Kings Cross--a Hidden Jewel!

"If you're curious, London's an amazing place." ~ David Bailey, British Photographer 

  Not five minutes after mooring up a voice hailed us from the bridge:
   "Are you you staying the night? You have to fill a form in to confirm you realize there are no facilities available and you agree to leave after 24 hours." Les called up to say we were staying the night and the bloke on the bridge called back to us to say he would be right down with the paperwork! Efficient and timely! A few minutes later, paper in hand, a forty something guy in a red and black windbreaker and baseball cap with a black canvas bag across his chest came up to us with the form which we quickly filled out and signed. He and Les had a chinwag about safety in the area and I closed my eyes and drank in his London working man's dialect. No posh London school accent this--it was almost straight our of My Fair Lady! It seems the site is secure enough with the local development company providing employees who patrol the area from the bridge.

   All sorted, Dear Sir invited me on a date: a tour of the old wharf and rail good yards and buildings. How could I resist? A handsome bloke, a slice of canal related history, and a new area of the Old Smoke (London's nickname) to explore! 

The first sight to grab me was the 6 tall cranes reaching for the sky way above our mooring spot! Readers please be on the watch for the cranes throughout this and my next 2 post as they are a focal point which provides an idea of location and distance.

   A stairwell led from our canal side mooring at Kings Cross up to the street level on Goods Way where one could cross and walk down past a huge construction site to either Kings Cross or St. Pancras Rail Stations or continue to the right down Goods Way, and walk over the bridge to the campus of Central St. Martins-University of the Arts London (UAL) with its courtyard fountains and public arts installations.
   This is what awaits at the top of the stairs--a giant construction site encompassing Kings Cross railway station surrounded by giant multi-track rail lines arriving from distance places. 

Directly across the street from the mooring stairs is Kings Road leading down to the new saucer shaped roof of Kings Cross Station with the spires of St. Pancras Station behind. These two railway stations are cheek by jowl with one another. St. Pancras station is where the Eurostar train leaves for the channel tunnel and continental Europe.

   This ambitious redevelopment of the area began in response to the Channel Tunnel Eurostar train coming in to nearby St. Pancras Station. Planning permission was granted in 2006, groundbreaking occurred in 2008 and the entire project will be completed in 2025. It encompasses 67 acres and 8 million square feet, providing 50 new buildings, 2000 new homes, 20 new streets, 10 new public squares, 3.4 million square feet of work space, 500,000 sq. feet of retail development, 26 acres of public space, and its own new post code! (Data courtesy of Kings Cross Visitor's Center, accessed 06/05/13.) Respect for the past while developing for the future has earned this site a ranking of one of England's 20 best heritage led developments by English Heritage.  

  This road above is Goods Way. It runs parallel to the Regents Canal at this spot. Off to my right is a bridge over the canal and into the old Granary Wharf building which has been refurbished beautifully, providing a new home for University of the Arts London's (UAL) Central St, Martins campus, the beating heart of this redevelopment scheme. 

Standing above and in front of our mooring, looking across at the Granary building housing UAL.

Walking across the bridge. NB Valerie is moored down below on the right.

   These are 1000 individually lit fountains which playfully change height in a synchronized fashion. At night the view is stunning. During the day the changing water installation is an art piece all on its own, set exactly where the barges used to load up with goods from Granary Wharf--an homage to the age of canal boats. 
  Granary Square as this space is called, is the same size as London's famous Trafalgar Square. Both will hold 2000 people. The water can be turned off to provide a large assembly point or stage for productions. Two large musical revues and an Ice Cream Fair have already made use of this fabulous public space.

