Mornington Crescent

 

There are 52 stations on the Northern Line, 9 of which I have already seen as those stations were on previously visited lines. Of the 43 remaining, Mornington Crescent is 22nd on my list. I had hoped to complete the Northern Line this year but that isn't gong to happen. My house move has slowed everything down but I am determined not to give up on this challenge. 

My first impression of this station was of an old one in need of refurbishment. Not a station I would feel comfortable travelling to at night. In Oct 1992 the station closed so that the old lifts could be replaced. It was only supposed to close for a year but due to a lack of funding it remained closed until 1998. Perhaps the only reason it did reopen was because of its association with a radio 4 game show called 'I'm sorry I haven't a clue'. If you have ever listened to the programme you will have heard Mornington Crescent mentioned as it is a long running game played on the show. It is a game that no-one can follow but it has stood the taste of time, having first appeared on the show in 1978, and is still part of the programme today.

The presenters of the show were there for the reopening of the station in 1998. In the ticket hall is a blue plaque to Willie Rushton who appeared on the panel of the show for many years.

Access to the platforms is via lifts or stairs.

I did like the curve of the corridor with the blue tiling.


The station was built as part of the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway in 1907. Designed by Leslie Green, evident from the red oxblood ceramic tiles which cover the exterior.

This pub was once called the Southampton Arms but changed its name to the Lyttleton Arms in memory of Humphrey Littleton who was the host of  'I'm sorry I haven't a clue' from 1972 until his death in 2008.

In the 1920s the pub was at the centre of conflicts between race course betting gangs from Clerkenwell, Camden and Birmingham. The racecourse wars involved gangs securing the control of the protection business where protection was offered to bookmakers and then taking a share of their earnings. Conflict at the racecourses made its way onto the streets and outside this pub with the attempted murder of one of the gang leaders.

On the other side of the road is  KOKO, a music venue. It first opened in 1900 as a theatre before becoming the Camden Hippodrome, a cinema and a BBC radio facility. It was here that the last goon show was recorded on 30th April 1972 with peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe. In 1977 it opened as the music machine. Then reopened again in 1982 as the Camden Palace with performers such as Spandau Ballet, Boy George and even Madonna did her first promotional concert here. After major work  updating and refurbishing the building, its life continues as a music venue.

2 minutes from the station is Mornington Crescent, the road that gave the station its name. This sweep of houses used to have gardens and tennis courts to look out on. They were private gardens that the residents paid to use. At the beginning of the 20th C the houses with their large rooms and windows became popular with artists.

Probably the most well known of the Camden Town group, as they called themselves, was Walter Sickert. Mornington Crescent gardens were the subject of several of his paintings.
 
This was the reason that residents in Mornington Crescent were furious. Instead of looking out onto a green area they now looked out onto the back of this factory. The land had been sold to Carreras who built a cigarette factory here in 1928. It was the first factory to install air conditioning and a system for dust extraction. Their motto on some posters read 'a pure product from a clean factory'. The building was five storeys high built with reinforced concrete. The largest reinforced concrete factory in the country. It completely filled the gardens.

The Egyptian style design of the building was inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. The decorations were created by mixing ground coloured glass with cement which meant the colours were permanent and could be washed.  

The factory was guarded by two bronze cats During WW2 the building was camouflaged. In the late 50s the company was taken over by Rothman's and it moved the factory to Basildon. One of the bronze cats went to be displayed at their factory in Jamaica whilst the other one went into storage. What you see here is a replica. When Rothmans left the factory it was repainted and the decorations were removed. It looked like any other office block and the name of the Carreras Black Cat cigarette factory was renamed Greater London House.

The story doesn't end there because in 1997 the building was bought by Taiwanese based owners and they restored it to look like the original Egyptian design with the black cats guarding it. 

Turning away from the station down Crowndale Road I noticed this building with what looked like a belfry on the top. The name across the top told me it was The Working Men's College founded in 1854. Further research informed me that this is the oldest adult education college in Europe. It was founded by F.D. Maurice, John Ruskin and Christian Socialists. The college was built here in 1904 and is now a Grade II listed building. The cupola that I thought was a belfry is in fact the fume extractor for the chemistry lab which used to be in the room below.

Just a little further on from the college is the Theatro Technis, meaning work, art and craft. It is an independent fringe theatre established in 1957 to create a permanent theatre for the mainly Cypriot immigrant community. It began in a garage in Camden where the small audience shared the space with the owner's car. Then in 1972 it moved to a disused warehouse near king's Cross station. A few years later in 1978 the theatre company took over this building which used to be St Pancras church house and church hall.

The two murals outside the theatre were painted as part of the London Mural Festival 2024 which is produced by Global Street Art. The one above is by the artist D*Face and is titled, 'A Dog in Hand....'

The one below is the Global Street's mascot Globey.  I missed the whole point of that one ie watering a tree outside the theatre! I have therefore copied an image from the website:

 https://www.theatrotechnis.com/global-street-art

 

I left Crowndale Road and turned left onto Royal College Street and came across The Royal Veterinary College. The RVC was founded in 1791 and joined the University of London in 1949. It is the oldest and largest veterinary school in the United Kingdom. In 1932 The Beaumont Animals' Hospital opened here specialising in small animals.

I liked the small animals decorating the railings outside the hospital.

Next door to the animal hospital is the RVC's London BioScience Innovation centre.

 Around the corner and away from the busy roads I discovered St Martin's Garden. Although not a large park, it felt like I was miles away from all the hustle and bustle. My only regret was that I hadn't packed a lunch as this would have been the perfect spot for a picnic. This land was originally an overflow burial site for St Martin in the Fields church (in Trafalgar Square) acquiring the land in 1810. The grounds closed for burials in 1856 and became a public garden in 1889. Many gravestones were moved to the perimeter.

Running alongside the park are the St Martin's almshouses. The almshouses were built to replace the original 1683 almshouses. They were completed in 1818 and were to house '70 poor aged women of the parish of St Martin in the Field'. 

I left the park to return to the station. Was this door a nod to Salvador Dali? 

Attracted by the name of Mandela Street I wandered down for a look. The street was originally called Selous Street after Frederick Selous, a South African game hunter who was born in the local area. During the 60s the street became a meeting place for the Anti Apartheid Movement. In 1985 it was renamed Mandela Street to honour the leader of the African National Congress who was in prison at the time. Nine years later he became the president of South Africa.

This block of offices used to be the St Pancras Borough Council Electricity and Public lighting department. It was responsible for the generation and distribution of electricity to the borough as well as the installation and maintenance of street lighting. The large windows let in as much natural light as possible for the many draughtsmen who worked there drawing plans. Not a problem these days as I doubt any plans would be drawn by hand. 

Other interesting buildings in Mandela Street. They are now advertised as co working buildings but I couldn't find any info on their history. The date 1890 is above the door of this building.

At the end of the street is a mural of Nelson Mandela.

A former furniture depository, the Centro building is now a collection of offices.

This church was built as an Anglican church and known as the Camden Chapel. A group of Greek Cypriots requested a second Greek orthodox church in the area to meet the needs of an increase in the number of immigrants after WW2. They were given  this church and it was first used for Orthodox worship in 1948. It was later purchased by the community and became All Saints Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

Time to go and find somewhere for lunch. I hadn't come across anywhere I fancied visiting so decided to just go home.