‘STOP THE PRESSES’ – Ok maybe this isn’t one of those
moments but so impressive is the transformation in Deptford that it deserves a
little blog attention.
For any readers who use Deptford Railway Station on the
regular I’m sure you’ve seen some of the changes with your own eyes and I hope
you agree, with near unanimous approval, we now have a station both practical
and aesthetically pleasing.
For anyone who doesn’t often travel through this part of London,
Deptford station, before its refurbishment, was decidedly…shall we say shabby?
I mean it did its job, a single stairwell either side to the platform and that
was pretty much it. Walls were bare, it was enclosed, steps were dangerously
steep and worn on one platform side, leaky roofing, kinda grimy looking and on
the whole not very pleasant.
We can’t be too harsh though. Deptford station is supposedly
one of the oldest stations still present in London
today. Built originally in the 1830’s complete with carriage ramp, the station
saw a payment office and waiting room added in the 1860’s. The last refurb the
station saw was in the 1920’s and since then not much else. This was a station
clearly built for the commuting needs of a different era entirely and in all fairness,
considering it’s continued to facilitate the hustle and bustle of who knows how
many people for the better half of a century, it hasn’t done too badly.
In any case it’s good to see some money being
spent on a project and in an area that really deserves it – a station overhaul
has been long overdue. Renovations have included construction of a new station
building and ticket office and improved passenger information downstairs and on
the platforms. Two new lifts have been installed (allowing access for those
can’t use stairs easily plus no more hauling heavy suitcases up crazy
stairwells thankyou very much) with new canopies over the platforms.
Also
exiting on platform 2 now has you walking down a gradual and winding stairwell
and actually underneath the train arches. Both these arches and carriage ramp remain
from the 1830’s structure design - a nice touch I feel. Yes, new and improved
is good but with a nod to its original heritage and constructual history it
makes it even better.
With the Olympics just around the corner I’m sure the timely
completion of the station was fore-planned with this in mind. There will be
many commuting through Deptford to get to the Equestrian and Shooting events in
Greenwich and Woolwich. But in
terms of long term benefits I think this refurb will do a lot for Deptford and
will have a positive knock on effect for all the local businesses in the area.
Indeed it plays an integral part in Lewisham council’s regeneration project. I
believe that there are further plans to turn the railway yard into a public
piazza, new apartments to be built and under each of the 21 railway arches that
span the tracks designated space for possible bars, cafes, offices and
exhibition space for Deptfords creative community. It all looks fairly
promising but time will tell as construction continues.
With the sparkly and new station building now in play, builders have
closed off the former stairwell and are hard at work to return the viaduct back to its natural
glory.
For now entrance to the station is looking like this due to the construction work and materials still throughout the rail courtyard on the right:
When all is done however they will be aiming for a
look something a little bit like this:
(pic taken from www.lewisham.gov.uk)
As a commuter who sometimes indulges in travelling
through Deptford it just makes my day-to-day routine that little bit nicer.
Plus in a time when we hear so much about what councils are doing wrong, I
think here we have a brilliant example of a council doing something right. It
just shows what can be done when money is given to local councils and how it
can be invested in a local community to make a practical difference. I will be
very much intrigued to see what happens in the coming months.
Posted by the Angelic Rogue
Check out the blog of the Deptford Dame for some more pics
and other news here:
Further news concerning Lewisham councils Regeneration
project here:
Original paper drawn up in 2008 noting key aspects of
areas regeneration plans here:
No comments:
Post a Comment