Hidden Gem in Shrewsbury, where Rail meets Architecture.

Shropshire Star

The Shrewsbury Train Station has come been put on a list on lesser know gems of architecture. We took to the streets to see if Shrewsbury folk hold it in there heart too.

Transcript

00:00 (train engine roaring)

00:03 - So lads, we've got you at Iron and Fire,

00:09 the Hatch Coffee Shop.

00:10 How you doing? What's your names lads?

00:12 - Jay, Calvin.

00:13 - Cool. And you've got a cracking view, haven't you?

00:15 Cause you've got a view of the train station out your...

00:18 - It's all picking up there, yeah.

00:19 It's a perfect view.

00:20 - Not a bad view, is it really?

00:22 Do you benefit from being by the train station?

00:24 - We do, we get a lot of train staff,

00:26 a lot of people getting off the train,

00:27 coming to the train library.

00:29 That's why we open earlier in the morning,

00:31 for the first train.

00:32 To catch all the little hornicures.

00:33 - Yeah, yeah.

00:34 And you were saying off camera,

00:36 sometimes you have people coming and tapping the door

00:38 and saying, "Where's the train station, lads?"

00:40 Which is bizarre when, you know, we know what it is.

00:43 But why do you think that is?

00:45 Is it because it's a bit of a quirky building in itself?

00:48 - A bit quirky, I don't know.

00:49 Maybe they don't know what it is,

00:50 but you get up close and you know.

00:52 - Yeah.

00:53 And what do you think of it yourself then?

00:55 It's come out in this parlour, it's like a hidden gem.

00:58 - Oh, it's lovely.

00:59 It's a great view.

01:00 - Yeah.

01:02 And where does it rank in terms of Shrewsbury buildings?

01:04 I mean, we have got quite a few to boast of, haven't we?

01:06 - It's gotta be up there, top five.

01:08 - Yeah.

01:10 I'm gonna throw a spanner in the works now.

01:12 Now, some people say,

01:13 'cause obviously it's of a certain age,

01:16 but it's built to look older than it is.

01:18 Now, some architects kind of get snobby

01:20 about stuff like that, you know,

01:22 and say, "Oh, we don't wanna be copying buildings

01:25 from the past."

01:26 - Fair enough.

01:27 So what's your thoughts on that?

01:28 - I think it still holds up quite well, you know?

01:33 - Yeah.

01:34 - I think it gets a bit of extra kind of chance.

01:37 - Yeah.

01:38 - Yeah.

01:39 - Yeah.

01:39 - I think it's a good job.

01:41 It's a good job.

01:42 - I mean, it's got the modern touches probably inside,

01:44 but you don't get to see that as much.

01:46 - Yeah.

01:48 So you kind of go with that philosophy,

01:49 look, if it worked in the past,

01:51 did it look beautiful before?

01:52 Why not replicate it?

01:53 - Exactly, exactly.

01:54 - If it isn't broke, why fix it?

01:56 - Cool.

01:57 So word on the street, if people want a decent coffee,

01:59 come to get the plug in.

02:01 Cheers, lads, thank you.

02:03 So we got Dorsey.

02:05 And chap, you just popped in for a coffee.

02:09 We can see a beautiful train station in the background.

02:12 What'd you think of it?

02:13 Nice, ugly?

02:14 Go on.

02:15 - Lovely building.

02:16 - It is, isn't it?

02:17 - It took a bit of a dull day to show it off,

02:18 but other than that, it's a great building.

02:21 - Yeah.

02:22 - Yeah.

02:22 - So we were saying off camera,

02:24 you moved from Canterbury to Shrewsbury,

02:26 and part of the reason you're to Shrewsbury

02:27 is the beautiful architecture, beautiful buildings.

02:30 - Yeah, it's very similar.

02:31 Feels like home away from home, actually.

02:33 - Yeah.

02:34 - Yeah.

02:35 - And in terms of train stations that you've been to,

02:37 you know, how does it fare?

02:40 - Well, it's not a gray 1970s piece of architecture.

02:45 It's something a lot older and a lot more charming to it.

02:49 So yeah, lovely, lovely building.

02:51 Yeah, very friendly looking.

02:54 - I think it is absolutely stunning.

02:56 I like it particularly 'cause it's really symmetrical,

02:59 but the detail in it as well is absolutely phenomenal.

03:02 If you stand and look at it for long enough,

03:04 the detail is incredible in it,

03:05 and things aren't built like that anymore,

03:07 but it's a beautiful building.

03:09 - It's been picked as one of the 20

03:13 top hidden buildings in the country.

03:17 Are you surprised by that?

03:19 - Not at all.

03:21 Not at all.

03:22 Just for the sheer size of it as well,

03:23 and how, you know, what a good condition it is, actually.

03:26 - But there are plenty of other buildings in the country.

03:30 - There are.

03:31 - And it's really good that they can come back

03:32 and identify as well.

03:33 - That is true.

03:34 - Have a look.

03:35 - That is true.

03:36 There's plenty for them to see, so.

03:37 - Do you think the town benefits from having a railway station

03:41 that looks like that?

03:42 Does it kind of in itself attract people in,

03:45 or make it a more interesting journey for people?

03:49 - I think perhaps the attraction,

03:52 maybe not so much until they actually get here,

03:54 and then they see it,

03:54 and then they realise that it's part of such a beautiful

03:58 town, and it's just, you know,

04:00 there's so much history here.

04:02 And then I think after that, yeah,

04:03 people will come back and,

04:04 or they'll recommend it to people.

04:06 You know, they'll say, "Go look at the station.

04:08 It's absolutely stunning."

04:09 So, yeah.

04:11 (bell rings)

04:14 (indistinct chatter)

04:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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