Chris Williamson's interest in how the railways formed the City began when he worked on the London Bridge Jubilee Line Station in the 1990s

He spent a lot of time in the amazing brick vaults which hold up the station and viaduct and there was a tremendous sense of the ambition and effort which created these structures.

Since then he has worked on major projects at Paddington, Victoria and now St Pancras, Fenchurch Street, Charing Cross and Liverpool Street. On every project he is in awe of the legacy of the workmen and businessmen of the nineteenth century and the lives of their wives and families and those who were affected by the railways in so many ways. The film includes images and footage which shows amazing contrasts. Issues that are relevant to similar projects today. We can learn such a lot about the present and the future by looking at the past. Major infrastructure projects today face similar challenges to those of these early years. As Carl Sagan said “In order to predict the future you need to understand the past”. We are in the middle of another great era of public infrastructure provision to help combat climate change and make our cities better for pedestrians and cyclists. The film concludes looking forward to reuse and repurposing of buildings and other railway assets as our ways of travel change.

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