A place I used to visit regularly.
Poor old Slough. It had a new bus station in the 1970s when the old A4 down the High Street, with (oh so convenient) bus stops outside the shops was pedestrianised, and a huge new bus station was built out towards the railway station, decidedly less convenient. 1970s architecture, underneath a car park, parodied even in the opening shots of "The Office" on television, the council (currently bankrupt and in administration) decided to demolish and replace it, all at a time when bus usage there seemed to have fallen off more than most.
About 10 years ago, here came the new architects' ego-trip at vast expense, meant to represent ocean waves or something. Known locally as "the armodillo" apparently after its rounded shape and silver cladding. Just to put the cherry on any convenience, the 1970s pedestrian underpass to the High Street shops, which may have been grey concrete, was at least direct, rain-proof and free of traffic, was closed, and passengers (not that there seem to be many left now) have to run the gauntlet of the main A4 dual carriageway crossings. And however much the new structure looked stylish on the drawings, it seems not to have been fireproof material. I wonder which is more important.
It looks like the "friendly bombs" have found their target **
Article on the two bus stations here:
This is the story of two bus stations, one of which embodied a town’s past, and one of which is intended to define its future. The town is Slough, some 20 miles west of London. I feel a bit sorry f…
thebeautyoftransport.com
** Thank you John Betjeman.
