Lover of statues Steve Gribbin talks to author, politician, cycling activist, journalist, broadcaster and Britain's foremost writer on Railways, the wonderful Christian Wolmar. As you would expect from such an erudite and engaging guest, this is a wide-ranging episode full of wit and passion and informed by Christian Wolmar's love for, and inexhaustible knowledge of, the Railways. This is an extra bumper edition taking in everything from the 1907 Brown Dog Riots in Trafalgar Square, the lost Arch of Euston Station, Victorian Gothic Architecture, St Pancras, Sir John Betjeman, Metroland, the origins of suburbia, the glorious pastime of trainspotting and "copping some numbers", and the glory of the modern London Bridge station. We also discuss the Kindertransport statue by Frank Meisler at Liverpool Street Station, Nicholas Winton, Phillip Larkin, Pacer 141s and the undermining of the Iranian Government and the statue called The Plumber's Apprentice by Martin Jennings at Cannon Street Station, voiced by an actual apprentice plumber!  

We also talk about Paul Day's controversial sculpture at St Pancras The Meeting Place, which everyone calls The Kiss, which leads us via Brief Encounter ion to a discussion of the Romance (or lack thereof) of Rail Travel, Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov and the flawed concept of Heroism. Oh, and a Giant Head of Lenin.

We finally finish on Bridget Driscoll, the first person on the world to be killed by a  internal combustion engine car, Mary Ward, the first person in the world to be killed by a steam driven car, War Memorials, Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old", the American Civil War, Confederate spies in Crosby and Robert Stephenson. This is a whirlwind tour full of insights and poignant moments and the absurdity of human existence. And Bus Replacement Services!