Railways and Regeneration in Kings Cross-St. Pancras Walk
Jacky suggested joining a walk on Monday 9th December which was to look at railways and regeneration in the Kings Cross area.
This was in addition to our programme of events, and on a weekday which is not so usual for EFOG members due to work and other commitments unless it be of an evening. However, some of us are relatively free, and the prospect of looking in more detail at an area that I was familiar with as a child (train-spotting – when there were real trains), and to a certain extent because I worked there from time-to-time, appealed to me. 
Detail from "The Meeting Place" at St PancrasThus it was that Jackie, Marian, Fred and myself as EFOG representatives, plus about 15 others from as far afield as Folkstone and Southend, met at St Pancras Station to be guided by David Williams.
In an area that once had something of a sinister reputation, one of Europe’s biggest re-development programmes is taking shape. For the first time since the early 1970's, Kings Cross Station's Victorian – and Grade 1 listed – frontage is now visible. St Pancras Station – which has a magnificent single span train shed (the cover over the platforms) as well as its wonderful Gothic frontage – is now the terminus for Eurostar trains.
On meeting our guide, he told us about statue known as The Meeting Place, which is underneath the clock. You can only really see the clock if you are coming off a train or are further down the western edge of the train shed, for example near the statue of Sir John Betjemen, his coat askew, as he peers upwards towards the roof of the shed.
Sir John Betjeman at St PancrasHaving left St Pancras and Kings Cross Stations we passed the Scala Cinema and went into Keystone Crescent. As with Pam's walk along the course of the Westbourne, it only takes a few steps off a busy main road to find yourself in a quiet mews or street, and in this case we were in the only double-fronted crescent street in Europe, which is to say that it has houses on both sides of the road. We moved on to Battle Bridge Basin, just across from the Canal Museum which the Group visited a while ago, then made our way up to an observation tower from which grand views of the regeneration project as well as the hills of North London are visible. Just below the tower is Granary Square, once the site of gas-holders and now a wide open area in which a series of fountains do some amazing manoeuvres whilst making some rather clever sounds.
View from Camley Street Nature ParkWe popped into Camley Street Nature Park, which is a bit of wildness sheltered between two major sets of railways lines as well as a canal, then made our way to St. Pancras Churchyard.
We'd visited this churchyard on Pam's River Fleet walk, but Fred and I were slightly disappointed this time that we didn't get free fruit in the church. We did, however, get a wonderful description of the conditions under which people confined to the Victorian workhouses lived. Those workhouses are still there, right by the graveyard. 
Sir John Soane Memorial in St Pancras Churchyard As well, we took a look at the tomb of Sir John Soane which provided the inspiration for the design of London's red telephone boxes, and here too is the memorial to Angela Burdett-Coutts who in 1837 became the wealthiest woman in England. It is said that she had proposed to the Duke of Wellington, despite the fact that he was vastly older than her, and that when she eventually married at the age of 67 her husband was 29. She certainly wasn't age-ist.
I have skimmed the details of where we walked, what we saw and what David told us about, but it was a most enjoyable outing and well-worth the £5 fee that such a knowledgeable and professional guide charged. I'd thoroughly recommend another such walk to EFOG members, if such is offered.
Paul Ferris, 12 December 2013