London Statues – Sir John Betjeman
I rather like this statue of Sir John Betjeman in St Pancras station. (It’s on the upper level, on the way to the champagne bar.) How much nicer it is than the much bigger ‘kiss’ statue which takes pride of place in the restored Victorian station.
Martin Jennings created the image of the poet looking up at the wonderful Victorian roof of the station, as if he was seeing it for the first time. Betjeman is slightly rumpled, his coat blowing around him, his hat probably about to fly off, but the sense of wonder on his face gives the statue a little seriousness too.
As I stood in the station I watched people reacting to the statue. Some read the words of one of Betjeman’s poems which are written in a circle around the statue; others stood next to Betjeman for a photograph. Since the statue is slightly super-life-size, the photos probably show them like children standing next to a rather bumbling headmaster – so the statue’s nice sense of humour comes out strongly. But no one looked at the statue’s face – which I think is a pity.
Photo credit: Andrea Kirkby
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