The Meeting Place (2)

The Meeting Place Statue by Paul Day, from another angle. (Also known as The Lovers)



The 30ft statue of a couple in a loving clinch by artist Paul Day forms the centrepiece of the newly refurbished £800 million station.

The work, The Meeting Place, cost about £1 million and stands directly beneath the station clock at the southern end of the new Eurostar terminus. It aims to reflect the romantic nature of train travel, and may remind travelers of a scene from Brief Encounter.

The work is modeled on the sculptor and his half-French wife Catherine, 38, and was originally to be of the couple kissing. But London and Continental Railways, which commissioned it, thought the pose too risque so the statue shows the lovers touching foreheads as they clasp.

It is a poignant meeting of a chic French woman reunited with her English lover and aims to symbolize the meeting of two cultures as it sits beneath the imposing iron archways constructed by engineer William Barlow in 1868, and the station clock.

"I wanted to create a statue that showed a meeting of minds as well as a physical connection," said Day. "The statue is quite static and I think that contrasts well with everything that goes on around it. It is far more enigmatic and emotional than a full blown snog." Day, 40, fought off stiff competition for the commission which called for a work as memorable as the Statue of Liberty and a meeting place for the station's 50 million annual passengers.