LMS Route: Evesham to Birmingham

Harvington Station: mrhv576

An Edwardian elevated view of Harvington station showing the abundance of decorative flowerbeds and ivy grown to soften the hardness of the station structure. Any description of a Victorian and Edwardian railway station would have to describe the abundance of flowers and other plants at stations. This feature probably reflects that many rural stations were not busy in the amount of traffic passing through so they had the time to plant and tender for their plants. The Midland Railway, as with all British railway companies, encouraged their staff to take pride in their station's presentation and held competitions for the best kept station. It has to be recognised that the staffing levels prior to 1930 were very generous reflecting the cheapness of labour and the lack of pressure on profits compared to the world we live in today.

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