London Food & Culture

King’s Cross Pond Club: What’s it really like?

See our gallery of photos from N1C's brand new art-meets-swimming installation, as seen splashed on the cover of the new Gasholder print edition, out today...

All new (if only temporary) addition to the famous KX landscape
All new (if only temporary) addition to the famous KX landscape

Your brand new, totally free, print edition of Gasholder hits over 100 outlets in eight postcodes today (see below for stockists), featuring a first look at King’s Cross exciting new freshwater art installation on the cover.

Of Soil and Water: Pond Club (its full title) gives people the chance to swim in the shadow of towering, noisy cranes, shifting mounds of rubble and tumbledown Victorian railway infrastructure as part of the area’s ongoing art programme, RELAY.

Daily ticketholders change in stripy bathing huts before climbing the gentle incline up to the water’s edge (the pond having been entirely fashioned out of derelict land), before plunging in to surprisingly clear waters.

Check out the pics we took on a preview trip around the site this week, ahead of it’s imminent opening:


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The pool is the work of artist Marjetica Potrc and Dutch architects Ooze, who have collaborated on many other projects, including a wind-powered lift attached to Folkestone’s majestic mainline viaduct as part of last year’s Triennial art event.

The water is totally chemical-free, being purified via the natural filtering process of 4200 (count ’em) wetland and submerged water plants. These only recently arrived from greenhouses in Dortmund so, as you can see in these first photos, the area is yet to bloom into the lush oasis of swaying grasses and wild flowers promised, but the installation has got a two year lifespan before the bulldozers encroach on this tranquil corner, so expect the look to be ever-changing.

More info and tickets when they become available from the King’s Cross website.

Issue 6 GH cover

This month’s cover feature also reveals our top 10 beach and swimming hotspots across this part of the capital, from the peacock-like promenading up at Hampstead Heath’s famous ponds, to the blazing summer sands of Camden Beach over at Chalk Farm’s Roundhouse.

We also take a stroll on the beaches of the Thames with author and keen urban swimmer, Caitlin Davies, plus explore the British Library’s summer blockbuster show: Magna Carta.

You’ll find reviews of ever-mobbed Granary Square fave Caravan and #foodporn specialists Yeah! Burger, plus all the regular monthly highlights.

Here’s where to find a copy, FREE at key pubs, bars, shops and cafes in eight London postcodes: N1, WC1, N7, EC1, N1C, NW1, W1 and NW5.

MAIN GASHOLDER STOCKISTS

King’s Cross N1/N1C
King’s Cross Visitor Centre (11 Stable Street – our biggest stockist), Dishoom, Drink Shop Do, DASH coffee, Grain Store, Notes, Vinoteca, GNH Hotel bar, Harris & Hoole, Vegan Cafe, Pattern Coffee, Canal, King’s Cross Visitors Centre, TED, Big Chill, Honest Burger, The Poor School, King’s Place, Star of King’s, The Fellow, Housmans Bookshop, KC Continental, Camino, Lexington, Surya, Camley Street Park, 2 Pancras Square library and leisure centre, Parcel Yard, Canal Museum, Pan MacMillan, Clink Hostels 180 & 261, Travelodge

Bloomsbury/ King’s Cross WC1
06 St Chad’s Place, Nivens, Paolina Thai Cafe, Half Cup cafe, Lord John Russell, Judd Books, Gay’s The Word, New Bloomsbury Set, Moreish Cafe, Union Tavern, Holiday Inn, Travelodge, Bloomsbury Theatre, Hotel Mercurey, UCL, SOAS Union, SOAS Brunei Gallery, Wellcome Collection, The Place

St Pancras/ Somerstown/ Camden NW1
The Gilbert Scott, Betjeman Arms, Jaunty Flaneur (St Pancras Grand), Somerstown Coffee House, Cosy Kettle, Shaker & Company, Lord Stanley, Thistle Hotel, Ibis

Caledonian Road N7
Shillibeers pub & deli, Pleasance Theatre, Omnibus Centre

Clerkenwell EC1
Bonnie Gull, Exmouth Arms, Easton, Cafe Pistou, Brill Cafe, Slaughtered Lamb, Look Mum No Hands, Tileyard

Islington N1
Narrowboat pub, Thornhill Arms, Island Queen, Joker of Penton St, Drapers Arms


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