United Kingdom London Paddington

Paddington station was built in the mid-1800s, around the time of London’s Crystal Palace. The station and the Great Western Railway that flows to and from it, were the work of Brunel but Owen Jones who’d had a major part to play in the development of the Crystal Palace has left his finger marks all over this station: he was responsible for the original colour scheme (sadly, long gone) and also the various Moorish elements that are still in evidence: the floral pattern in the ironwork on the windows, the ornate capitals on the iron support poles throughout, and window/false balcony to be found above the GWR war memorial.

During WWII it was bombed twice, a V1 flying bomb landed right in the middle of it but the restoration preserved much of the original style.

Paddington has a subtle charm. That could be said for all London’s main stations, just walk around with a camera and… To get this shot, I had to find a time when there was no train on platforms 1 and 2.

The Heathrow Express will bring you into this station if you want the fastest trip into London. This is the main station for trains to the west of Southern England.