Kings Cross Olympic travel update over at KXLDN

Posted on July 31, 2012 by William Perrin

James over at KXLDN has written a very good  Olympic travel update for Kings Cross.   It’s very much the calm before the storm at the moment until the athletics gets going on Friday, but overall London has shown itself to be susceptible to the same psychology that Ken Livingstone used for the introduction of the congestion charge.

Posted in Transport | 1 Comment

Cally Cows community meeting last night – report

Posted on July 27, 2012 by William Perrin

Last night over 100 local people gathered to talk about the rogue landlord situation brought to public attention by the BBC Secret History of our Streets documentary.  It was a long and difficult meeting, skillfully handled by Cllr Paul Convery.  Allowing people to have their say and express themselves emotionally without it degenerating into a lynch mob.

I attended and used twitter to report the main points.  You can find a full report of the tweets at this link in an easy to read form (you don’t have to sign up to Twitter). There is also an interview with Paul Convery here.

I’ve also spotted a post i missed before about some enforcement action on ‘The Pleasure Garden’ at 278 Caledonian Road also allegedly owned by the local landlord in question.  There’s a lot of circumlocution going on about whether this place is a brothel or not and whether it has connections to local organised crime.  Here’s two reviews or ‘Field Reports’ of punter’s sexual experiences at the Pleasure Garden as a place where sex can be procured.  Before clicking the links please be aware that they are graphic and contain images that might offend and are not suitable for work or family consumption.  You can use your own judgement about whether these reports are true or not.  Field Report one from Feb 2010, Field Report two March 2010.

Posted in Anti Social Behaviour, Crime etc, Planning, Licensing and Regulation | 3 Comments

Maiden Lane summer barbecue in August

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Sophie Talbot

 

 

 

 

 

 

The brains behind the rather fab Maiden Lane Community Enterprises, Les Coupland, got in touch to invite everyone to the summer barbie on Maiden Lane Estate which nestles nicely at the northern end of KX. Thanks Les!

Posted in Arts and Entertainment, Community groups, Food and Drink, Noticeboard | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

King’s Cross based, award winning independent film-maker needs your help!

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Sophie Talbot

King’s Cross film-maker Greg Hall receiving the Katrin Cartlidge award from Mike Leigh for The Plague in 2004

COMMUNION is the fourth feature film from King’s Cross based award winning and critically acclaimed director Greg Hall whose previous work has garnered a reputation as raw, cutting edge, relevant British cinema in the shape of feature films The Plague (2004), Kapital (2007) and SSDD: Same Shit Different Day (2010). Greg is running a crowd-funding campaign right now to get Communion out. The target is £15k and you can help with a donation no matter how small – or large!

COMMUNION is a road movie unlike anything you’ve seen before, a complex thriller set in the deep dark depths of the British countryside.

Actor Paul Marlon – recent recipent Best Actor (Short Film) Award for BRUISED (Bootleg Film Festival – Toronto 2012) – is set to play lead character Father Clemence who through a process of losing his faith has taken to executing his own form of vigilante justice. Along this journey he is joined by Maria (Ana Gonzalez Bello), a hitch hiking fiery punk who is fleeing her hometown of Mexico City. Together this odd couple will embark on a roller coaster of adventures that is at times both violent, dark, scary, real, funny and heart warming.

Please donate to support independent film making in our very own neighbourhood…  Click here for more information about Communion, Greg and the crowd funding project that you can join right now!

 

Posted in Arts and Entertainment, Film, King's Cross People | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can you spot yourself in the crowd on the Cally Road for the Olympic Torch relay?

Posted on July 26, 2012 by William Perrin

Remarkable crowds out on the Cally this morning for the Olympic Torch Relay.  Can you spot yourself in this cycle-cam video of a big section of the crowd? (link to film)

And another one (link to film) including the police motorcyclist moving me on at the end (he had a job to do).

After an amusing blunder when the torch bus convoy over shot New Wharf Road for the start at the Canal Museum everything seemed to go smoothly.  Here’s some pics of the Caledonian Road, probably as we are never likely to see it again.

