St Faith's Lent With Steam 2010

Lent with Steam: a perfect combination

It was Saturday 6th March 2010 and a group of about 20 souls gathered in the biting cold on platform 1 at Hitchin station. Despite the claims of the Met Office, Spring seemed far off. But train travellers are hardy folk and we were looking forward to this event led by St Faith’s Andrew Surrey and Charmaine Sabey-Corkindale in what turned out to be an inspired double act.

We were perhaps a little curious to see how the theme of Lent would be related to the railways, but by the end were in no doubt. The tour involved Andrew recounting each fact (or more often a revelation) linked to a particular station or historical event and Charmaine expertly applying the information to the theme of Lent.

Travelling up to London Kings Cross, as I followed Andrew’s notes in his informative guide book compiled especially for the occasion, I quickly realised that I must have been commuting on this route with my eyes closed! The guide book was full of interesting facts - for example, look hard enough just before Potters Bar station beside the up side track and you will see an obelisk on top of the cutting among the trees. This was to mark the boundary for the duty on coal sold in London and its environs.

On arrival in London, Andrew and Charmaine took the party on a tour around the back of Kings Cross Station to the site where the railway runs under the Regents Canal. We were then shown the little known German gymnasium, the first purpose-built gymnasium in the United Kingdom with classes given by the German Gymnastics Society from as early as 1866.

At St Pancras we were joined by Sir John Betjeman (pictured listening to the talk) as we stood awestruck at its 240 feet wide roof. One poignant aspect was the frieze by Artist Paul Day at the base of the massive statue “The Meeting Place” at the south end of St Pancras Station. The frieze contains some challenging scenes from the station's past and present: of those who laboured on the construction, those who travelled to war and returned injured, fond farewells and preoccupied commuters. All of life has passed through this station and the frieze reinforced the fact that stations are not just about the buildings: they are, above all, about the millions of people whose lives they have touched. Perhaps this spirit is summed up by a simple engraving in a floor tile at St Pancras which states: “Beyond the throb of the engines is the throbbing heart of all”.

For the busy traveller focused on not missing a connection it is too easy to miss details such as this as one hurries by, so it was wonderful to have the opportunity of this day to pause, observe and reflect.

At Euston we stood at the former site of the Doric Arch, controversially demolished in 1961 and we heard of plans for a possible resurrection, using some of the original stonework found in the River Lea.

Situated on platform 1 at Paddington Station, we were shown a remarkable memorial to the employees of the Great Western Railway who died during the First World War, unveiled on Armistice Day in 1922. The monument contains a large bronze statue of a First World War soldier clad in battle gear, protected against the cold by a woollen scarf, with a greatcoat over his shoulders. The soldier, head bowed, is reading intently a letter from home. Charmaine pointed out the contrast between the traditional war memorial (such as the one at Euston) and this very personal image of a soldier in a reflective moment, far away from his family.

That tone was reprised at Victoria which, during the First World War, became a terminus for trains carrying soldiers to and from France. As only authorised persons were allowed into the station itself, the pavement at the front of the station was the site of many a moving farewell and the inside front page of our programme contained a photograph of one such event – depicting a son saying goodbye to his parents – stiff upper lips and faint smiles all round, uncertain for the future.

So the day ended with our return trip to Hitchin, having had our eyes opened, both to the surroundings and in a spiritual sense. Lent and steam turned out to be a perfect combination: people and their journeys through life, events both mundane and life changing and an opportunity to be challenged to think and pray in different ways and of course to hope that we will get another opportunity to do it again next year.

A huge thanks to Andrew and Charmaine for leading such an informative and successful event.

Michael Woodward