The Architecture The Railways Built - Series 2 Episode 9

You can watch the episode online here.

 

Midland Hotel, Morecambe

A visit to this art deco Railway Hotel to find out how this stunning building nearly fell into complete disrepair - but has been saved and is back as a glamourous hotel once again. It was restored by Urban Splash developers, and is now run impeccably by English Lakes Hotels.

An extra fact for you: there’s an Eric Gill mural in the ballroom – which wasn’t shown in the programme, but here’s our photo below. We can recommend this hotel – as well as The Platform (the music venue opposite, in the old Morecambe railway station buildings). Morecambe still has a handy railway station, just a short walk away.

 

Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne

A seriously impressive railway bridge! The Germans blew up their own bridge during the war, but it’s now fully restored. Nowadays thousands of couples have attached padlocks to the bridge to declare their love for each other. The nearest station is in central Cologne. Fancy a weekend there? We've got some top tips for a weekend in Cologne.

 

Huddersfield station, Yorkshire

What a building! Looking rather like either a grand country house, or perhaps even the Town Hall from Back To The Future, this splendid station building is explored from top to bottom – including going inside to look at the clock. The mechanism is maintained today by Smith of Derby – and the programme looks at some of the historic records left by clock-fixers over the years.

Downstairs there are fascinating characters to be found (the resident station cats and frankly, social media stars) - Felix and Bolt. On one side of the station is the Community Rail Network, housed in the old loco water tower, and the other is Platform One, a charity dedicated to helping local men with mental health issues.

 

You can watch The Architecture The Railways Built - Series 2 Episode 9 online here.