    I love the bright yellow table and chairs and clipped trees for shade and pattern. It's a great place to sit and eat lunch or have a coffee and watch the changing patterns of the fountain--or people watch! There are five thousand students and employees who come and go throughout the day. Theater and Arts folk tend to be quirky and unusual. You never know what you might see! 
   Another lovely feature of this campus is free wi-fi outdoors! The plan is for all outdoor public spaces in this redevelopment to offer this service for free. Ambitious, generous, amazing. Bring your laptop and sit in the dappled shade touching bases with your friends, family or the world for no charge.
   I can tell you are wondering what's up with the silver sashes splashed (say that five time really fast!!) across the front of the buildings. They are a public space art installation by Italian artist Felice Varini, encompassing the facades of nine Victorian buildings around Granary Square.

   At first glance is appears that the silver slashes are spread about in a random fashion, brightening the exteriors of old warehouses, rail sheds, and canal wharf buildings, but there is an observation point where Kings Boulevard meets Goods Way in which all the silver banners will connect across one's sight line. Brilliant! Titles "Across the Buildings," this installation will remain in place until October 2013. It is sponsored by RELAY, a nine year public arts program showcasing contemporary art in Kings Cross public spaces.
   So far I am in love with Kings Cross! Our heads are turning every which way trying to track all the sights, sounds, and experiences available for free to those with curiosity and plenty of time to check out the area. 

  We decided to mozey across the square and down the side road beyond the yellow chairs and tables. This is Stable street above, which runs between the old Coal Drops on the left and The Western Transit Shed on the right which flank the Granary building. When the redevelopment of this part of the project is completed the Coal Drops will house 80-90 retail units with food stalls and outdoor market bays. The Western Transit Shed will be retail and office space. Right now though, the space only hints at what is coming:

    I think it's clever how this outdoor space is thoughtfully designed to include art and seating, even while it is in the process of becoming something else.

   Eventually tall stylish flats will be located beyond this facade as well as reconstruction of the old gasometers which were dismantled. Once the flats have been built with green spaces in between, the gasometer frames will be brought back and rebuilt. One will house offices, the other will provide a public park space.

Gasometer No.8 before being dismantled, 2009. © Kings Cross Center General Partner Ltd. 2013.

Future view of Gasometer No.8 filled with local folks enjoying the water features and the view across the canal. © Kings Cross Center General Partner Ltd. 2013.

Gasometer No.8, front, at night looking across the canal to the rail stations. Gasometer No. 9 behind, filled with office space.  © Kings Cross Center General Partner Ltd. 2013.

    These clever "Love Kings Cross" media designs cover the bay doors of the Western Transit Shed, opposite the temporary wall painted with rail cars. Students taking a break can sit across the way and contemplate the future as redevelopment continues.

This is an artist's rendering of Stable street at night when all the development is completed. The Coal Drops are on the left; The Western Transit Shed with its big bay doors lit up, on the right.
© Kings Cross Center General Partner Ltd. 2013.

   Around the back of the Granary Building is Handyside Street. Currently a clever community project is in residence back there:  

   This is the Kings Cross Skip Garden! It's is a moveable feast--a vegetable garden on wheels allowing the entire garden project to move around the site as construction begins in new areas of the project. Looked after by volunteers affiliated with the Guardian Newspaper, Construction Apprentices, and Global Generation--a charity helping young people to create a sustainable world, the youth volunteers on this project learned construction skills, how to grow organic, sustainable food in a city, and how to market their product to local markets and restaurants. The Skip Garden also host a pop-up cafe on the first Saturday of every month from 10 am-4 pm. Brilliant!! (© Kings Cross Center General Partner Ltd. 2013.)
   On around the building, we turned right into an area which was confusingly labeled in the past. I've found an aerial view and alphabetized the buildings as they were before redevelopment began. Working our way across this picture alphabetically: 

A is the Midlands Good Shed--built by the GNR (Great Northern Railway) in 1850, it served temporarily as a passenger terminal until the current Kings Cross Station was completed, after which is became a three story warehouse. It will be restored and converted to offices, shops and cultural space.
B is the West Handyside Canopy. It was constructed in 1888 to provide covered space for the unloading of fish and perishables which were then distributed by rail and barge throughout London. Fish was sold here on Sundays when The city of London's Billingsgate Fish Market was shut. Rail transport ceased in the 1970's. The canopy has been restored and will be  used as an events space, hosting weekly and seasonal markets.
C is the Granary building was used to store Lincolnshire wheat for London bakers. It is now home to Central St. martins University of the Arts London. 
D is Kings Cross Rail Station.
E is St. Pancras Rail station.