Thanks to Karl Wilding of NCVO based on the canal and Claire Lowe (for the Offord Road shots).

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Posted in King's Cross People, Sports, Young People | 5 Comments

Olympic Torch relay comes to the Cally Road Thursday early morning

Posted on July 24, 2012 by William Perrin

The torch is getting up early to process along the Cally Road – details below from the police.

UPDATE – photos and video of the Olympic torch Relay on the Cally Road, Islington are now online.

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London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay – Thursday 26th July 2012

The London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay is coming to Islington on Thursday 26th July.

Islington residents are being invited to line the streets to see the Olympic Torch and we are expecting large crowds along the route. The police and Islington Council are working together to ensure that the torch relay is a safe and enjoyable event for residents and visitors. However, if you have a business that is on the torch relay route you will notice some disruption.

The Olympic Torch will begin its journey through Islington at the London Canal Museum at approximately 7.58am, coming from Kings Cross – St Pancras. Torchbearers will then make their way up Caledonian Road, Offord Road and Highbury Station Road to Highbury Corner roundabout before heading down Upper Street. There will be a brief pause outside the Town Hall (at approximately 8.22am) before the Torch continues past Angel in to St Johns Street and then heads into the City of London at 8.50am.

To view a map of the route and full timings please visit http://www.islington.gov.uk/2012 or http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay

The police will be implementing rolling road closures along the torch relay route. It will therefore be difficult to move along or cross the route between 7.50am and 9am.

There will be some parking restrictions in place for the torch relay. Parking suspensions along the route will be in place for two days on 25th and 26th July 2012. However, enforcement of the parking suspensions will begin at 5am on the 26th July. All suspensions can be identified via a yellow Advanced Warning Notice.

If you have a business in the borough, due to the road closures and parking restrictions it is unlikely that deliveries will be able to reach your business between 7.30am and 9.30am. Please visit http://www.islington.gov.uk and search for ‘olympic deliveries’ for further guidance.

Making sure that residents, visitors and properties are safe is a priority. Police have special arrangements in place for the day and there will be 150 stewards on duty to support them. Barriers and cordons will also be put up where necessary to help with crowd control.

During the torch relay there will be inevitably be some disruption to traffic and public transport as residents and visitors take the opportunity to see the torch pass. There will be temporary diversions for traffic and buses so please take this into account and allow extra time for your journey.

Further information is available from Transport for London at http://www.getaheadofthegames.com and Islington Council’s website http://www.islington.gov.uk/2012

There will be regular updates at http://www.islington.gov.uk and you may also want to check http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay.

Posted in Broken Stuff on the Street | 1 Comment

More ‘rubbish’ art

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Clare Hill

Is King’s Cross on its way to becoming host for a menagerie of animals made from waste? The latest addition is Beatbox Dragonfly, a sculpture by local artist and resident Andrew Lee. It joins the “flotation” last week of Rubbish Duck, made of discarded plastic bottles, and now bobbing around in the canal, appropriately outside the repurposed old petrol station.

The two-metre long dragonfly can be seen taking a breather on the side of a shipping container at Camley Street Natural Park. Andrew has been a volunteer there for many years, and as an artist with a soft spot for representations of pigeons, monkeys, pears and geezers, and found materials, tied together with a bit of humour – it made sense to take materials and inspiration from the park itself.

“Dragonflies are plentiful at Camley Street,” says Andrew, “this assemblage was based largely on an Emperor Dragonfly. I was interested in using materials found on side, but I wanted the material to be equally robust and manmade. As a result, it contrasts with its natural surroundings, though the park itself is largely the result of human intervention.”

Posted in Arts and Entertainment, Wildlife and Nature | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Samba Soccer School in KX for 5-16 year olds!

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Sophie Talbot

 

Email: ssscalthorpe@sambasoccerschools.com

Click here for more info

Posted in Community groups, Noticeboard, Sports, Young People | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment