Oxford Road Station, places I like

Well yes, it looks like another series of stories and all because I fell across some old pictures of the new Piccadilly Railway Station, and so it’s on to more.

The old front of Oxford Road Station hardly inspired you or lifted the heart that you were about to take off on an adventure.  It was a wooden and brick construction with wooden boards across the top half of the building and from the pictures I haves seen equally grim inside.

But all that changed in the late 1950s when British Rail rebuilt the exterior of the station.  They retained wood as the medium for construction but produced a stunning design which even now I reckon is pretty impressive.  

Back in 1961 the curve of the “Armadillo” roof was matched by a central car park protected by swirling tall concrete walls and surrounded by a gently curving ramp which took you up to the station.

The car park has gone replaced within a decade of the station’s opening by the mound which now has seats and acts as a pleasant enough spot to sit and watch the life of the place.  I would like to have seen it back when there was a car park but have to say it does look ugly and prevented a clear view of that impressive roof.

Picture; from the collection of Andrew Simpson