170th Anniversary at All Saints Church

Posted on June 6, 2008 by William Perrin

All_saintsWe don’t normally do religion on this site but I am happy to make an exception for this sort of anniversary in recognition of the huge amounts of community work done by local religious groups in the area.  All Saints has a website here the anniversary service is on sunday at 1030 at the church at the junction of Carnegie St and the Cally (map).  What happened to the original church building I wonder – was it bombed out?

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Do you care about Barnard Park? – have your say on Saturday 7 June

Posted on June 6, 2008 by William Perrin

Barnard_park Big plans are afoot for Barnard Park (it needs them) – the Council are having two more workshops on Saturday 7 June, to discuss Access and Security and Ecology and Community Involvement. They will be held at the Church on the Corner, 64 Barnsbury Road – not sure what time – contact Lucile Porthe by email or ring 020 7357 6606.  They even have one of those new fangled website thingies for the park here even if it doesn’t have details of these workshops on it.

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Has anyone noticed No. 6 walking around King’s Cross

Posted on June 5, 2008 by Stephan Schulte

Balloon_pano_4   

Looking out over the Railway Lands today, I noticed a series of balloons tethered above the site.  Does anyone have any idea as to their purpose.  Could they be possible building heights for the proposed development.  Or, do they have a more sinister purpose…keeping an eye out for a wayward No. 6?

Posted in Arts and Entertainment | 3 Comments

Can You See Me Yet? A new play staring our Sophie!!!!!

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Stephan Schulte

UntitledIt’d be lovely if you all could come and see me in Can You See Me Yet? – a fantastic writer and a great play (details below)…

Best wishes, Sophie Talbot, xxx

1938, a world about to go mad with war; an asylum for the insane seems to offer sanctuary for its patients, but as Cassandra Wakelin stands in the heart of the asylum, confusing her fellow inmates with members of her own ill-fated family, we are forced to ask the question, Can anyone find sanctuary anywhere?

Canadian writer Findley was a two-time winner of the Governor General’s Award. His novel The Wars won the 1977 award for fiction and Elizabeth Rex, a play, won the 2000 award for drama.

11-29 June, 8pm Wednesdays – Saturdays; 5pm Sundays

Book at www.lastminute.com or The Brockley Jack Theatre box office www.brockleyjack.co.uk

More info: Facebook event & group Can You See Me Yet

The first reviews are now in – take a look for yourself – http://tinyurl.com/59j9ek

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Edward Square displays this Saturday – even the sun might shine!

Posted on June 4, 2008 by William Perrin

Edward_square Edward Square is a real urban gem in the heart of Kings Cross.  Local volunteers turned a dump into an award winning piece of urban regeneration (you can read the story here). I am a great fan of one of Britain’s few poetry installations – words by Andrew Motion, superbly carved into a long tapering granite bench.  The entrance to the square has a great mural depicting the huge Tolpuddle Martyr and other demonstrations that used to pass through from Copenhagen Fields.  They won a national award last year from the Lanscape Institute.  Edward Square is well hidden near the junction of Copenhagen Street and the Caledonian Road  so here is map. And even the weather forecast isn’t too bad.

This weekend is London Open Square weekend and Friends of Edward Square are putting on an art event on Saturday.  I am particularly pleased that art by local young people from the Copenhagen Youth Project  is on display – click the link here to find out more about the CYP Art Studio – some fanastic work by local young people.

Blurb begins:
>>>Edward Square (little park with entrances in Coopenhagen Street (west side) and Caledonian Road) is participating on Saturday 7 June.  See details below.

OPEN GARDEN AND SQUARES WEEKEND

ART IN EDWARD SQUARE N1

Saturday June 7th 2008 2-5pm  Free

Art display and sale by local artists.

Including the Copenhagen Youth project art studio Come and see their talent. 
View a special information display about the history, regeneration, art and natural features in our award winning park which will be on view throughout the weekend. Try  drawing some of the parks features, Or just come and enjoy the park along with all the Londonwide visitors who will discover it.

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Aggressive and persistant begging in Kings Cross on the increase.

Posted on June 4, 2008 by William Perrin

Residents of the Kings Cross Road based hostels (I mean those that accommodate "hard to ordinarily house Camden based (anti-social) people," the local authority has a "housing obligation" towards) are noticeably more present and aggressively begging in the surrounding streets and areas and are harassing local residents lives.

It is hard to explain why this has happened but part of the explanation could be an increase in tourism traffic at Kings Cross since the opening of St Pancras International, and the hostel occupants taking advantage of this."Managed" low key prostitutes, alcoholics and drug users are asking for money or sit around corners drinking. Aggressive intimidation and verbal abuse may occur if you refuse to give them attention.

Apparently (from hear and say) the hostels are badly managed, but evidently they seem to have no control over the residents put there or how these behave outside, and this paid partially through council tax monies, that is you and me.

It can not be right that respectable tax paying residents are increasingly and continuously being harassed by the users of a local Camden service, even if it may right to house  groups like these.  I believe more must be done in terms of cooperation between local police and the hostel management and a more thorough service that challenges these hostel occupants. 