Underneath the restored metal West Handyside canopy the old rails still gleam! Up ahead on the right is the entrance to the University of the Arts London's Central St, Martins campus.

   I was entranced by UAL's entrance! It featured a preview of one of the many degrees offered through this campus; four collages housed inside and behind a plate glass window emblazoned with the acronym FACS: Fine Arts Critical Studies which is a five year degree program for mature students offering a groundbreaking practice of theory and art practicum allowing students to take their work outside the studio in a one year placement, making art in, for, and about social context.

   Inside the old Granary Wharf building the space was amazingly restored with care, capturing the old and respecting its fingerprint while re-imagining the best means for a contemporary use as an arts school.

This glass ceiling atrium stretches the width of the Granary building, opening up the interior. The outlines of former sheds still speak to its use as a granary wharf building as do the industrial architectural elements such as lights placed in old round ceiling air shafts and the metal scaffolding for the elevator.

This is the entrance to Central St. Martins: students and staff only. Coal buckets hang in the air--a tribute to the former industry on site.

Large loading bay doors have been left as passageways. This atrium houses art exhibits and hosts functions during the school term.

    Who Tall Are You? Playing with Identity/Empathy and Well Being: student art installations on display at the UAL Central St. Martins campus in Kings Cross.

    We walked past windows of exhibits and students engrossed in installing their art in spaces large and small!

    If art in its myriad forms is your thing then don't miss the opportunity to wander through the Granary building and check out all the amazing art in the making available for free. Unfortunately I couldn't really take a picture of the Drama area since it was locked but I can tell you some very good actors have graduated from UAL's program including Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan. While UAL/Central St, Martins campus takes up most of the building, the smaller front part is currently occupied by the Kings Cross Visitor Centre--not to be missed!
   The helpful staff will fill you in on any aspect of this area: historical or contemporary. There are reference books and maps available for use. The lovely woman staffing the desk answered all our questions and suggested we visit two local sights that Les had no idea existed.

The old wagon turntable rails have been left in the Granary Building floor.

3D interactive model of Kings Cross outside the Visitors Centre. Buildings and sections light up to illustrate the geography of Kings Cross.

This glass office housing the Visitors Centre. Granary square with its fountains is right out those front doors and the steps down to the canal are out front as well. 
 Pictures above and below, © Kings Cross Center General Partner Ltd. 2013.

An artists vision of what it will look like standing out in front of Granary square. A public art installation of birds will fly across the brick work.  Looking across beyond the bridge over the Regents canal, the six cranes will be gone--their work completed.

    There is so much to see and do here--its astounding. Please visit the Kings Cross Visitor Centre web site for more information.The next blog post will continue our journey around Kings Cross with a visit to a lovely wildlife oasis five minutes walk from our mooring!

New moorings in Kings Cross

After leaving St. Pancras lock towards Islington and coming around the curve you will be faced with the view below. On the right are the new moorings mentioned by our friends Jacquie/Stein. The signs are very small and we missed them on the way out to the Lee and Stort.

The moorings are owned and managed by a property company who are developing the area, Jaq has a blog post in the making so I won`t tread on the boss`s toes. You can see Nb Valerie moored beyond the bridge on the right. 

 

The steps across from the mooring lead up to what was the Granary store for grain arriving by train. As time went on it became a carriage shed and train formation shed for goods wagons departing out of London. 

 

Now and then pictures. Lower picture is property of National railway museum York. Just a visit to the developers visitor centre and this picture in a book of the Kings Cross area started my historical bones a trembling.

The above is copyright of Mapco and is just a screen snip I made. Before you go to the link make a mental note of some interesting places.
In the lower left the Green patch is part of the St. Pancras burial ground gradually swallowed up by the railway expansion into St. Pancras station, Jaq is blogging about the church soon.

