Trivia: Stations that sound nice but really aren't

[yorksrob]

Bat & Ball. Conjures up images of an idyllic cricket ground somewhere in the Kentish countryside, but is at the bottom end of an industrial estate to the north of Sevenoaks.

Ooh, I get diverted through there every ten years or so, so it's always tinged with excitement for me !

 

[Revaulx]

A lot of suburban London has gone that way. Places like Edgware and Finchley that were quite smart 30 years ago have turned noticeably trashy in the last decade or so. They’re not *bad*, but they’ve lost the well-to-do feel. Even Barnet is starting to go that way.

Indeed. I was shocked at how tatty Golders Green had become when I drove through it last year. It was always a bit of a comedown from Hampstead, but far from a dump.

Other suburbs, Muswell Hill for example, remain very pleasant. Some that were formerly rather grotty (Palmers Green) seem to have smartened up. Interesting to speculate why.

 

[Trainfan2019]

Peartree's remote gate lock was derived from a 2 fold problem - one, youths kicking about causing trouble (as booked) and two, it was a suicide black spot with people coming and sitting in a lonely, dreary location contemplating the end, finding absolutely no hope or positivity and certainly no humanity to talk them out of it and then going through with the deed far too often. The latter was by far the bigger imperative for fitting the locks.

Said locks occasionally go wrong and more than once I've been working the Crewe bound service in the evening and heard hollering from the gate when the intercom has failed and the intending passenger has been unable to get in.

The station is on too busy a mainline to receive many calls and has been left behind by time in terms of it's original purpose. A handful of regulars do use it but I was always surprised it wasn't shut with the rest of the Sinfin branch.

It is a contrast with Spondon, which has a fairly solid core of commuter traffic during peak times but no interest during the rest of the day.

Fascinating info about Peartree there thanks. I genuinely really like the station, probably the only person on here who does.

 

[317666]

Thurn en Taxis contours up the idea of a Schloss in Germany overlooking the Rhine. In fact it’s a non-descript Brussels suburb.

I'm not sure why they chose to rename it from Pannenhuis when it re-opened - it means the name no longer matches that of the adjacent Metro station (although the original station barely lasted two years after the Metro interchange opened, despite receiving a comprehensive refurbishment)!

Sticking with the continent, I'd add Ludwigshafen Hbf as a contender. To my ears the name makes it sound grand and majestic. In reality, it's very big, but also very grotty and a massive white elephant.

 

[apinnard]

Manor Park
And
Forest Gate

 

[frodshamfella]

Indeed. I was shocked at how tatty Golders Green had become when I drove through it last year. It was always a bit of a comedown from Hampstead, but far from a dump.

Other suburbs, Muswell Hill for example, remain very pleasant. Some that were formerly rather grotty (Palmers Green) seem to have smartened up. Interesting to speculate why.

I went through Welling High Street a couple of years ago, I barely recognised the place.

 

[jamesst]

Overpool, sounds like a quaint fishing village, the reality is somewhat... "different"...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Overpool, sounds like a quaint fishing village, the reality is somewhat... "different"...

Very picturesque!

Near Ellesmere Port for anyone not in the know.

The passenger shelters there look like they last saw service as gun emplacements during WW2 (!)

 

[jamesst]

Very picturesque!

Near Ellesmere Port for anyone not in the know.

The passenger shelters there look like they last saw service as gun emplacements during WW2 (!)

With the clinetele round there they're about the only shelters that can withstand the area!!

 

[camflyer]

Cambridge Heath - it's not in Cambridge and there is no heath.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Thurn en Taxis contours up the idea of a Schloss in Germany overlooking the Rhine. In fact it’s a non-descript Brussels suburb.

To me it sounds like what happens during disruption in South Yorkshire... "t' train brok darn, so we gut Thurn in Taxis"

 

[GtNortherner]

If we’re allowing closed stations...

A few years ago I was wandering around North London after running an errand, hunting for a railway station so I could get back into the centre quite quickly. After consulting Google Maps, I discovered that there was a rather lovely-sounding station not too far away from me, so I headed in that direction. Those who know can probably imagine my disappointment when I arrived at...

Angel Road.

 

[Parallel]

Montpelier due to there being a Montpellier in the South of France which is right by the coast. The Bristol Montpelier is rather different (though not the worst part of the city)

As others have said, Severn Beach. The name sounds lovely... Until you get there.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Montpelier due to there being a Montpellier in the South of France which is right by the coast. The Bristol Montpelier is rather different (though not the worst part of the city)

As others have said, Severn Beach. The name sounds lovely... Until you get there.

Montpelier in Bristol borders Clifton which is one of Bristol's bohemian areas (think Didsbury in Manchester or Erdington in Birmingham) so really not bad at all! By contrast, Montpellier is a bit down-at-heel in places, as are many southern French cities.

 

[L401CJF]

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

I could not agree more

 

[bramling]

Indeed. I was shocked at how tatty Golders Green had become when I drove through it last year. It was always a bit of a comedown from Hampstead, but far from a dump.

Other suburbs, Muswell Hill for example, remain very pleasant. Some that were formerly rather grotty (Palmers Green) seem to have smartened up. Interesting to speculate why.

I suppose there’s an element of revolving door, in that parts of London which had bad reputations in the past (take the south end of the Northern Line as one of those) are now comparatively smart and trendy, whilst formerly well-to-do places have taken a dive.

