Open House

This weekend is Open House London, where a large number of buildings normally closed to the public are opened up for free entry. Last year we visited a sewage works (!) and a fine Lutyens designed office building.

As I enjoy seeing industrial architecture, we chose to visit Kings Cross, where there was a Victorian water tower, built in 1872 to provide water for the steam trains arriving at St Pancras. The extension of St Pancras station to cater for the Eurostar threatened demolition of this historical tower, so in 2001 it was moved 700 metres to the north east (a major engineering operation in itself) and now sits beside the St Pancras basin on the Grand Union canal. You can see a reflection of the tower in the upper window panes of this attractive lock side cottage: I was drawn to this by the lamps in the open window.

We also walked across the road to visit St Pancras old church (originated in the 4th century) and then walked around some of the new developments in the massive Kings Cross redevelopment area. It takes an event like this to make me investigate areas like this which I would otherwise probably never visit.