Just above this the three train lines are going into the coal depot is now Camley Street nature reserve. The strip of Blue adjacent to the lines is St. Pancras basin and home to the cruising club of the same name.

Just to the right is St. Pancras locks and again to the right the very large coal and stone canal basins.

The goods depot further right with the canal basin is the one pictured above. Nb Valerie is moored just about opposite what was the basin entrance and her stern is almost at the entrance to the Gasworks basins.


This LINK will take you to the page where you can zoom in on a larger map of the area. The map is 1872.
Another link HERE (select image 3) shows a map of  the extent of the railway lines all around the area back in 1866 and details the canal.
On the map along the bottom just right of centre can be seen the Cemetery Station. This was used to transport coffins and mourners seven miles out of London through what was in the 1800`s just fields to burial grounds in Southgate which today is a suburb of the capital.
Reminds me of the gates on the canal at Kensal Green that were the entrance for coffins unloaded from boats out of London. Need to do a bit of research on this.

Kings Cross is a great place to break the journey through London and we had a quiet night once all the commuters and students had departed. The London canal museum is just along the towpath.
As I have said my editorial partner is prepping an epic blog post so you can read of the locality in greater detail. This area is for sure on our visit again list.

Any idea what this is?

No prizes but your thoughts and suggestions would be most welcome. This was photographed on the River Stort.
In case a quick look has given you the idea I`m asking after the boat, you`re wrong. Not sure but it seems a DIY job on perhaps what was an old wood cabin on a steel shell. Whatever the construction I think someone has made them self a nice home.
So focus on the wooden gantry to the rear of the boat.

 

 

 

Some of the ropes are to give support to the wooden gantry but another is for raising and lowering the brown box.

The pipe emerging at the bottom is plastic and my first thought was what is in there that needs draining?

Now my thoughts and suggestions to follow but please throw some ingredients into the mixing bowl.

 

It can`t be a fridge as the sun would bake whatever you put in side.

Maybe they heard about Jaq`s dessert eating dog and it`s their dessert cooler like Squirrel proof bird feeders.

My guess is it`s a solar water heater like the camping ones Here. Men when you click the link remember the deal is the water bag only.

 

So say the box is lined with a black waterproof liner, as appears to be at the top, and has the pipe attached. Would the water inside get hot enough being in the box?

If it is a solar water heater is the pipe just to perhaps fill a bowl to do the dishes or to have a wash. I can`t imagine someone standing under it having a shower.

Looking closer i think the box is metal not wood so yes it would heat up water inside.

Over to you. 



Melancholy American

"...and I have been a stranger in a strange land." ~Exodus 2:22

    Our friends had turned and gone; we spent two days pouring over our Nicholson Guide Books, making plans. We walked up to the next lock as my best beloved and I often do, to get the lay of the land so to speak, and make sure we could turn NB Valerie under the bridge hole at the entrance of the nearby marina.

Train with plane above near our mooring

   While our mooring looked like a peaceful slice of countryside, appearances were deceiving. Trains ran very close to the cut with regularly increasing service between London and Cambridge. We were also directly under the flight path in and out of Stanstead airport with planes accelerating and decelerating directly above us every two and half minutes. Depending on the wind and the weather, the flight path cris-crosses the entire length of the River Stort.
   Our plan took us back down the Stort for a stay overnight at Royden, then  we would continue on to the junction with the Lee Navigation where we would make a hard right turn, stop at the town of Ware for groceries, go up through three locks and moor in Hertfordshire. Les had made plans with family and friends a month previously to give them a call when we arrived in the county town of Hertford. We wanted to catch up with everyone, share some good meals, and enjoy each others' company. We were both looking forward to having some fun with children, grandchildren and a couple of Les and Val's close friends of many years.

Les' eagle eyes never miss firewood waiting for us.

