It is hard to think that people would want to remember a petrol station. It’s also hard to think that a petrol station would have any art deco features like other type of buildings. But, the former Ridgmount service station in Bloomsbury had a sleek structure which has been preserved by the owners of the current business located there – a Byron.

It is a strange picture – a restaurant next to a building where it says petrol in big fonts, but there’s no petrol station around. There’s also a nice mosaic mural by Brian James, which was commissioned by the Bedford Estate, who owns much of the land in the area.

It is a reminder of the original station in the 1920’s, the oldest in London, which closed in 2008 after a fail attempt to gain listed status. It also pays tribute to Mary, Duchess of Bedford, an aviator back in 1920’s and 30’s.

Now, why those colours? Purple with a white stripe were the horse racing colours of the Bedford family.

A Londoner from Afar