
Roughly the size of a football pitch, it runs alongside the Regent’s Canal and supports a range of habitats including woodland, grassland, ponds and reedbeds. Wildlife includes kingfisher and reed warbler, newts and frogs, and bats that hunt for night-flying insects and moths. In short, it’s a pretty darn magical place.

The King’s Cross area has, of course, changed beyond recognition over the last three decades. So it won’t come as too much of a shock to most that Camley Street Natural Park is also now lined up for a bit of a spruce-up, with plans to completely rebuild the reserve’s visitor centre to create what they’re calling a “world-class nature and learning hub”, thanks to support from National Lottery players.
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Regulars to the park will know that the current visitor centre, installed back in 1984, is charming in its lo-fi wooden structural way. But it’s now (apparently) no longer fit for purpose and cannot meet the needs of local schools and the huge number of visitors, all seeking out nature and the chance to clap eyes on a frog or two in the heart of London.
London Wildlife Trust has just secured funding of £77,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to initiate the development of a new building, with construction starting in 2018.

The centre will include a multi-purpose learning space and education studio, with webcams revealing birds rearing their young in nearby nest boxes, as well as the underwater life of the nearby canal. As part of the make-over the new building will be fully accessible for wheelchair users.
The only downside? You’ll have to wait until 2019 before it opens.
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