Camden Town

I visited the station as early as possible on a Sunday morning.to avoid the crowds, as the numerous shops/markets are definitely on the tourist trail.

The station just serves the Northern Line but it can be a bit confusing with its four platforms. This is where the Edgware and High Barnet lines merge from the north and also where they split going south via either Bank or Charing Cross. 

Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead railway opened a station here in 1907. Nowadays in a typical year more than 20 million journeys either start or end at Camden Town station.

I liked the light blue colour of the tiles but I don't understand why there is a colon between the words. In 2001 the tiling at Camden Town station was renovated. Transport for London is responsible for the upgrade and conservation of the 272 stations on the network. Heritage features on a station include clocks, benches, signage and glazed ceramic tiles. There are different ways of refurbishing the tiling depending on the condition of the original tiles. The ideal approach would be to keep as many of the original tiles as possible and it seems if over 70% are in good condition then the remainder are repaired rather than removed. Another method is to strip and replace and this can be easier as the colour match does not need to be so exact.. The process used here at Camden was the over tiling method. Replicas are placed directly over the existing tiles which means there will be no access to the original tiles. The same colour has been used but the pattern has been simplified. The original tiling scheme had a blue border surrounding each section of tiles. You would only ever know this by looking at old photos of the station. The method of over tiling is the least popular amongst conservationists. TfL always try to conserve as much as possible as well as imitating the colour and the original design.

The station was designed by architect Leslie Green and features the ox blood red terracotta tiling on the exterior and half moon windows.

The triangular piece of land not used by the Underground building was once the site of a dairy. Built in the 1920s it is decorated with science themed reliefs.

On the other corner of Camden High Street is another impressive building. I wasn't surprised to learn that this too used to be a bank. Formally the Royal Bank of Scotland it has been repurposed as a fast food outlook, which seems to be the fate of many old banks. I should be thankful that it hasn't been demolished.

A little further down on the other side of the road was yet another bank building - Barclays bank. I think we have forgotten just how many different banks we used to have on a High Street. After it closed, the Jazz Cafe moved here in 1992 from its premises in Stoke Newington. It is a very well known jazz club now.

Another music venue is in the basement of  the World's End pub called 'The Underworld'. There has been a tavern on this site for more than 350 years. Records show that by 1751 there were two pubs here, the Mother Red Cap and the Mother Black Cap. The location of the pubs was supposedly near the cottage of the local witch ' Mother Damnable' . Real name Jinny Bingham born c1600. Folklore has it that she murdered a number of men who had the misfortune to have a relationship with her. Many witnesses are said to have seen the devil himself entering her house.

In 1988 the pub was extended so that it had a capacity of 1000 and the 'Underworld' venue was constructed in the basement with a capacity of 500. Camden is well known for its music venues and nightlife. 

Walking down the High Street you can't miss this ghost sign for Boots the Chemist 'you save money by shopping at Boots the Chemist'. The metallic sign was probably an illuminated sign with the word Boots above it. Interesting that the Logo for Boots has hardly changed over all these years other than omitting the words 'the chemist'

Camden is a popular tourist destination. One of the reasons they come here is to visit the shops and the markets. Although a number of shops just sell cheap 'tat' it is their decorations on the outside that attract the most attention. Here are a few to give you an idea.

Camden market began in 1974 with just 16 craft stalls opening on a Sunday. Today there are hundreds of stallholders selling a multitude of things seven days a week. In the 19th cent this whole area was an industrial site of distilleries and warehouses dedicated to the production of gin.

A row of newly built food stalls greet you as you enter from this end of the High Street.

As it was still early some of the stalls had not yet set up.

Another section of the market overlooks the Regent's Canal.

These flowers have all been knitted.

There is also an indoor market here.

Another market off the High Street is Inverness Street.  It used to be mainly fruit and veg but now there are lots of souvenir stalls.

This one is full of all those souvenirs you never knew you wanted or needed but end up buying.

