'Then & Now' continues...

If you scratch deep enough you will find the past.

Today I took a quick trip into London to continue my WW1 'Then & Now' project. I am following the wounded evacuation chain from The Somme to Blighty (England) a trip my great grandfather made back in 1916.

This is Charing Cross Station today, platform 6 to be precise. It was the scene of a painting done in 1919 of wounded being detrained as they arrived from the ports. Next stop would be an ambulance ride to one of the many London hospitals. 

The station has a huge vaulted ceiling that would have allowed the smoke from the trains to disperse. Today this void is filled by office space which confines the platforms somewhat. If you look carefully you will see the old wall just above the train. This and the number of carriages in the painting gave me a rough idea of where to take this image.

I have matched up 5 images (photos and paintings) today, all can be seen on my Flickr album: 'Evacuation Chain - From the Somme to Summerdown'