* “Coal Drops Yard”-London N1C – Then & Now

There are a number of locations scattered across London, that – I clearly remember, especially from my younger years……could only really be describe as being a run down, dirty, no-go dump of a place, with nothing of any interest there worth seeing, or worth visiting.

However – as a result of enormous financial investment and imaginative, creative and forward thinking redevelopment projects throughout recent decades – some of these once decrepit, desolate no-go locations – have been totally transformed into something completely different from their previous lives.  The old London docks / the Olympic Park at the old Temple Mills site/ Battersea Power Station would be just a few of the more well known examples.

So – the other week, focusing on this theme, my London Shoes decided to head off to the Kings Cross district of the ‘smoke’ to pay a visit to the strangely named “Coal Drops Yard” !!!

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Coal Drops Yard is an area that sits directly behind Kings Cross main-line station.

It was originally an 1850’s built, massive coal storage and distribution ‘yard’ that served Victorian London – where coal would come down by train from ‘up north’ , mainly South Yorkshire pits – and then it would be distributed throughout London via canals and horse drawn carts.

A gas works was built next to the ‘Yard‘ – where coal was converted into ‘coal gas’, an very flammable gas type fuel that is created when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Coal gas was mainly used to power lighting and heating during Victorian times.

The gasometers of Coal Drops Yard around the 1840’s & 1850’s were 25 metres high and 35 metres wide – and there were quite a few of them – making it the largest gas works in Britain at that time.

It was this coal as a main fuel source, that kept London ‘going’ – helping to provide the capital’s industries and households with its power/light/heat – during the pre-electricity decades.

A network of goods yards / waterways and wharf’s built up around Coal Drops Yard – to enhance ‘distribution’ – with the Regents Canal and the St.Pancras Basin  and St. Pancras Lock towpaths becoming vital components of the distribution process.

Coal Drops Yard itself, did exactly what it said on-the-tin……it was simply a ‘yard’ where coal (8 million tonnes per year, at its peak) was ‘dropped’ into shed and stored, before being distributed across a rapidly growing Victorian London.

The yards were divided up into north/south/east/west and comprised of 48 x 3 storey high – bay sheds (ie ‘drops’).

Bespoke rail tracks were laid from Kings Cross Station, for the coal to be transported directly from trains to the ‘drop’ bays.

The ‘Yard’ had provision for stables for the horses that were used for transporting the coal onward throughout London. At the peak of its activities it is said Coal Drops Yard had over 1,500 horses operating from there – it even had its own farriers and horse hospital on-site.

The ‘Coal Offices’ were built alongside the Regents Canal – because as the demand for coal grew due to the rapid increase in London’s population from the mid 1800’s onwards, the administration of the business it created, became key to its success.

However – by the early 1900’s  – with the large scale introduction and roll-out of ‘electricity’ providing power for light and heat to firstly industry and then domestic households – the demand for ‘Coal Drop Yard’ started to diminish and quite rapidly at that.

Very soon the entire ‘Yard’ became desolate and like a ghost town – there was very little further need for it.

However – it was still suitable for ‘storage’ and at the very beginning of the 1900’s the Eastern Coal Drops was sold to a company called ‘Joseph Bagley Wild & Co’ a glass bottle manufacturer in Knottingley –Yorkshire. The company took full advantage of the ‘space’ and facilities at Coal Drops Yard and by the 1930’s they were transporting ’30’ wagons of bottles per day from up north down to their Coal Drops Yard depot.

But – as the years went on, even though a number of the ‘drops’ were still being used for storage – the old ‘yard’ area continued to decline further, leaving the old ‘drops’ abandoned and in a state of disrepair.

By the 1980’s these abandoned ‘drops’ and warehouses acquired some new but unwanted inhabitants – when the ‘yard’ became the hub for London’s emerging illegal ‘rave’ scene. By the 1990’s the old storage bays at the site became notorious for hosting illegal raves – events which inevitably brought drugs (especially ecstasy) and prostitution into the area – making it very much a no-go place for anyone not involved in that scene.

‘In-crowd’ clubs such as The Fridge / The Clink / Shoom / The Cross / Heaven – all operated at that time from Coal Drops Yard – sometimes attracting more that 2,500 clubbers to the site.

The smoking ban hit these sort of venues very hard as did the economic recession around the early 2000’s, and a gradual change in fashions etc – the clubs were no longer as popular as they once were.

The one plus side (I guess) – was that the old ‘Yard’ was quite in demand as a backdrop for activities like the filming of music videos and for film/tv itself – I guess it was cheap scenery.

However – in 2014 a massive investment and redevelopment programme was commissioned to ‘liven’ the Coal Drops Yard site up, and give it a new lease of life.

The objective of this £multi-million 4 year construction project was convert all the Victorian built coal ‘sheds’ into a 9,000 square meter high end shopping and dining complex – with a large public space area.

It was an ideal location for such a project – as nearby Kings Cross station had main lines operating from it plus 6 tube lines running underneath it – and also there were loads of bus routes that ‘touched’ King Cross – so it was an easy area to get to from anywhere throughout London and beyond.

As part of the development project, the old Gas Works gasometers were converted into residential apartments and business offices – and the sites where any gasometers were demolished and removed – then bespoke garden areas were constructed.

The redeveloped ‘Coal Drops Yard’ was officially opened in 2018. It consisted of over 50 new shops/restaurants/bars that in turn brought a more ‘legal’ nightlife to the area.

Architecturally – the 2 lines of coal drop ‘sheds’ were joined together by what has been termed a ‘kissing roof’ – a very impressive landmark it is too.

Some of the old rail tracks that ran through the Granary Square section of the site – are still in situ – and scattered around the are loads of little jet fountains emerging out of the paving – that shoot up at regular intervals – and at night these fountains are all lit up – children love playing in them, dodging in and out of the fountain jets of water.

Alongside the Regents Canal banks entry towards the Coal Drops Yard site – there is an outdoor cinema on one side of the canal, with tiered rows of deckchairs and massive cushions on the other side of the canal bank – it certainly doesn’t look out of place.

 

The Regent Canal was laid out at the back of Kings Cross station and along the side of Coal Drops Yard around the 1800’s, and officially opened in 1820.

The St. Pancras Basin and Lock section runs alongside the Coal Drops Yard site and it is from there that coal was transported from the ‘drop sheds’ via barge, and distributed throughout London to keep the City warm and lit up.

In today’s world, that section of the Regents Canal and its towpath is nice and peaceful, but its not difficult to imagine how noisy and busy it must have been in the days when tons of coal was being dumped and shunted about up and down this famous waterway artery.

You will notice, that for this specific Shoes blog – there’s no ‘cheeky’ beer activity at the end of the visit – very uncharacteristic of Shoes. The reason I didn’t get to sink a couple of beers, was because I couldn’t find a rub-a-dub on, or next to, the Coal Drops Yard site. There were plenty of restaurants – but I didn’t want a meal – plus there were a few wine/cocktail bar type outlets, but they didn’t open until late afternoon/evening……and as it was mid-day at the time of my visit, I was sort of left up the creek without a paddle…….but i guess my liver was pleased to have a rest!!!

Anyway – that’s ‘Coal Drops Yard’ for you – a London landmark that, in many ways, still retains some of original layout – but one that has a completely different ‘life’ today – to that of its past. Well worth a visit if you find yourself in the Kings Cross area – and a place that I predict is gonna become very popular ‘day out’ as time progresses.

Hope you enjoyed this piece and its accompanying photos.

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Below is the entire gallery of photo and images taken to accompany this blog article