The four statues that stand on the platforms of Brixton’s overground railway station were today (21 May) joined by a plaque giving some of their history.
The models for “Platforms Piece” by Kevin Atherton were Joy Battick, Karin Heistermann and Peter Lloyd. A second statue of Joy was added to the original group of three in 2023.
Adrian Garden, the mayor of Lambeth, noted that today is United Nations Cultural Diversity Day. The station event marked the funding contribution the Railway Heritage Trust made to the restoration of the sculptures, he said.
“We are also here to draw attention to the importance of the sculptures in representing the local community that the station serves.
“These are some of the earliest sculptural representations of Black British people in The United Kingdom.”
The statues are in pairs at other end of the platforms in use at Brixton station. Above: Peter Lloyd (left) and Karin Heistermann. Below: the two statues of Joy Battick.
They were given listed status in 2016 by Historic England due to their cultural significance. In 2023, following restoration of the three original statues, they were re-positioned with the second sculpture of Joy.
“This sculpture is essentially about waiting,” said Kevin Atherton.
It started with the idea that three people in 1986 would become united whilst waiting for the train.
Kevin listed the different kinds of waiting that have gone with the project – which he began almost 40 years ago in the station ticket office by applying “cold, wet plaster bandages” to capture the form of the three models for the sculptures and then waiting for them to dry.
Other waits involved waiting for molten bronze to cool; finding Joy more than 36 years later for her second statue; waiting for Lambeth council’s planning department; “and waiting for Peter Lloyd to one day show up at one of these events – and I could go on”.
And then, on Saturday, Kevin watched South London team Crystal Palace win the FA Cup final. “They hadn’t won anything since 1921. Now that’s what I call waiting,” he said.
Lambeth mayor Adrian Garden addresses the event 
Statue of Karin Heistermann 
Mayor Adrian Garden with Kevin Atherton (left) and Rabin Kandel, vice-chair of Southeastern railway’s CultuRAlL group, which promotes equality, diversity and inclusion 
Railway Heritage Trust chairman Andy Savage talks to Joy Battick 
Sculptor Kevin Atherton points to the statue of Peter Lloyd, who was not at the ceremony 
Mayor Adrian Garden with Karin Heistermann and her statue 
Beercaps around the feet of the statue of Karin Heistermann 
Statue of Joy Battick 
Joy Battick with the unveiled plaque
Andy Savage, chair of the Railway Heritage Trust, said it gives grants for heritage structures all over the British railway system – 2,000 of them in the past 40 years.
“I think this probably the first time we’ve ever been involved in in a statue,” he said.
“But it is part of the heritage of Brixton, part of the heritage of this railway. And it’s delightful to see the statues restored, repositioned, and recreated. And we’ve got Joy twice over, which is absolutely brilliant.”
