Caledonian Road Goods Depot

[swhite01]

I have a line diagram covering Kings Cross Goods, the drawing is dated, with a printed note by the scale as "lines correct at 1933", it has a printed owner stamp "S & T" but unforutnately no written date. My images are too large to attach so I have included a link to the photos below.Unfortunately it does not cover the the Goods Depot itself, but hope this helps. The area covered by the Drawing is the Kings Cross goods complex and the running lines between the tunnels.

Steve

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8336963@N0 ... 577139716/

I have placed 3 photos on the Flickr link taken this Saturday at the Alexandra Palace exhibition. Copenhagen Fields was on display, the images are of the Caledonian Rd Goods area. Hope they are of interest.

Steve W

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8336963@N0 ... 1988925741

[kudu]

Some great pictures. That layout looks really impressive.

But I'm still left wondering why the depot was built where it was.

Kudu

[Mickey]

The Caledonian road cattle pens.

Mickey

[strang steel]

I think you are right, Micky.

What better place to site a goods yard with a view to capturing the live cattle trade.

[Mickey]

.

[strang steel]

But this would be right next to a main railway line, and also next to the NLL, but also close to very good road links to the abattoirs and butchers in a very highly populated area.

[Mickey]

Fresh cattle meat for slaughter straight off the hoof.

Mickey

[Danby Wiske]

There was a thing on the telly about the Caledonian road and Kings Cross areas about a month ago and there was some mention made of the Caledonian road cattle market and the Kings Cross station areas as well as the Caledonian road, i think it was on the HISTORY CHANNEL for about one hour.

It was a BBC programme, called "The Secret History of Our Streets". See here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01k6k3m

Not available on iPlayer anymore, unfortunately...

[StevieG]

Think I must have missed this episode of the series when originally broadcast, and I recall seeing, within the last few weeks, trails for the series being repeated on the Yesterday channel (on Freeview) but I think it's been and gone: No trace in this week's listings.
Shame.

[StevieG]

" .... Copenhagen Fields was on display, the images are of the Caledonian Rd Goods area. Hope they are of interest.

Steve W

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8336963@N0 ... 1988925741 "

Thanks v.m. for these pictures Steve.
It's some years since I saw this layout; I think the front feature of having a small representation of a Cal.Rd. tube station platform and train was relatively new at the time.
They also previously had some copy-photos of the G&M area from me when planning something to do with that part of the layout.

[kudu]

But I'm still left wondering why the depot was built where it was.

It was possibly built where it was because it's location was near to the Caledonian Road cattle market?.

On the G.N.R. side the Caledonian road cattle docks were located at the Holloway south down s/box area the wooden cattle pens remaining until the early 1970s i seem to recall?.

Live cattle were unloaded off the train at Holloway cattle dock and then taken on the hoof up Caledonian road to the Caledonian road cattle market, my dad as a youngster use to help drive them through the streets back around the time of the 1914-18 war he once told me that 50 odd years ago.

If the GN had cattle docks at Holloway then why did they go to the trouble of opening Caledonian Road as well? Remember access to Caledonian Road involved a lot of engineering work just for a few sidings. I still wonder whether there is significance in the fact that the headshunt pointed straight at the cattle market, which was quite substantial.

Fascinating about your dad, btw.

Kudu

[Mickey]

.

[StevieG]

But I'm still left wondering why the depot was built where it was.

It was possibly built where it was because it's location was near to the Caledonian Road cattle market?.

On the G.N.R. side the Caledonian road cattle docks were located at the Holloway south down s/box area the wooden cattle pens remaining until the early 1970s i seem to recall?.

Live cattle were unloaded off the train at Holloway cattle dock and then taken on the hoof up Caledonian road to the Caledonian road cattle market, my dad as a youngster use to help drive them through the streets back around the time of the 1914-18 war he once told me that 50 odd years ago.

" If the GN had cattle docks at Holloway then why did they go to the trouble of opening Caledonian Road as well? Remember access to Caledonian Road involved a lot of engineering work just for a few sidings. I still wonder whether there is significance in the fact that the headshunt pointed straight at the cattle market, which was quite substantial. .... "
Kudu

I would just comment that the most detailed name of the yard that I have heard is 'Caledonian Goods & Coal...' (depot/yard), though obviously that wouldn't preclude cattle having been handled there if there were the right dock/facilities.

Regarding the headshunt, from my one ancient c1969 foray up there, I seem to recall (I was more interested in the track layout) that it was fairly level while the surrounding ground level became higher, and it was completely or mostly surrounded by tall-ish buildings of some sort, including across the path of any proposed northward continuation, although, given how long ago the market ceased to handle livestock, these buildings, though I think looking fairly old, might have been of later date.

[Mickey]

.

[sandwhich]

Before Kings Cross station and yards were built in 1852 beyond what is now Euston Road between Camden Town and the village of Islington the area was open country in the county of Middlesex, York Way was then a country lane called Maiden Lane that bypassed the hamlet of Belle Isle on its way up to Highgate. Cometh the railways Belle Isle vanished and the whole area was built over with the Metropolitan Cattle Market laid out in 1855, London of course soon spread out in all directions, as I previously said the Caledonian Goods & Coal Yard was known to local railwaymen as the Farm, perhaps another reason for its name is that before development came it was indeed farmland and the name stuck and was handed down over the generations. I dont suppose that after all of this time we will never really know.