Well patrolled St Pancras and Kings Cross Station must  extend its service more rigidly to a radius of at least 1 1/2 miles around the station, including all those areas were major hotels and the Tesco supermarket are based.

Have you experienced harassment or anti-social behaviour by such people recently,
or noticed an increase too?  Share your experiences here, and let everyone know.

Also do Contact your local Safer Neighbourhood team, instantly:

For Kings Cross Ward
020 8721 2694
07920 233769

Email

For St Pancras and Sommers Town
Phone:
020 8721 2810
07867 536621


For the Islington based safer neighbourhood numbers click here.

Modified version originally from Daniels Counter Blog.  Creative Common Licence Applies.

Posted in Anti Social Behaviour, Crime etc | 11 Comments

Artist wanted for railway lands – Arts Council will fund

Posted on June 2, 2008 by William Perrin

Breugel Sian at CreateKingsCross has sent another of her very good newsletters (email her here to go on the list).  Some good news out of Argent the developer of the Kings Cross Railway Lands – they are taking on an artist in residence via the Arts Council.  Given that this phase of the development is mainly mud and demolition, might suit someone heavily influenced by Pieter Breugel.  Details below and a copy of the whole newsletter.
Download june_o8newsletter.doc

Blurb begins:
‘Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts in England. As part of our Interact Artist Placement programme we are offering opportunities for established artists to spend three to six months in innovative industry and research contexts. Artists are often inspired by new environments and by exposure to different social and economic contexts. Their presence, even on a temporary basis, can have an inspirational effect enabling exchange of valuable knowledge and skills.

A new artist placement is now available within Argent (King’s Cross) Limited, the company redeveloping the railway lands at King’s Cross. The placement will be based with a desk space at Regeneration House within the construction site, and will start from August 2008. An exhibition will be offered at the end of the placement with a budget for production and materials.

Our support includes a bursary to the artist of £10,000. Artists will be expected to share skills and knowledge and to contribute to research, documentation, evaluation and dissemination of best practice. The placement will provide access to the development and construction process as well as exposure to the changing physical nature of a complex site.

We are inviting applications from visual artists who:
• have 5 or more years experience of professional practice
• live or work in London
• are available for 1-3 days a week for 3-6 months from August 2008

A steering group including Gill Henderson, Director, Create KX, Kate Squires, Head of Education, Camden Art Centre and representatives from Arts Council England and Argent Group will be responsible for shortlisting and selection of the Artist Placement.

Please email info@createkx.org.uk for an information pack.

Please send a proposal of how you would approach the placement, how your practice relates to the physical environment and how you would document your work during the placement (1000 words maximum) together with your CV by post with a CD of contents:
Placement contact: Anna.Strongman@argentgroup.plc.uk
Anna Strongman, Argent Estates Ltd, 5 Albany Courtyard, London W1J 0HF

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St Pancras now killing local businesses in SE Kings Cross area

Posted on June 2, 2008 by William Perrin

Since London Thameslink Kings Cross has packet it in in favour of the splendours of St Pancras and its multinational stores, the shops along Kings Cross Road have faced a real starvation of income.

Amongst the real victims are a flower shop, a smoothie bar and the Vietnamese Pho Restaurant I only recently gave a feature on them on Daniels Counter (Blog). Now they are all barricaded and closed up, having lost their regular customer intake.  Of course Ican’t ask them exactly why they closed down, but if "one minus one equals still zero," then it probably is most likely that it is because of the close down / moving of the Thamelink Station to St Pancras international. 

In fPho3act according to the owner of veteran Cafe Costas , Paolo, many regular customers have simply disappeared. Not helped by the fact that recently street works have fenced up Kings Cross Road, business is dire in an area that was just about managing. Only the three hotel tourists and some local residents an d businesses are keeping local service shops going.

OneLuggage_flower wonders if Camden and Islington have consulted sufficiently with the planners of of the Kings Cross / St Pancras Development. Kings Cross Road would need some financial assistance and improvements in business planning to get it going again, rather than allowing it to die a slow death. What is needed is some hands on planning in what sort of licences are given out. Amongst others Kings Cross Road would require visible restaurants and cafes (with out door terasses) perhaps a mini super market such as Sainsbury Local or Tesco Central, a bank or something similar in my opinion – in other words something that makes ordinary people come into the area on a regular basis.

In my opinion four news-agents / off licences are three too many, and neither do the fry up places make the area any more attractive, nor the now boarded up shops and restaurants.

I hSmoothie_3ave warned on a constant basis that the Kings Cross regeneration is not to forget regenerating the South East side, but it seems that’s exactly what has been happening, whilst businesses in St Pancras / Kings Cross are thriving (making as said multi national chains rich rather than local businesses.

Pictures:  Some of the closed down businesses.

This is a guest column from Daniels Counter
with kind mutual agreement between KCLE and DC
Co  Creative Common Licence

Posted in Kings Cross Station Refurbishment | 1 Comment