Pianos at Stations

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Not being musical there are things I tend not to notice /// was there / is there a brightly painted paino at Bristol Temple Meads?

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

St. Pancras piano man's video with Cats star vocal goes viral

When Ceili O'Connor - singer in the West End musical Cats - joined 91-year-old Denis Robinson as he tickled the ivories at St Pancras station, she made his day.

Just found a link - somewhat answering my own question ... https://streetpianos.com/bristol2017/pianos/bristol-temple-meads-station-platform-3/

[johnneyw]

I think there is also one still in The Galleries in Bristol's Broadmead. During summer a couple of years back there was a outdoor one on Wapping Wharf in Bristol Docks next to the Cargo converted shopping container outlets. That one was a temporary arrangement but provided some nice music to accompany a beer in the evening sunshine.
Quite impressed how many people are still able to put out a decent tune on the piano.

[Red Squirrel]

...paino...

Never was there a more appropriate typo. It's the staff I feel sorry for, having to put up with a procession of 12-year-old prodigies playing Einaudi all day.

For the avoidance of doubt, the one at Temple Meads has gone now. My daughter had a decent bash at it before it went; her rendition of I Giorni brought tears to the eyes...

[stuving]

SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) have made a bit of as thing about their pianos, and even list them among staion features listed on line. That list has over 70 stations with them, though how many are even playable is not recorded - certainly the ones I've heard sound pretty rough.

[johnneyw]

...paino...

Never was there a more appropriate typo. It's the staff I feel sorry for, having to put up with a procession of 12-year-old prodigies playing Einaudi all day.

For the avoidance of doubt, the one at Temple Meads has gone now. My daughter had a decent bash at it before it went; her rendition of I Giorni brought tears to the eyes...

Shows how observant I am. I thought it was still there. I'm sure it was still in situ not that long ago. Most people I heard tickling the ivories were fairly competent, in fact I was sometimes hankering for the odd "Les Dawson" moment.

[JayMac]

in fact I was sometimes hankering for the odd "Les Dawson" moment.

Here you are then.

[martyjon]

There is one in Bristol Bus Station and is regularly being played. Wish I had kept up with my lessons when I went from Junior School to Senior School but homework and piano practise became too much and homework won to my regret.

[chuffed]

As one who learnt to play at 8 years old, it has been a source of delight, income, and many friendships. Have since graduated to church organ, theatre organ and the most modern of keyboards, 57 years on. Most of those pianos played outside in public places are old bangers only really fit for the scrapheap, only tarted up externally with a bit of brighter paintwork. Have come across the occasional more modern Yamaha in Bologna station, Turin station and the Gateshead Sage centre. I am often pleasantly surprised just how good some of the teenagers/ early 20s players are, often without formal tuition or music reading. I would like to think that they started out on keyboards in primary school.
If you are a proficient player, (there is an informal audition), you might like to join the volunteer pianist team for an hour or two a week at Southmead hospital, Bristol, where there is a Steck baby grand piano in the atrium. You will have to undergo a DBS^» (Deutsch Bahn Schenker - UK^▸ (United Kingdom) website) check before you are issued with a lanyard to play whatever you like to a passing audience and to patients in the wards above. Contact fresh.arts@nbt.nhs.uk

[grahame]

How pianos became part of the furniture at UK^▸ (United Kingdom) railway stations

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50158653

[grahame]

There is one in Bristol Bus Station and is regularly being played. Wish I had kept up with my lessons when I went from Junior School to Senior School but homework and piano practise became too much and homework won to my regret.

Times change ... at Bath Station ...

[rogerw]

Piano at St Pancras also barriered off

[eightf48544]

Not in our area but what about the one at Glasgow Central, as featured in the TV series.

[Red Squirrel]

Piano at St Pancras also barriered off

Every cloud...

[stuving]

There's a piano being "unveiled" - if that's the word - at the north end of Reading station next Tuesday morning. This time round it's being labelled as for "Wellbeing".

Winnie the Wellbeing Piano to help promote mental health and wellbeing at Reading station

Winnie the Wellbeing Piano will burst into life on Tuesday (May 10) when colleagues from Great Western Railway and Network Rail hit the high notes at Reading station.

Railway chaplain John Roe will be tinkling the ivories from 1000 as a piano designed to promote mental health and wellbeing is officially unveiled during Mental Health Awareness Week.

‘Winnie’ is located before the gateline on the north side of the station, meaning you don’t have to travel and can just rock up and play a tune.

Media invite
When: Tuesday 10 May
Where: North Entrance, Reading station
Time: 09.30
RSVP: john.carter1@gwr.com

John will be accompanied by the newly-formed 13-strong GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Wellbeing Choir and colleagues from Network Rail as he plays the ABBA classics Mamma Mia! and I Have A Dream, plus Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

‘Winnie’ was sourced by GWR Train Manager and Wellbeing Champion Beth Witney, who found it listed for free on Facebook Marketplace.

Beth said:

“We were discussing lots of ideas in a wellbeing meeting and when a piano was suggested I thought I’d grab the bull by the horns and find one.

“I found one listed for free on Facebook 10 minutes from my home in Tilehurst. It was being given away by a lady who’d had it since she was a little girl. If we hadn’t turned up it was going to be sent to landfill.”

GWR Wellbeing Manager, Lucy Shephard, added:

“Music is a great way of boosting mental health and we think this will be a popular addition. Several of our Wellbeing Champions and Mental Health First Aiders will be at Reading to provide some musical cheer for customers. We’re also delighted that our colleagues from Network Rail have been so supportive and will be joining us on the day.”

Network Rail Station Operations Manager at Reading station, Harry Smith, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Winnie the Wellbeing Piano to Reading station, which I am sure will be a welcome addition and something passengers and visitors alike will enjoy playing.

“The wellbeing of our passengers and staff is something we take really seriously and we’re committed to doing all that we can to make the time people spend on the railway and in our stations as pleasant and enjoyable as possible, and this piano will undoubtedly help with that.

“I look forward to having a play on the piano myself, not that I expect my playing will warrant an audience!”

[Mark A]

Off topic: I think I recall reading that in a certain railway village around sixty miles north of Reading, a village where the railway staff may or may not have habitually referred to their neighbouring line as 'The Gas Works Railway', one particular street of houses with bow windows in the living room - where most of the loco drivers lived - for the sixty seven years that the line lasted, pianos in front rooms were very much a thing.

Mark