Last weekend we made our annual trip by train to London. I do enjoy a train ride when everything goes well and it certainly did this weekend.

Station one – We started our journey at East Midlands Parkway which gives us a direct train into London St Pancras. It is a 21st century functional no frills station, with safe, secure car parking as a bonus.  

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Station two – The station is adjacent to the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station which I wrote about in November 2023. It was in the news last week as it ceased producing electricity after almost 60 years of service.  Ratcliffe was the UK’s last coal-fired power station and its closure ends over 140 years of coal-fired generation in the UK.  Apparently those 8 massive cooling towers will be demolished. They are such a prominent landmark and sign that ‘we’re nearly home’ to countless Nottingham and Derby folk.

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Station three – For our return on Sunday morning we arrived at at the 19th century St Pancras station in ample time for the train so took the opportunity to look around.

In fact this sign encourages travellers to do just that. 

St Pancras Station was opened in 1868, when the Midland Railway company wanted an impressive London terminus and equally impressive hotel. The station and hotel were designed by W H Barlow and George Gilbert Scott and the station’s vast train shed was the largest single-span structure in the world at the time. The materials used for construction were largely and appropriately sourced from the East Midlands, with the ironwork arches by the Butterley Co. Derbyshire, 60 million red bricks from Nottingham and Leicestershire and also limestone and granite from the region.

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The station is now officially known as London St Pancras International as it is the terminus for Eurostar services.

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But why the statue of Poet Sir John Betjeman?  Well Betjeman was a key figure in the campaign to prevent demolition of the building in the 1960.  This was obviously successful but with days to spare – St Pancras was awarded Grade I listed status just 10 days before demolition was due to commence.

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