Have you ever stood on a train platform and wondered why the roof has such a distinctive design?
Well, it turns out that a lot of people have.
And we've figured out why the station roofs in the UK have the same pattern.
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The conversation creeped up after a Brit posted their confusion on Reddit as to why railway platforms have the same 'crenulation' roofs.
"Why do a lot of train stations have these crenellations type roofs?" they asked on the Casual UK subreddit.
"Is the design significant?"
After they posted a picture of the dagger shaped metal additions, many people provided their answers.
One person commented: "A bit of pizzaz."
Another user suggested: "No one knows what it means, but it's provocative, gets the people going."
While a third voiced: "Beautiful Victorian ornateness."
Someone else noted: "I see them nearly everywhere mostly local town stations but a lot have still retained them."
Meanwhile, a fifth questioned: "I wonder if it moderates wind whistling under there?"
Well, not quite.
It turns out the canopy daggerboards are quite important for a number of reasons.
The architectural design originates from the 19th century during the industrialisation of Britain – and they even have their own specific name.
Known as the 'railway station canopy fascia daggerboard', the distinctiveness on the design is on purpose.
This is because they were integral to the station to ensure that water would not sit on the canopy – or let it wet the customers beneath.
And to add a bit of 'pizzaz', of course.
"They performed an important role in the canopy structures which were developed to serve the increasing number of passengers on the railways," the official Railway Heritage Trust website states.
"Becoming an established component of Britain’s station canopies between the late 1850s and 1930s, daggerboards primarily served the important practical function of removing water from the canopy, tempering weather-inflicted damage such as rot and by extension the structural deterioration of the canopy itself.
"In addition to their practical functions, daggerboards were recognised as having positive aesthetic qualities and were designed in a variety of patterns, contributing to the role of daggerboards in the imagination of an archetypal British railway station."
So if you're ever stuck waiting on a platform then you can pull this out to lighten the mood!
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