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Title: Pianos at Stations Post by: grahame on April 14, 2019, 10:53:31 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 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-47914973/st-pancras-piano-man-s-video-with-cats-star-vocal-goes-viral) Quote 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/ Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: johnneyw on April 14, 2019, 11:31:16 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. Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: Red Squirrel on April 14, 2019, 12:22:31 ...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... Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: stuving on April 14, 2019, 12:38:14 SNCF 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.
Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: johnneyw on April 14, 2019, 12:41:07 ...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. Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: JayMac on April 14, 2019, 14:54:58 in fact I was sometimes hankering for the odd "Les Dawson" moment. Here you are then. Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: martyjon on April 14, 2019, 16:27:11 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.
Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: chuffed on April 14, 2019, 16:50:36 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 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 Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: grahame on October 31, 2019, 19:05:54 Quote How pianos became part of the furniture at UK railway stations https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50158653 Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: grahame on September 30, 2020, 10:09:35 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 ... (http://www.wellho.net/pix/bth_20200929_10.jpg) Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: rogerw on September 30, 2020, 18:43:08 Piano at St Pancras also barriered off
Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: eightf48544 on October 01, 2020, 09:11:20 Not in our area but what about the one at Glasgow Central, as featured in the TV series.
Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: Red Squirrel on October 01, 2020, 10:13:23 Piano at St Pancras also barriered off Every cloud... Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: stuving on May 06, 2022, 10:00:49 There's a piano being "unveiled" - if that's the word - at the north end of Reading station next Tuesday morning (https://news.gwr.com/news/winnie-the-wellbeing-piano-to-help-promote-mental-health-and-wellbeing-at-reading-station). This time round it's being labelled as for "Wellbeing".
Quote 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 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!” Title: Re: Pianos at Stations Post by: Mark A on May 07, 2022, 19:07:58 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.
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