Concrete Zeerust

Zeerust is a Liff word which means “the particular kind of datedness which afflicts things that were originally designed to look futuristic.”
These two concrete structures (which by the way I’m very fond of) are a great pictorial definition of this

Firstly we have the concrete lampposts of Hainault. These were obviously a 40s or 50s design. The modern pink bulbs on them are totally out of character. I remember when the fittings were of the standard tungsten type used in houses, giving out a sickly yellow light, and though the station is about 12 miles from Central London, these did, until the new fittings were added, give it an oddly rural feel – a lot of the outer stretches of the Underground felt rather countrified until maybe 10 years ago. The only rural –feeling section I can think of now is the Central Line’s Woodford-Hainault shuttle. The stations haven’t been modified that much since the late 19th century I’d guess (the underground came here in 1957 but the stations are much older) Those concrete posts shout at me “white heat of technology” (can a phrase be an example of Zeerust?) and yet like tower blocks and other concrete structures, they are unsuited to the British climate and have discoloured nicely. Long may they remain in their pre-cast, browning glory.

Another wonderful bit of concrete nonsense is the canopy at Newbury Park station. What inspired this overblown bus shelter is beyond me, though I know in the 40s and 50s you could take a number 30 bus to Putney from here (Putney is 20 miles south west of here). Thus I would assume it was a much busier place. Its not even used properly since all westbound buses go straight along Eastern Avenue. Only three local bus routes use it now. The structure looks wonderfully modernistic, but how pointless it has become– a folly dedicated to public transport if ever there was one and hence all the more reason to like it.