At the junction of Hawley Crescent and Kentish Town Road is Elephant house.   It was built in 1901and was once used as the bottle store for the Camden Brewery which operated from 1859-1926. The elephant head became the trademark of the brewery after one of their popular drinks - Elephant pale ale. In 2012 the new Camden Town Brewery used the old recipe to recreate the Elephant pale Ale for the London Olympics as it would have been one of the drinks available at the London Olympics in 1908.

Above the door is the elephant head motif.

The railings outside the building have these metal elephant heads on them.

In 1892 a new type of accommodation for the down and outs and homeless men of London became available. It was the idea of Lord Rowton, a politician and philanthropist who had already set up the Guinness Trust in London and Dublin which provided low cost accommodation for working people. Rowton was dismayed to see the squalid standard of common lodging houses in London. He decided to set up a completely different kind of hostel which provided individual  cubicles for sleeping in, washrooms with hot and cold water, drying  facilities , large dining room, library and clean sheets on the beds. The cost of using the accommodation would be low.  He put up £30,000 of his own money to finance the scheme. The first hostel opened in Vauxhall with space for 470 men. In all six homes were built in London with Arlington House, Camden being the last one in 1905. It was one of the largest men's hostel in the country and designed to accommodate 1200 residents.

Arlington House was renovated in 2010 and still provides 95 residential rooms for homeless and vulnerable individuals as well as 44 studio flats for low income workers. There are spaces for community and business enterprises and it also collaborates with organisations to create employment and training opportunities for residents.

Another interesting building close by is the Camden Works Rotunda. In 1851 it was constructed in the round as a piano factory for Collard and Collard. It had  22 windows and under each window was a bench which gave the worker access to as much light as possible. It also had a central lift to move the instruments from floor to floor . The circular shape gave the maximum light and space possible on that size of site. The piano company moved from Camden in the 1920s and the factory was then used by garment firms, engineers and printers. In the 1990s it was Grade II listed and was restored and renamed as the Rotunda. It currently houses design consultants and low cost housing.


Other than the music scene. market stalls and food outlets, Camden has another gem up its sleeve and that is the Regents Canal that runs through the town. 
  

    

With the opening of Regent's canal to traffic in 1820, trade and industry was brought to Camden. It was transformed from a rural village to a busy town. Boat trips started on the canal in 1951 and the towpath was opened to the public in 1972.

There was a lot of development along the canal side during the Victorian era. Prior to the arrival of the railways goods were moved around the country via canals.

In 1850 the North London Railway came through the northern end of Camden on a brick viaduct. The viaduct arches are still here and have been transformed into a variety of businesses including shops and restaurants.

There is also a unique cinema which opened here in 2021. It has five small 30 seat screens built into repurposed arches

In another arch is the 3 Locks Brewing Company. The whole brewing process takes place onsite under the arches.

On this building is a plaque with a reminder of its Victorian past. Charles Dickens lived here as a boy. The house has long since been demolished.

Another reminder of Victorian times are these Ladies public toilets. I hadn't really thought about the history of ladies toilets until I saw these. Once a familiar sight but now rare to see these below ground public conveniences. These toilets opened in 1905 and have recently been restored.

The first public toilets opened in 1852 and were known as 'Public Waiting Rooms'. The vast majority were designed for men with very few available for women. this meant it was very difficult for women to travel beyond the homes of family and friends. Visits further afield had to include areas where women could relieve themselves. This also had restrictions on women visiting public spaces as there were no toilets in the work place or anywhere else in public. This led to the formation of the 'Ladies Sanitary Association' which campaigned on behalf of women from the 1850s onwards. With public meetings and the distribution of information leaflets the Association did have some success. In the 1890s another group for women's rights emerged: Union of Women's Liberal and Radical Associations which campaigned for working class women to have public toilets in Camden. The members wrote to the Vestry in Camden for toilet access without much success until a member of the Vestry took up their cause. That person was George Bernard Shaw, the dramatist who argued for hours, with his fellow councillors, until they finally agreed that the women of Camden could have their own public toilets. And on that final nod to making travel for women easier I will make my way home, hoping you have enjoyed my latest venture on the Underground.