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Camden News - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 15 January 2009

Columns and brackets from the Victorian Primrose Hill rail station, which was demolished unexpectedly just before Christmas

Are Primrose Hill’s columns destined for the Cotswolds?

Network Rail say they’re keen for features of Victorian station to stay in the borough

POKING out of a wrecking ball’s rubble, the Victorian columns that once held up Primrose Hill rail station look destined for a scrapheap.
But, amid pressure from train aficionados, conservationists and residents, Network Rail last night (Wednesday) bowed to the calls for a rethink.
The line operators responded to queries from the New Journal with a pledge to give the public the right to choose what happens to the ornate pillars.
These pictures were caught on camera after the station was unexpectedly demolished just before Christmas, an operation which turned the unused but fondly remembered stop into a pile of bricks.
A campaign to put the station back in use was gathering momentum just as the waiting room was suddenly demolished.
Campaigners’ vision for the future was not only having the station open but also having its period features restored.
Last night (Wednesday) a Network Rail spokesman said everyone interested in the station would get the chance to say what should happen to the fallen cast-iron columns and brackets – and that they might even be put back into use somewhere in Camden.
He said: “No decision has been made about what we’re going to do with them and nothing will be done until we’ve consulted with local interested parties. We’re keen for them to stay in the area.”
The spokesman said the demolition of the station, in Bridge Approach near Chalk Farm Road, had been planned for a long time because of concerns that parts of the canopy might fall onto the tracks.
Peter Darley, secretary of Camden Railway Heritage Trust, said: “We’re obviously not happy they pulled them down in the first place. I don’t believe there was a plan from the beginning – I think they’ve been caught out and now they’re starting to do what they should have done in the first place.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Naylor, said he was pleased to hear the columns and brackets have been salvaged and hoped one day to see them back in their rightful place and Primrose Hill station reopened.
But if a home cannot be found at another station in the borough it is understood the furniture will be on their way to a preserved station in the Cotswolds.
Phil Marsh of The Railway Magazine said: “They’re going to see if Camden can use them for anything before it goes to Gloucester.”

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