We could not get the boat in any closer to the towpath but the tree stump made a good landing for Les to stop and pick up some more logs. The one good thing about this navigation is the plentiful supply of wood. Resident boaters didn't seem interested in claiming any for themselves. Most own plastic cruisers. Narrow boats are in the minority up here, and most of those have marina moorings.

   Ten locks took us down to Royden. Finally we moored up above Brick lock near Royden Mill Pleasure Park. We were tired and played out, lunging at the bit to make it to Hertford. I wrote in my diary: "Feeling melancholy and sad today. For the first time in 20 months I am homesick for America--for familiar things that don't take forever to figure out; for the ease of life in my country. I miss Dissmores lattes first thing every morning, piping hot and ready because the baristas knew me.
   I broke down and cried twice today. It seems like everything is much more difficult over here and I am weary of the make do and mend attitude just because it is the way it has always been done. The war has been over for over fifty years. It is okay to innovate and make life easier. Part of this is being on the bloody Lee and Stort navigation. We will never return here once we escape. What a miserable experience. It seems to magnify issues--even ones we don't know are lurking under the surface--like being homesick.
   Les gave me 4 pounds to buy ice creams from Hunsdon lock cottage shop as we were going down the lock. I told the shop keeper "I'm from America and I cannot remember the brand but what we want is vanilla ice cream on a stick, dipped in chocolate." 
   "Okay" he says and disappears to take an inordinately long time to find two frozen ice creams. His wife returned smiling proudly, holding a tray with two cake style cones filled with two small scoops of white ice cream adorned with a thick bar of chocolate sticking out of each one. 
   "This isn't what I ordered," and I described it for her. 
   She said, "Oh you wanted Magnums." 
   "Yes," said I. Her husband replied, "Oh dear. Well we are out of those." 
   So I took them, but I cried so hard I couldn't eat all mine. I basically had two licks and gave mine to Les. I am a foreigner in this country and it seems I cannot even order ice cream in England and be understood due to my accent. Ah well. Here's hoping tomorrow is better." 
   Sunshine greeted us the next day--a bank holiday Monday and the first sunny bank holiday in almost a year and a half since I'd arrived in England! Everyone and their mothers' brothers' sisters' cousins' sons and daughters were out in full force.

What you cannot see are the little boats in front and on the other side of us!

