Every year, the GNR Society arranges a day out for our members to places that are not always accessible to the general public.
The day usually includes a tour, and a talk by one of the members or by someone who is a specialist in their field.
In recent years, we have been to:
- Quainton Road
- Kings Cross Goods Shed
- Bennerley Viaduct and Friar Gate Bridge
- Director’s Saloon on the Bluebell Railway
In 2020 we will be spending a day at Ingrow with the Vintage Carriage Trust which is on the Keighley and Worth Valley railway. Among the collection is their restored Howlden 45′ composite brake.
The Kings Cross Goods Shed Visit
By Marion Sibley, from the Great Northern News
On a warm Wednesday evening several GNRS members joined a North London Railway Historical Society walk at King’s Cross, led by Rebecca Haslam of Pre-Construct Archaeology and joint author of the book AN IMMENSE AND EXCEEDINGLY COMMODIOUS GOODS STATION, reviewed in the Great Northern News 211.
We visited the area north of the Regents’ Canal – much changed in only a few years and probably rarely visited by railway enthusiasts now, yet it was obviously a very popular location for the population of the new housing. A fascinating and educational evening enhanced by Becky’s vast knowledge of what we were seeing.
Here are a few photographs. After the ‘formal’ tour a few of us visited the Waitrose supermarket café located in the former Potato Warehouse (the original Maiden Lane terminus). While partaking of a welcome cuppa we were pleased and surprised to find that some of the original 1850 cast-iron spandrels had been re-used to support the roof on the eastern side, albeit mounted on modern steel pillars.
Our thanks go to Becky and of course the organiser, the NLRHS Secretary.
