Following some interesting comment last week about Walsall’s old railway station, I thought I’d feature it this week. For those too young to recall, it was a handsome building with a huge, airy, circular booking hall and grandiose glass and wrought iron canopy on Park Street. It stood where Marks & Spencer does today, and was obliterated to make way for the brave new retail world of The Saddlers Centre, and it’s modernist, dingy afterthought of a rail station we now suffer.
I believe the canopy was saved for a time, but ended up abandoned and rotting somewhere in the Arboretum – why or who by I have no idea, but it’s symbolic of Walsall’s civic attitude to architecture and heritage: it’s clearly all evil and must me decimated.
I thank all the photographers featured here – please click through their images and peruse their galleries on Flickr. Without them we’d have little record of what was lost forever.
The old Walsall Railway Station taken on 4th March 1978. I barely remember it, but I do recall the big, circular booking hall. Taken from Walsall1955's Flickr stream.
The old station had a fantastic, circular booking hall, which was all ornate plasterwork and dark wood paneling. I always felt so small there - maybe because I was. Taken from Peter Barker's Flickr stream.
I just love those roof-lights. Why did we lose such a wonderful building? From Peter Barker's Flickr stream.
Another top image from Peter Barker - the station dominated Park Street. Public transport seems to be much more prominent in the seventies than it is now. From Peter Barker's Flickr stream.
Walsall station used to flood regularly, and there are a number of very old pictures showing this around. Didn't know it was still going on in the seventies. Wonder what stopped the problem? Taken from Walsall1955's Flickr stream.
The soon to be removed station canopy in 1978. From Peter Barker's Flickr stream.
Site safety would have collective heart attacks at this today. Excellent pic taken from Park Street, through what would become Marks & Spencer, 13th October 1978. Taken from Tutenkhamun Sleeping's Flickr stream.