Present
The two storey yellow brick station buildings are unusually fine examples of mid-Victorian railway architecture and are protected as part of the Kew Gardens conservation area. The station is one of the few remaining 19th century stations on the North London Line and had one of the last illuminated banner signals on the London Underground, possibly because of the footbridge. This signal was replaced by an electronic version in 2011.
The footbridge to the south of the station is also noteworthy and is Grade II listed in its own right. The railway line bisected Kew, but it was not until 1912 that the bridge was provided to allow residents to cross the tracks safely. It is a rare surviving example of a reinforced concrete structure built using a pioneering technique devised by the French engineer François Hennebique. The bridge has a narrow deck and very high walls, designed to protect its users' clothing from the smoke of steam trains passing underneath. It also has protrusions on either side of the deck to deflect smoke away from the bridge structure. It was restored in 2004 with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Kew Gardens is the only station on the London Underground network that has a pub attached to it. 'The Railway' has a door (now closed) which leads out onto platform one.
Read more about this topic: Kew Gardens Station (London)
Famous quotes containing the word present:
“Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“The present cannot compare with the past.”
—Chinese proverb.
“In the present age, alas! our pens are ravished by unlettered authors and unmannered critics, that make a havoc rather than a building, a wilderness rather than a garden. But, alack! what boots it to drop tears upon the preterit?”
—Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898)