This is the main platform concourse at London Charing Cross station, late at night (on our way back from the Theatre). Above this concourse is the Charing Cross Hotel and Embankment Place complex, hence the low roof and it does feel slightly claustrophobic for a big London terminus.
The original station on this site was opened in 1864 and has quite an interesting history. On the station forecourt you will find a replica of one of the original "Eleanor Crosses" which were installed by Edward I in honour of his late wife, Eleanor of Castile, and marking the nightly resting-places along the route taken when her body was transported to London for her funeral and interment in Westminster Abbey. For some while the original site of this cross was the "official" centre of London, although this has now been succeeded by a statue of Charles I on a horse which faces down Whitehall.
The station became an important embarking point for troops headed for France during the First World War, and was later bombed several times in WWII, being rebuilt in time for the Festival of Britain in 1951.
The current station complex and surrounding buildings date from a complete rebuilding project in the late 1980s.
@nicolecampbell Nicole, we saw Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time, which was good. Quite a complicated show to stage, but they did it very effectively. It's based on the book of the same name (I think the book is better able to handle the complexities of the subject - Aspergers Syndrome).