   The water was awash with small motorized cruisers, row boats, paddle boats, kayaks and canoes: single double and plastic rafts filled with families, all bobbing about like bright holiday ornaments. It was immediately clear they had been given no instructions on how to pass other boats on the river. They cut across our bow, passing on our our left and our right. Boats rammed other boats, and oars flailed in and out of the water. Mini cruisers zig-zagged around each other attempting to forestall a collision. Out of the lock glides NB Valerie into their midst. This must be what it feels like when a sailboat and an oil tanker cross paths on the ocean!
   The towpath was rammed with people walking, jogging, biking, dogs wandered everywhere and children ran and called to one another. They literally hung off the lock gate beams in fours and sixes, laying bikes down in our way as they stopped to watch us come down the locks. 
   It took twice as long to get through them because so many folks wanted to know how the locks worked, were we on vacation, did we live aboard, why did we have all that wood on the roof, where was I from, how did we get groceries, was it cold in winter, where had we been and where were we going--the questions were endless. Children queued up to help me push against the beams to close and open the locks gates.
   The human energy pulsing around us was exhausting. Les loves to chat with everyone. He's patient and good humored about it all. I don't like crowds--I feel hemmed in and claustrophobic. I've learned how to function as an extrovert in order to move ahead in the world but in my soul I am an introvert, preferring quiet and the companionship of a chosen few friends and loved ones. 
   At Brick lock a local boater informed us the Lee Navigation was closed--a gate had come off its hinge at Stanstead lock four days previously and apparently those in charge were still shaking their heads and attempting to figure out how to lift the gate and place it back on its hinges. The bloke said CaRT (Canal and river Trust) had not issued a stoppage or restriction notice; they were terrible about keeping boaters informed on the Lee and Stort for some reason. 
   Les and I looked at each other with the dull realization that we were not going to make it to Hertford at all--ever. We refused to hang about waiting for god knows how long until Stanstead lock was repaired. We weren't going to make our rendezvous with friends and family after all.
   On the spot we decided to continue on down the Lee Navigation to Waltham Abbey--another eight locks--moor the night and then make a strategic exit off this damned navigation. We swallowed hard as we thought about everything waiting in front of us--the endless cruising, lock after lock, until we made it back through London and out the other side to Kensal Green. 
   As we left Waltham Abbey the next morning under a leaden sky threatening rain, we encountered many more local boaters heading back from the Little Venice Cavalcade of Boats. We warned them about the broken lock gate on the Lee. Most were surprised at the news and grateful we had stopped to mention it. Les told a bloke from Bishops Stortford that the Elsan Disposal there was broken down and padlocked shut. 
   "No, it's not broken down," he said disgustedly. "Local boaters moored up there have padlocked it to keep the likes of you from using it," meaning of course, us continuous cruisers--tourists in the minds of those boaters who break the rules and stay moored up in one spot months and years at a time instead of moving on after fourteen days max.
   The man had the decency to shake his head at the behavior of his neighbors, but all I could think of was Jacquie and Stein, who cruised all the way up there in need of the Elsan service, locked out at the whim of the locals. His attitude underscored how I felt about our overall experience. Disgusted...
   Another geezer who kept his boat at Royden Boat Club told us how much cleaner the lower Lee navigation was now then twenty years ago.  
   "You should have seen it--rubbish everywhere and open sewage floating in the water. It is so much better now than it used to be." Les and I looked at each other in disbelief! The lower Lee truly must have been appalling because it was far from pristine now, giving the Coventry canal second place in our minds as one of the filthiest sections of canal in the system.
   The rain played with us all day as we worked our way down through five locks to Stonebridge where we felt safe enough for one night moored amongst a line of other boats--something we rarely ever do. We were told CaRT had pulled the volunteer lock keeper from Stonebridge Lock due to the violent crime and high drug use that went on there. 
   Up early again, we cruised on back through the industrial waysides, the crowded tenements, endless miles of apartment blocks, miles of breasted up continuous moorers and their floating garbage, until we finally made it to the junction of the Lee Navigation and the Hertford Union arm. It was closed for repairs when we cruised out of London. We opted not to continue down to Limehouse. The broken gates on the arm had been fixed and we were making the most of this short cut. 
   Up three locks, the view changed from graffiti decorated industrial decor to one long side of Victoria Park and very few boats moored! What a change! We were back on the canal system again, headed for canal side mooring at Kings Cross which Stein and Jacquie had mentioned were a safe place to fetch up.

Heavy metal lock gates. Locks on part of the Stort are an odd width--larger than a single lock but not large enough to accommodate two boats side by side.

LOW BRIDGES!!!!

Very few decent mooring places anywhere on the Lee and Stort.

   We endured so much to get up on the Lee and Stort only to find locks left open and paddles left up as boaters cruised out, making double work for us; metal lock gates which were far heavier than the gi-normous oak double locks on the Grand Union canal; extremely low bridges which took our chimney off several times; both sides of the Lee and Stort were shallow and decent mooring was hard to find; residents displayed an attitude that seemed disparaging of anyone not "from around here," as illustrated by the padlocked Elsan at Bishops Stortford; lee and Stort boaters seldom helped while they waited their turn at the locks--they just sat on their boats and waited for us to close all the gates, empty-and-fill the locks, and wind the paddles up and down. They seemed surprised whenever we came up and offered to help them out. We ran into a local demeanor about foreigners which implied, "This is the England of the Raj--and the jewel in its crown--and we like it this way."
   All this might have been worth it if we had found God's Paradise at the end but we didn't; we've seen far more beautiful, tranquil and pristine places on the northern canals.  

Taken on the way up the Lee and Stort Navigation. In the case of this waterway it certainly seems true!