LIKE 27: Kings Cross walk

The people of LIKE slow down over the Summer bur rather than take a complete break they ease off from the regular monthly discussion and have some strictly social events instead.

Last year's Summer walk around the City was popular and successful so this year we went on an other one. This time we were guided around the Kings Cross area that has seen a lot of change in recent years and still looks like a building site.

The area was quite familiar to me as I have worked out of the Logica offices in Euston and Kings Place so I knew some of the sights to expect and was looking forward to having a guide tell me something about them.

We started at St Pancras, and that's a good place to start any journey. We learnt a lot about the history of the station and hotel from its original commissioning to it recent re-purposing as the gateway to mainline Europe.

Inside the famous Gothic frontage we paused to enjoy the new statues and the old roof.

We left St Pancras by the main entrance at the side facing Kings Cross which is now crawling with construction workers as the tide of redevelopment moves slowly East and North.

From there we made the short trip to the familiar, pretty and tranquil St Pancras Gardens.

I had been there several times before and photographed the monument before too but this time I learned that it was unveiled in 1879 by Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts (of the banking family) in memory of the people whose graves had been disturbed by the encroachments of the Midland Railway.

From there we headed for Kings Cross along Goodsway that sits in the middle of the ongoing regeneration, and shows it. In time this will be pretty and will attract people north of the Euston Road, the northern border of Central London, to bask in the new public spaces and to use the new facilities.

The final leg took us along the canal to the Caledonian Road where the appropriately named Canal 125 (it overlooks the canal and its house number is 125). By then a beer was very necessary and the first was consumed quickly to be followed by a couple of slower ones. The food was good too and we all had a pleasant time unwinding from the rigours of the walk.

Even though this was billed as just a social event it shared all the best features of the regular LIKE evenings with a mix of learning, networking, dining and fun.