Station Jim

Here, apparently, is Station Jim. A stuffed dog who currently resides in a glass case at Slough railway station.

I took this photo as I happened to be passing by last Friday and he brought back memories.

When I was a younger person living with my family in Reading, we used to visit my grandparents, who lived in the wild woods of East Dulwich Grove in London. My grandad would accompany us to the railway station on the way back (I suppose it must have been Paddington, unless it was one of the underground stations). I always put a few coins in Station Jim's collecting box (although I don't remember him having a name in those days). When the coins dropped in my grandad would make a barking noise. It wasn't until a few years ago that I found out that it wasn't the stuffed dog making the noise. I thought there was a little mechanical barking device in the money box that worked whenever someone put some money in. And it was my grandad all along. Huh.

I don't know what prompted Jim to up sticks and move to Slough. Can't have been the cost of living.