Press release -
Soup-inspired symbol of town’s identity warms King’s Lynn station
A local artist has created a new work inspired by the iconic Campbell’s soup tin especially for Great Northern passengers at King’s Lynn station.
Steve Messam’s re-imagining of Andy Warhol’s famous image highlights Lynn’s claim to fame as the home of the Campbell company’s first factory outside the USA, built in 1959.
Steve was commissioned by environment and community charity Groundwork East. The charity has been engaged by Great Northern’s parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to help make stations more attractive and efficient for passengers, and more sustainable assets for their local communities. King’s Lynn is one of 20 stations where the charity has carried out art or landscaping projects.
Local passenger and community representatives met Great Northern and Groundwork East staff at the station in its 175th anniversary week to welcome the artwork and celebrate the completion of a package of improvements that Lynn people had suggested to the rail company.
The improvements are part of a network-wide, multimillion-pound programme by Great Northern’s parent company Govia Thameslink Railway. Among over 250 stations to benefit, King’s Lynn has seen new landscaping, six new benches, information screens, toilet improvements and a mural in the waiting room, as well as the unique platform artwork.
Karen Gregson, GTR’s area manager, said: “This is one of more than 200 works of community art we’ve commissioned in the past year as part of a network-wide improvement programme. I’m delighted to thank all our local partners who have contributed so many ideas and so much effort into helping our stations serve their customers and communities better. At King’s Lynn we’re especially grateful to Steve Messam for creating this unique and distinctive artwork as a symbol of the town’s history and identity.”
John Grant, Chair of the Fen Line Users Association, said: “"It's great that stations are being given a friendlier, more 'lived-in' feel. Along with the longer trains we now have on our line, it will help attract more people to rail travel, away from less environmentally friendly forms of transport. This artwork is in enamel, like the advertising signs that were a feature of stations a hundred years ago."
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Notes to editors
About Campbell’s King’s Lynn factory
Campbell’s first factory outside USA opened in King’s Lynn in 1959, employing up to 500 people. Lynn was chosen because fresh vegetables were readily available from the fens. There was a goods line from the warehouse to Harbour Junction, where it joined the King’s Cross to Ely line. The factory closed in 2007 and was demolished in 2012.
About Groundwork East
Groundwork East is part of the Groundwork Trust, a national network of charities mobilising practical community action against poverty and for the environment across the UK.
Groundwork East have coordinated art and landscaping projects involving local communities at 20 stations in West Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, while their London regional sister charity has undertaken a similar programme in the Capital.
About GTR’s wider station improvement programme
GTR’s network-wide, multimillion-pound improvement programme involves over 1,000 projects, many suggested by local passenger and community groups, at more than 250 stations. While we’re working hard to achieve the punctuality and reliability our passengers rightly expect, we want them to know we are with them all the way and making their stations better places to pass through.
The vast number and range of improvements can be described under three themes:
1. Giving many stations a better ambience by redecorating, planting and installing artwork, often with substantial input from the local community
2. Making stations work better for passengers, improving comfort and safety with new waiting rooms and shelters, seating, lighting, information screens, defibrillators for public use, and accessibility schemes
3. Making stations more sustainable, with schemes such as electric vehicle charging points, secure facilities for cyclists, rainwater retention systems, and even bee gardens.
We’ve created dedicated web pages where passengers and local communities can get updates on what’s happening at their station. They can be found at:
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For more information, contact the press office on 0203 750 2031.
Govia Thameslink Railway
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services as follows:
- Thameslink – cross-London services between Bedford/Peterborough/Cambridge and Brighton/Horsham/Littlehampton/East Grinstead, and between Luton/St Albans and Sutton/Wimbledon/Rainham; plus services between London and Sevenoaks
- Great Northern – services between London and Welwyn, Hertford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn
- Southern – services between London and the Sussex coast (Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Hastings) and parts of Surrey, Kent and Hampshire (Ashford International, Southampton, Portsmouth)
- Gatwick Express – fast, non-stop direct services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria (currently suspended during the pandemic)
www.southernrailway.com, www.thameslinkrailway.com, www.gatwickexpress.com, www.greatnorthernrail.com
