Which are the most palatial-style UK railway HQs and at the opposite extreme the humblest of HQ provisions? In addition to TOC, FOC and NR main HQ buildings I'm including regional/divisional/area HQs and HQs of organisations with a railway involvement such as regulatory, safety and other governmental bodies and relevant trade unions.
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Opulent and Minimalist Railway HQ Office Provision
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The one in York (last used as a railway HQ by GNER, then sold off for hotel conversion) has to be one of the most impressive.
Subsequent operators of the ECML franchise have lived in an anonymous modern office block down by the river.
Revaulx
Member
The London & Blackwall (L&B) railway built Fenchurch St Station and its approaches. But later the London Tilbury & Southend (LTS) got running powers. Eventually the station and approsaches was leased to the LTS, the L&B just collected the rent.
So once a year the L&B directors would meet in the directors room at Fencurrch St to declare a dividend, then exhausted by their efforts indulged in an orgy of eating and drinking as was the fashion in the 19th century.
But for pure opulence can anyone beat the Great Hall at the old Euston?
So once a year the L&B directors would meet in the directors room at Fencurrch St to declare a dividend, then exhausted by their efforts indulged in an orgy of eating and drinking as was the fashion in the 19th century.
But for pure opulence can anyone beat the Great Hall at the old Euston?
Merseyrail are based in the aptly named Rail House next to Lime Street Station. It’s a pretty generic 80’s office building but with a great view over the station roof.
www.realla.co.uk
The building also houses other rail related organisations, such as BTP
Lord Nelson St, Liverpool L1 1JF - Rail House | LoopNet UK
Lord Nelson St, Liverpool L1 1JF. This Office space is available for rent. The property occupies a prominent position immediately adjoi
The building also houses other rail related organisations, such as BTP
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/200+Aldersgate+St,+London+EC1A+4HD/@51.5180708,-0.0987375,18z Which of these buildings by the museum of London is it?
Although presumably not in its full splendour once "demoted" to railway offices, the Midland Hotel at St Pancras must have given it a run for its money.
SargeNpton
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Don't know which part of the building you are thinking of. Can't say that I have noticed much opulence in that little bit of it occupied by RDG.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
For what reason? Modern offices have little on the railway HQ of yester year. The NER HQ in York must be the most impressive.
it is in a fancy modern building (fancy but not out of the ordinary for London office blocks) but ROG occupy but a very small part of that building.
Curious to see whether there are still any rail associated undertakings encamped in monolithic structures or whether there are others who see a virtue in working from particularly unassuming edifices.
Wetherspoons' The Metropolitan Bar (the name says it all about its past use) on Baker Street is an impressive building.
Dai Corner
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55 Broadway, former HQ of TfL and predecessors, must be up there as one of the most opulent offices.
DarloRich
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Even if there are "any rail associated undertakings encamped in monolithic structures" the insides will, no doubt, have been turned into modern functional offices and anything not listed removed. All of those fine decorative items tend to get in the way of modern requirements sadly
What "virtue" could there be in "working from particularly unassuming edifices". All of the corporate HQ offices I have ever been in have been fairly dull, modern, office buildings with long rows of desks and computers. There was no executive washroom or liveried flunkeys brining refreshments or offering the wine list with lunch, more is the pity. It isn't 1927! Some have been a bit smarter than others but anything public sector has been fairly dull. There seems to be an assumption that most corporate HQ will be like Google and they just aren't. They are fairly boring.
Anyway, what do you hope to do with the information? What point do you hope to make with it?
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Jetglo
Member
….and let’s not forget 222 Marylebone Road!
Wonderful place when I worked on the 5th floor in the 1980s!
Wonderful place when I worked on the 5th floor in the 1980s!
bramling
Veteran Member
I was going to mention 55 Broadway. Pleasing both outside and inside. Rather depressing TFL decided to ditch it, the official line about it being unpleasant to work in was very over-rated.
The Planner
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Not a head office, but when the NR training facility first opened at Westwood, you were clamoring to get on a training course with overnight stays! Vastly different now.
The Quincunx
Member
I worked there in the mid-80s. Although some of the offices were really opulent, mine (the grandly-named "Train Working Office") was on the first floor, overlooking the alleyway to the St Ermin's Hotel where we could watch tramps fishing for goodies in the hotel's rubbish bins. It was absolutely freezing in Winter, and boiling in Summer. But, I agree that it is a shame that TfL abandoned it.
