KINGS CROSS ROOTS, OLD STORIES & FOUNDATIONS

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As a root and a beginning, the local history around where Spiderflower started out geographically is so interesting, and the spirit of place is reflective in Spiderflower's overall ethos and expression. 

 

London is a fascinating city.  If you take one place and peel through layers of time, there is often a story to unearth. Kings Cross is no different.  The actual name of 'Kings Cross' originates from a monument to King George IV which stood at 'The King's Crossroads' where Euston Road, Gray's Inn Road, and Pentonville Road met between 1830 - 1845. King's Cross station opened in 1852 and stands by that junction.

 

Going right back, Kings Cross initially sprung from a village known as 'Battle Bridge', which was an ancient crossing over the River Fleet. The original name of the bridge was Broad Ford Bridge and had been settled in Roman times with a camp here known as The Brill. 

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Urban folklore says the name 'Battle Bridge' was the site of a major battle in AD 60 or 61 between the Romans and the Iceni tribe led by Boudicea, and continues with the suggestion Boudicea is buried beneath platform 9 or 10 at King's Cross station. That half way place between platforms (Platform 9 3/4 - Harry Potter) seems to be a bit of a hot spot.

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BETWEEN RED LIGHTS & A CREATIVE HUB

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The Cabot Centre was tucked away in a small community around the back of Kings Cross Station. The area is notorious as the red light district of London, but it was also a hub where creatives gathered and worked - plus the street was residential, the centre being part of Stanley and Culross Buildings (two victorian tenement blocks built in 1864 as the first 'luxury accommodation' for the working classes managed by community housing).

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During the time we were there this little pocket was alive and humming. The Cabot Centre was officially a Kundalini Yoga centre and was beautifully serene once you stepped through its doors, as you cast your eye across the road from the main studio space you'd be met with the gasworks on the skyline - so the place held quite a polarity in its own right. The Battlebridge Centre stood next door to the gasworks, not far off the size of an aircraft hanger it was established as an eco-centre and was both epic and inspirational, in a derelict kind of way; with gardens, a cafe that was never open and an abundant range of workshop rooms to hire - but were mostly empty, and a little famous for their leaking roofs. . . all art of the charm.

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The London Canal Museum sat round the corner, and the truly tiny Courtyard Theatre was a stones throw away - another place I rehearsed and performed at some years before, and loved it. Surrounding streets saw the setting for films such as; 'The Ladykillers', Mike Leigh's 'High Hopes' and Anthony Minghella's 'Breaking and Entering' - the legendary Irish folk/punk band 'The Pogues' founded in Kings Cross . .  the list goes on. It was a quirky, hub of a place - full of all the colours of humanity, and one that I remember feeling well at home in as a beginning.

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DEMOLITION & REGENERATION

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In the 90s, the government established regeneration projects and the station's redevelopment led to the demolition of the area which is now beyond recognition.  Following protests from community groups the tenants from Stanley and Culross were moved out in 2001, the layout of the surrounding roads has completely changed, the iconic Gasworks have been obliterated, the cobbled streets gone, the Courtyard Theatre has closed and both The Cabot Centre and Battlebridge Centre are no more.

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An increasing number of high-brow establishments have taken up residence in their place. Although it's a good thing to evolve - this level looses so much. It is worth pausing and wondering about the term 'regeneration' and if it really needs to erase all the flavours of an era without trace? 

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I speak of this place as it was - as it mirrors so well what Spiderflower has grown from and still is. The work is about meeting and moving with the extraordinary contradictions and contrasts within human existence, we are interested in all the colours - and within that - the spectrum of expression we visit is real and wide - this seed of a place, now I look back - gifted Spiderflower with so much.

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I will be forever thankful for that inspired cubby hole . . . and rest well in the knowledge that the memory of some fierce beats still rest within those streets.