Part of the issue with the Edgware branch I suspect revolves around Colindale, which seems to have been chosen for the most massive amount of high-density development that can possibly be fitted in. This seems to be actively dragging down the surrounding areas. I’ve always taken a cynical view that Colindale sits on the very periphery of the London Borough of Barnet, and is therefore used as a bit of a dumping ground.

Colindale can certainly be added to the original premise of the thread. With every year that goes past more of the area gets built upon, such that there’s now hardly any green space left.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I suppose there’s an element of revolving door, in that parts of London which had bad reputations in the past (take the south end of the Northern Line as one of those) are now comparatively smart and trendy, whilst formerly well-to-do places have taken a dive.

Part of the issue with the Edgware branch I suspect revolves around Colindale, which seems to have been chosen for the most massive amount of high-density development that can possibly be fitted in. This seems to be actively dragging down the surrounding areas. I’ve always taken a cynical view that Colindale sits on the very periphery of the London Borough of Barnet, and is therefore used as a bit of a dumping ground.

Colindale can certainly be added to the original premise of the thread. With every year that goes past more of the area gets built upon, such that there’s now hardly any green space left.

Good point - lots of "churn" in many places , some get better (Kentish Town was very average 20 years ago , now much gentrified and a good number of gastronomic pubs as opposed to basic boozers , Ladbroke Grove used to be well rough and even smarter than KT now) , many London suburbs see a population changeover pretty quickly. We used to reckon on 25%+ along the North London line in my days.

A comparatively grotty stretch of 1920's / 1930's housing can be witnessed along the A406 - to quote the song - "They call it Neasden ......" - shown no sign of improvement in all the years I have known it.

 

[DerekC]

London Fields
Cambridge Heath
Hackney Downs

And Bethnal Green, to complete the run. My dad recalled when someone from outwith London started at his workplace and saw these stations on a railway map and said that it sounded nice and rural. It might have been two centuries earlier.

Those were the ones I was thinking of. I remember them well from the days when you trundled through behind an N7. It was generally dirtier then, but with maybe less litter. It smelled nice, though - the Yardley scent factory was somewhere in the area.

 

[bramling]

Good point - lots of "churn" in many places , some get better (Kentish Town was very average 20 years ago , now much gentrified and a good number of gastronomic pubs as opposed to basic boozers , Ladbroke Grove used to be well rough and even smarter than KT now) , many London suburbs see a population changeover pretty quickly. We used to reckon on 25%+ along the North London line in my days.

A comparatively grotty stretch of 1920's / 1930's housing can be witnessed along the A406 - to quote the song - "They call it Neasden ......" - shown no sign of improvement in all the years I have known it.

Well, yes, Burnt Oak has always been grotty and continues to show no signs of improving!

 

[Dr_Paul]

Those were the ones I was thinking of. I remember them well from the days when you trundled through behind an N7. It was generally dirtier then, but with maybe less litter. It smelled nice, though -- the Yardley scent factory was somewhere in the area.

I trust Derek is being sarcastic. The Yardley perfume factory was one of the most malodorous factories on the River Lea, and it had some stiff competition.

 

[camflyer]

Welwyn Garden City

 

[Mikey C]

Indeed. I was shocked at how tatty Golders Green had become when I drove through it last year. It was always a bit of a comedown from Hampstead, but far from a dump.

Other suburbs, Muswell Hill for example, remain very pleasant. Some that were formerly rather grotty (Palmers Green) seem to have smartened up. Interesting to speculate why.

Pretty unfair to describe Golders Green as a whole as tatty though!

Certain roads may be a bit scruffy e.g. the main roads through the area like North End Road, but get off them, and there are perfectly decent houses, indeed really nice ones and streets near Hampstead Heath or Garden Suburb.

What it hasn't had is the hipster effect which places further in have been transformed by, the hipsters never really reached that far out in NW London, too expensive and too semi-detached "suburban"

 

[Johnnie2Sheds]

Langley Mill. Sounds like something out of the end of a Victorian painters brush. Last I was there 25 years ago, it was a drug addled post-industrial hell hole. I'm not nosey enough to go and see if it has changed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's not there any more, but Etruria, which sounds posh and rural, is neither.

 

[Logan Carroll]

If sunday was a train station it would be Coatbridge Sunnyside.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Langley Mill. Sounds like something out of the end of a Victorian painters brush. Last I was there 25 years ago, it was a drug addled post-industrial hell hole. I'm not nosey enough to go and see if it has changed.

I have alighted there around three years ago however I walked towards Eastwood which seemed pleasant enough. Birthplace of D.H Lawrence!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

If sunday was a train station it would be Coatbridge Sunnyside.

The reality is the cold and wet Bank Holiday Monday that is Coatbridge Central.

 

[HowardGWR]

I trust Derek is being sarcastic. The Yardley perfume factory was one of the most malodorous factories on the River Lea, and it had some stiff competition.

Most cities had their smelly industry on the east side to spare the gentry, as the prevailing wind in GB is south westerly.

 

[marsker]

Among closed stations, Point Pleasant on the Riverside branch on Tyneside must have been among the biggest misnomers. It was adjacent to the docklands and shipyards, had very basic facilities and was closed in 1973. more description here: Disused Stations: Point Pleasant Station (disused-stations.org.uk)

 

[richard1976]

Belle Vue
Ryder Brow