London Food & Culture

Knowledge Quarter #5: Martin Sach, London Canal Museum

Never learnt the fascinating history behind the inland waterways of King's Cross? We meet the man behind the Canal Museum, part of our Knowledge Quarter series

London Canal Museum:
London Canal Museum: a perfect day out along the canal.

Tell us a bit about your organisation’s history, goals and recent work.
The museum exists for a range of linked purposes: public education on the topic of inland waterways in the London area, preserving things for the future, plus we are custodians of a unique historic building so its upkeep is important too. Last year saw the completion of our biggest-ever project, but one that won’t get seen very much, to perform various structural works underground in the historic ice wells. In tandem, we ran a public engagement programme and commission a new model of our building’s past incarnation as an ice warehouse.

Tell us about your own role
It tends to be something like W.S. Gilbert’s character who was ‘Lord High Everything Else’ in that as Chair of a small organisation I have to have multiple roles. A lot of my time goes into running the private function business, which supports the museum financially and brings in audiences who would not normally set foot in the place. I also spend a good deal of time on development projects, building maintenance, and general management of the day-to-day running of the museum.

Martin Sach
Martin Sach
What hopes do you have for the growth of the Knowledge Quarter?
That it will accelerate the change in the King’s Cross area, from one that you’d pass through as quickly as possible, to being a place of culture where you’d want to linger – hopefully including a bit of time in our museum.

What does your organisation’s membership of the Knowledge Quarter plan to achieve?
We’d like firstly to see physical improvements, pedestrian wayfinding for a start, (for example we support proposals for a so-called green route from Euston). In the longer term there might well be more opportunities for collaboration between partners.


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We often hear that ‘knowledge is power’, but what other word or phrase would you say knowledge is?
Personal fulfilment.

For more info on all that’s happening in this exciting new initative, read our main story Just What is the Knowldge Quarter?

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