Shrewsbury Railway Station

Old railway stations are sad, happy, poignant, sometimes noisy, sometimes quiet, intriguing, mysterious, haunted places. Shrewsbury Station is all these things.

And parts of it are also shabby, run-down, neglected, forgotten.

I spent a good deal of time on its platforms a few weeks back when the steam locomotive, Tornado, came through, and I had the opportunity to wander up and down, drinking in the architecture and the more remote corners of this beautiful station.

Now, I suppose it's not altogether so surprising that some parts are tatty and crumbling, and especially those parts which are hardly used at all these days by the public. It could be argued: Why bother to clean and paint bits of the place which are pretty much hidden from view? But, on the other hand, it surely wouldn't cost a fortune to keep the place smart and tidy. And, in a way, I think we sort of owe it to this once proud, once fantastically busy station. We shouldn't be allowing it to fall into disrepair.

The station occupies a most unusual position, built upon a mighty bridge spanning the River Severn. It is also right next to the castle, affording passengers glimpses of the Norman fortress as they wait for their trains. And then of course there is the striking, instantly recognisable Severn Bridge Junction Signal Box, the largest manually-operated box still in use in Britain, and a cathedral among signal boxes.

The station itself was opened in 1848 and boasts a stunning facade. As you can probably tell by now, I love this place.

In a more innocent time, when children were allowed to stay out late and unaccompanied by adults, myself and my pals would get ourselves platform tickets in an evening, and, when we weren't trainspotting, we would play with the luggage trolleys, taking it in turns to ride on one while a friend hauled it from one end of the platform to the other. No-one ever stopped us and it was great fun.

So, yeah, I've known this station all my life, and it upsets me to see wooden canopies rotting away and unused corners choked with weeds.

Interestingly, two railway bridges in Shrewsbury town centre are set to undergo a major refurbishment at a cost of almost £1 million. Network Rail will spend £850,000 revamping the bridges (which are, incidentally, just a gentle chug-chug away from the station) – the ones that cast slightly frightening patches of darkness upon Cross Street (near the Gateway on Chester Street) and Castle Foregate. They are to be cleaned and refurbished.

I'm delighted to hear that the work will include structural repainting of the Castle Foregate bridge facade and aesthetic painting of the rest of the bridge. Repainting will also be carried out at Cross Street.

This is all well and good.

But perhaps similar work on the station should be considered – and sooner rather than later.