Places - Lost in Time: Broad Street Station, London

Hello, and welcome back to Places - Lost in Time, a series that looks back on the tale of places and locations that have existing within living memory or photographic record, but are now lost to the pages of history.

London has long prided itself on its beautiful railway terminals, stations which in and of themselves are city landmarks, and are able to combine the functionality of a modern transport hub with the old-world architecture that makes them so revered.

Sadly, not every one of the original London terminals survives to this day, and in this video, we'll be taking a look at the lost London station people seem to remember the most, Broad Street, a commuter terminus that was among the first to directly serve the old city, but only saw a heyday of around 10 to 15 years, more of its existence spent in steady decline rather than as a success.

The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.

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Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D

References:

- Disused Stations (and their respective references)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)

[johncashwell]

Everytime I watch one Rudyard McVeigh's videos I am engulfed in the story. His research is never lacking, there is always plenty of related media and his ability to convey the information is phenomenal. Outstanding, as always!

[StrawberryStationMusic]

Knowing the fate that befell Broad Street makes me grateful that we still have Marylebone around. It was starting to go the same way by the 1980s.

[landhopper]

Brings back memories - 1981 stumbling across Broad St (had never heard of it) late one night looking for Liverpool St, and then Liverpool St itself being such a rabbit warren I missed my train and had to wait until early morning. I remember Broadgate being built, once the biggest building site in Europe, and now that’s gone too! I also remember railway buildings along Bishopsgate being demolished to make way for offices and seeing how far down the Victorian buildings went and the beauty of the vaulted construction that had probably not been seen in decades.

[cazrig]

Ah, I remember Broad Street station as a child, having been brought up in Bethnal Green in the 70s. I remember my dad taking me on the north London line all the way to Richmond and back . It took ages as it meandered through north London, but as a child it seemed magical, even the station names stuck in my imagination (Finchley road and Frognal) was one of my favourites. Happy days.

[bennickss]

Brilliant video, nobody ever tells about broad street, such a forgotten piece of history.

[borderlands]

Britain had no shortage of faded, formerly grand railway buildings in the 1970s, but Broad Street Station was an exemplar of decrepitude. For that reason alone it was fascinating. Even the train windows had prison bars to stop passengers decapitating themselves on the route's limited clearances.

[alex]

Crikey, came across this totally randomly. l used this lovely and very useful little line for about 3 years in the late 60's whilst working in Mincing Lane. (Hampstead Heath Station, South End Green). And WELL remember Broad St station - looking as it used to be of course. I seem to think that the last train left there at 10.30p.m. - which often meant a mad dash up the stairs to catch it! Happy days.

[lycian]

I remember taking a train from there at the suggestion of a friend as I was working just down the road in Houndsditch. The station was pretty deserted but then so were most stations serving the City during office hours. Liverpool Street next door was still to have the Broadgate development transform it. Back then it was a dirty and scruffy station that was so out of date that scenes from The Elephant Man were filmed there.

[hughrainbird]

I remember travelling out of Broad Street in the final years of its agony on trains to Richmond, and being surprised to read in a book about the LNWR about the "inter Cities" train you mention that used to run to Birmingham from there. Apparently it was specifically for City business men and even provided the services of a typist on board! The gaunt and derelict remains of Shoreditch Station loomed over a rather seedy area between Old Street and Shoreditch High Street, where I worked for a while in an office on the corner of Redchurch Street. it's all become very "hipster" nowadays with the building of the Overground link. I remember too, the "stygian" depths of Liverpool Street from a journey to Harwich aboard a boat train en route to a Norwegian cruise with my parents in 1956. I was fascinated by the locomotives waiting outside the station to back down to their trains in the grim cuttings which took the line up towards Bethnal Green. It was the real "East End" in those days!

[-Productions]

I think its a shame that one of the things that killed this station, the trams, also died as a result of the underground's immense expansion...

[phaasch]

I used this station just once, in 1982, and it was profoundly melancholy. Soot, corrosion, silence and decay. Like Marylebone was at that time, but with added buddleia and rosebay. Its incredible how far things fell between 1955 and 85. A least lines are beginning to reopen again, even though many stations currently look more like security posts.

[Robslondon]

Great video Ruairidh, I’ve always been fascinated with Broad Street. A small remnant of Broad Street can be seen outside Hoxton Station- the terminal’s old War Memorial. I think it was put there in around 2010.

[ricktownend]

Very interesting, with a lovely selection of photgraphs. In the writings of R Austin Freeman (set mainly in the first two decades of the 20th century) Dr Thorndyke and his co-adjutors regularly use Broad Steet station to get to London's north-western suburbs, often walking the two miles from the Temple to get to or from the terminus.

[DKS]

I heard of Broad Street Station on Video 125’s North London Line Driver’s Eye View but I didn’t know what Broad Street actually looked like. Thank you for uploading this clip.

[ShaggyLR]

Great video! Surprised there was no mention of the movie Give My Regards To Broad Street. A lot of good shots of McCartney outside and inside the station in the mid 80s.

[seanyuk]

Your the modern version of Pathe news :) thanks again for these videos! :)

[ChrisH-]

By far the best explained and illustrated video on this subject i have seen. I have always been a bit confused about the place of Broad Street in the history of London railways...now I know. Thank you.

[thomasburke]

I only saw Broad Street in the seventies and eighties.
It always seemed a sad place, each time being more rundown than previously. I almost expected the platforms to be wet, to match the general dreariness.

[eddherring]

I really wanted to travel this line to Richmond when I was a train mad child. My father said he'd take me just for the ride but it never happened. Broad Street reminds me of Liverpool Exchange station, another which is sadly gone. Last time I was at Exchange was as a very small child. My mother had taken us to Formby to see Grandma and we got a taxi from Lime Street to Exchange, only to find no railway tracks and some parked busses.
The thing about Broad Street is that it would probably be a very useful terminus again now. Just like the old Bishop's Stortford to Braintree branch line would have served Stansted Airport admirably.

[jollyrogererVF]

Thank you for a concise but informative video. Others have tried to cover this subject without the clarity that you have presented.👏