D6130
Established Member
....but ASLEF's previous head office in Arkwright Road, Hampstead, was a grand Edwardian villa with a sumptuous art-nouveau interior and a beautiful garden. In those days, branches would be invited to visit on a regular basis and be given a tour of the premises by the General Secretary - if available - or another senior official; invited to meet and talk to the staff and then entertained to lunch in the garden, if the weather was fine - or in one of Hampstead's fine pubs if not. I wonder whether such visits are still made to the anonymous office block in Farringdon?
Jim Jehosofat
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Had the misfortune to go there once in I think June 2014. Room not ready but eventually given a rather large room with a grovelling apology and a "Welcome back" card. Turns out I had a very similar name to someone much nearer the top of the Network Rail management tree than I ever was!
SargeNpton
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Must have been a lot better on the 5th then than on the 4th floor. Worked there 1984-1986 and most of the rooms I visited didn't look as it they'd been decorated or refurbished since the days of the British Transport Commission. The electric supply was also on its last legs, so was struggling to cope with the introduction of computer terminals.
generic being a synonym for boring.Merseyrail are based in the aptly named Rail House next to Lime Street Station. It’s a pretty generic 80’s office building but with a great view over the station roof.
Lord Nelson St, Liverpool L1 1JF - Rail House | LoopNet UK
Lord Nelson St, Liverpool L1 1JF. This Office space is available for rent. The property occupies a prominent position immediately adjoi
The building also houses other rail related organisations, such as BTP
It was splendid, though decidedly faded. That said, some of the powers that were occupied some very grand accommodation indeed.
In similar vein, does anyone else here remember the NUR's training centre at Frant Place, where the not inconsiderable comforts were presided over by a BTH hotel manager?
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The Aire Street offices in Leeds always looked fairy grand. Built at the same time as the Queens Hotel next door (Late 1930's) and forming an archway into the LMS concourse (Current North Concourse)
I assume the crest is LMS.
Pic snipped from Google Street View.
Are they still railway offices? I think the control for the Aire valley MGR trains was done from these offices
I assume the crest is LMS.
Pic snipped from Google Street View.
Are they still railway offices? I think the control for the Aire valley MGR trains was done from these offices
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
The Van Railway HQ at Caersws had a very modest little building. (but then the General Manager was an acclaimed poet , so such things were probably unimportant)
Stimulate the more measured discussion which other forum participants don't appear to have a difficulty with.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grove,_Watford
Since 1900:
"In the early 20th century, death duties, a form of taxation introduced in 1894 by the Liberal Government, was placing an increasing financial burden on landed gentry and was responsible for the breaking up of many large estates across Britain.[8] In the 1920s, in order to reduce their tax liabilities, the Villiers family decided to sell The Grove, downsizing their holdings to their estate at Swanmore, Hampshire. Also at around this time, nearby Cassiobury House was sold off by the widow of George Capell, 7th Earl of Essex in 1922 due to prohibitive death duties.[9]
After the sale, The Grove was then used as a gardening school, a health centre (National Institute of Nutrition and College of Dietetics), a riding school, and a girls' boarding school.[10] It was the wartime headquarters of one of the Big Four consolidated railway companies. It became a management training centre for the British Transport Commission and later British Rail.[11]
In 1996, the estate was acquired by Ralph Trustees Ltd, at which time the mansion was extended and converted into a hotel.[12] Jeremy Blake, an architect with listed buildings and sustainability expertise, was appointed to undertake these works. The Grove is a former AA Hotel of the Year and was voted the UK's Favourite Leisure Hotel by Condé Nast Traveler readers in 2008.[13]
The formal gardens were designed by the Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medallist and judge, Michael Balston.[12] Other features include an 18-hole championship golf course designed by the Californian Kyle Phillips.[14] The golf course is laid out to the south and east of the house (which is on a low hill above the valley of the river Gade) with its eastern border reaching to the western bank of the Grand Union Canal (that incorporates the Gade in this part of the valley) and its southern border adjacent to the golf course of the West Hert Golf Club.[15][16]
In 2006, it was the venue of the WGC-American Express Championship golf tournament.[17] It was the venue for the April 2009 G20 London summit.[18][19]
The 2013 Bilderberg Conference took place in the hotel[20] and in 2016 it hosted the British Masters golf tournament.[21] It also hosted the 2019 NATO Leaders' Meeting, chaired by the NATO Secretary General, on 4 December 2019.[22]"
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
The LMS wartime HQ - (along with a series of huts in the grounds)
Many ex BR trainees have fond memories of studying there - a tad basic at times. One of my near neighbours an architect of some standing , supervised some of the refurbishment works when converted to what it is now.
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