Whilst there will be another write-up about this event in the Newsletter, my own perspective on the day is an exclusive for the new web site and I hope it provides an idea of what the day was like.
Knowing what Saturday services on East Midlands Railways can be like, I consciously chose to get an early train to London to try and miss the worst of the crowds. Arriving just before 08:00 I found I had easily met my objective. Such is the layout of the station now that where once the main hustle and bustle would have been, between the hotel and the buffer-stops, was strangely deserted at that time. These days, the really busy part of the station is the undercroft, especially around the Eurostar entrance, obviously.
With 2½ hours until the rest of the group were due to meet, I set off for a “mooch” around the streets of London. Even though 8am its hardly the crack of dawn, I was once again being struck by the eerily empty streets, something which would change completely in only a few hours. I soon found what I was looking for, a backstreet cafe serving builders tea and a bacon doorstep and continued my wanderings.
As a born & bred provincial, visiting “The Smoke” only infrequently and invariably by train, I have developed a subconscious belief that there is little or nothing of the Capital north of the Euston Road! My pre-meeting walk put the lie to that of course. Chief among my “discoveries” was the charming Old St. Pancras Churchyard …of Thomas Hardy fame, of course. Dressed in its autumnal colours and populated at this time only by squirrels and the occasional dog walker, it eternally was an oasis in the city. Interpretation boards informed me how the church itself has been rebuilt an refurbished multiple times in its long history, but it remains entirely recongisable from the Illustrated London News sketches of Hardy and his men relocating the graves for the coming of the Midland Railway.
Having already definitely got my 10,000 steps in for the day, it was time to “meet under the clock” at 10:00 as arranged. Although this descriptor isn’t quite as dramatic as, say, Waterloo, the reproduction Dent clock (the original famously being relocated piece-by-piece to Southwell by Nottingham-based Guard, Roland Haggard, via the Guards Van of passenger trains in the 1980s), it nevertheless worked well.
Although our guide of the day, Royden Stock, still has contacts at the station and hotel, as this was the first tour he has done for over five years, it was still of an unofficial nature. This is what led to the event being billed as “strictly limited” in terms of numbers and in practice this was just as well. Even though the former concourse area remained the least busy part of the station station, that was entirely relative. A group any larger than ours lingering would undoubtedly have created a bottleneck, but as it happened we went under the radar all day.
Royden gave us an introduction to his background, how he first encountered the station as a young man but only in middle age when circumstances brought him back to the place did it truly become part of his heart and soul. What began as a short term security ‘gig’ steadily grew out of al expectations (least of all Royden’s) to the point that probably no-one in history has had such close and intimate knowledge of the place. At this point it is important to reinforce that for almost all it railway existence, the station and the hotel have been organizationally separate entities. It was only when brought under the umbrella of London and Continental Railways for the redevelopment in connection with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, that it came not be considered an homologous entity. My point is, William Henry Barlow knew the station, George Gilbert Scott knew the hotel, only Royden got to know them both… and a lot more! Having the run of the place, all the keys, and no doubt a good torch, allowed him to get to know literally every inch of the place.
Royden (back centre) points out the nuanced architectural features of the taxi arch.
It isn’t just his ‘hands on’ experience of St. Pancras that makes a tour led by Royden so fascinating, it is the time spent with the Midland Railway minute books at the National Archives, the travel to see connected artifacts (even in Australia), but most of all it’s the long conversations with literally thousands of people who worked in, passed through or otherwise were connected with, the station and hotel he has had over the years. The examples of Royden’s encounters over the years run the gamut from the tenant of the arches who threatened to shoot Royden’s boss when being evicted, to going cigar shopping with Bruce Willis. (The place has been used for countless films, television programs and commercials over the years, with Royden usually front and centre on the arrangements).
During the course of almost six hours, with half an hour for lunch, our small group was conducted from front-to-back, side-to-side and all-around, the public areas of the station and surrounding streets. In that time Royden barely paused for breath and used no notes whatsoever. I know a little bit about the Midland Railway and this station, and I have heard Royden’s talk a couple of time before, but I can’t begin to list all that I learned here. Any criticism I might have had over his knowledge and recall would amount only to mere pedantry. It was a very impressive feat and wholly underlines the work he has put into his subject over many years. If there is a criticism to be leveled it is one he himself acknowledges; his subject is St. Pancras, and so the wider story of Midland Railway and railway history in general is outside his specialism. When all is said and done, the line has to be drawn somewhere, so that is hardly a fault!
Harrier GR.1 flown by Squadron Leader Tom Lecky-Thompson on the westbound leg of the 1969 Daily Mail Transatlantic Air Race pictured at “RAF St Pancras”. The challenge of the event was to travel from the Post Office Tower in London to the Empire State Building in New York in the shortest time. The former Somers Town Goods Yard being located just 10 minutes drive from the GPO Tower offered an enormous advantage to the RAF. Sq. Ldr Lecky-Thompson refuelled in the air 11 times before landing on a pier on the East River in New York and arrived at the Empire State Building in six hours 11 minutes, winning £6,000 for the RAF.
Royden’s reward for his endeavors was his lunch and train fare paid by the Society and Andrew Surry presented him with a copy of the “RAF St.Pancras” photograph — a story Royden was familiar with but not the details as it was long before his time, so it was good that we could repay the compliment in a tiny way by providing the background.
The afternoon drew on and our number dwindled as train times approached, but Royden was still in full flow with story after story, detail after detail and (whisper it!), the occasional secret, coming out. As my own departure time approached, his audience had reduced to four, but he showed no sign of drawing his presentation to a close. Having done several tours a day over the course of the two years of his employment by the hotel for the purpose, the cork that intervening five years represents was well and truly popped!
A big thanks to Graham Speechley for making this all happen as well, of course, to Royden for wearing his throat hoarse!
By Dave Harris – Monday, 28 October 2024
