten or neglected." —Claire Tomalin


"Jenkins has unearthed a lot of gems. The photography is stunning." —Spectator


"This is a cracker . . . a beautiful book." —Chris Evans


"Simon Jenkins extols the virtues of 100 of them, as well as offering a brief history of the rise, fall and rise again of Britain's railways. And he is the perfect person to do so. Excellent, enticing." —Evening Standard


"This glorious and utterly essential guide to Britain's best railway stations is also a history of some of the remarkable—but often undersung—landmarks to our social history." —Bookseller


"Masterly, perhaps a masterpiece." —Independent, Books of the Year, on England's Thousand Best Churches

From the Publisher