Country rat, city rat... A trip down memory lane

Pssst, did you hear? Marketing conference in London says "Content  is king"
So I got my crown back from Mouse Converter

Yesterday this country rat went to London for training. This course is not work related, so ignore the hamster - as usual it's doing its own thing. Scroll down for some amazing photos, courtesy of my Pana Lumix (I bought that, in case you wonder, it was not a freebie). All these photos were taken on the hoof, one chance to capture the vibe and no retakes!

Snap happy from King's Cross to Camden

King's Cross area - such a change! It used to be pretty scuzzy.
One of my friends got mugged by a drug addict at 6pm

I lived in London for over 13 years, mainly in East London (respect E17!) but worked all around the city as my media clients were scattered from East to West, from North to South... 


I arrived at King's Cross, which looked impressive, even under a leaden sky. My course is in Camden, which is a borough I know very well as I worked there for years, mostly at Emap (now erm Bauer) and Bauer (still Bauer). So I walked up and down the streets from Mornington Crescent up to Chalk Farm in my lunch hour, after work for years and years. 

See that rotunda? It's a terrace where I spent a few moments away
from dusty manuscripts (mostly XVII cent)

Back to the present, I walked from King's Cross to Camden via the British Library, where I researched my thesis while at uni and subsequently my novel on alchemy (still unfinished). This building costed the taxpayer a pretty packet but it's worth every penny.

I walked past the Francis Crick Institute (in construction). Every time I hear this name (often in Cambridge) I feel uneasy and angry because of the way Rosalind Franklin was treated. Another woman written 

out of HIStory as feminists justly say (if you are a skeptic, read an unbiased view here). So unfair, especially since she died of cancer before her contribution could be appreciated. Lesson No.1  for women scientists: lock your research away and wear the key on your body. And while I'm ranting, I'm also angry about the way Alan Turing was treated, too.

The entrance, a lovely piazza that now boasts a cafe

I love that bench, not sure about the ball - for me reading has never been a chore

The cafe, built around the King's Library,  a tower filled with precious, rare books

Up those stairs... The current access to the reading rooms

Francis Crick Institute

From thievery (aka unathorised use) to toilets:
a classy cloakroom at the British Library

The first time I saw that chair was in the 1980s, it was in natural pine, now is shabby chic

This stuff is new - wasn't there in 2006, the last year I worked in the area. Or I forget?

A nice stall, touristy but not tacky

Where does all this ironwork come from? It wasn't there... it looks old... great repros?

Girly, vintage and quirky display

This stuff wasn't there in 2006 either, it looks great, though

Still in Camden, I haven't posted a holiday pic by mistake

So atmospheric but no takers for this cafe

Vintage cavalcade, every decade in harmony

Irresistible bench, full of Eastern promise

The entrance/exit with one more iron statue

What??? Well, if you want to meet a Bauer journalist "off the record",
that's where many shop for lunch

Wasn't that grey building the home of breakfast TV and then MTV?
What happened to the eggs?

A variety of styles: from Victorian to punk

Mornington crescent calling: the ex cigar factory where Emap used to be.
Cross the road to admire the giant Egyptian cats (I hope they are still there).

More eclectic clothing choices

This building might have been there in 2006 but this area was pretty dire in the 1980s

Buildings are getting more outrageous, some of these fronts were there in
the 1980s but many were added later on

By the lock... This man has a very strange voice and plenty of
punters stop to sample his chicken

Camden lock, you can walk all the way to Regent's Park (if I remember correctly)

The previous week I even visited Primrose Hill and Mary Portas' charity shop. I found the indie bookshop still open, which is a miracle. I wonder if it's still run by the woman I invited to speak at a Women in Publishing's meeting many years ago. From the top of Primrose Hill you have a great view, including the wheel, the Shard... it's just lovely, pity I didn't have Pana Lumix with me. And if you get thirsty/pekish, do stop at Marine Ices (by Chalk Farm tube) - their ice cream still rocks.