Camden Borough Tour

When I finally explored my borough, I was grateful to have already seen several other boroughs during class time and walking around. This allowed me to compare what made Camden stand out from the rest of London. Even when researching my borough for my dossier, it was clear Camden had a less traditional contribution to London. I quickly realized when exploring, Camden seems to fill the gaps of what London was missing prior to 1965.

Camden— especially near Camden Town and Chalk Farm—still reflects it’s almost wastelandish past in many respects. Much of the rest of London is clean and built up in a way which seems to match the areas that’s sprawl around it. King’s cross and the business park where we ate dinner the first night are among this side of Camden. I made sure to reflect this character of Camden in my borough tour by finding a place for class on this side of the borough and starting back in the spot where we all first interacted with the borough (King’s cross). This side of Camden embodies much of the traditional cultural offerings such as museums, linraries, universities, and public transit. Most notably for those looking to return to Camden later in the trip is Museum Mile (between King's Cross and Euston) and Keats House (in Hampstead) which are both toward this side of the Borough.

However, I’m much more excited to show the area that, although having been gentrified and developed, is much more how I imagined a relatively new borough. Camden officially became a borough in 1965 from the unused areas of the surrounding boroughs. In other words, it was a collection of the spaces which no one wanted to use. I think the modern Camden town (especially noticeable in Camden market which I have also included in my tour as a place to walk around and eat before the theatre) still incapsulates the rejected origin of the borough. Although the space itself is no longer empty and crime-ridden, it continues to offer a haven for the people who traditionally are casted our from society (local creatives and artists especially). The only place I’ve seen so far in London that approaches the less developed side of Camden is Brick Lane near Shoreditch.

Compared to the rest of London, including much of Shoreditch, Camden Town and Chalk Farm are colorful. And modern. And a little grimy. I found them the  heart of what makes the Borough of Camden unique, and similar to the spaces I gravitate toward back home in New York.

I wanted to make sure to show the range of what Camden offers, meaning I wanted to be sure to incapsulate the side of Camden which diverges from the majority of modern London.  By dedicating our walking around time to Camden Market, and classroom time to the part of Camden we have already seen as a group (and which isn’t particularly unique in style), I feel I would offer a well-rounded introduction to my borough.



Tuesday 10th of July, 3:30-6:30p proposals.

Option 1: We will meet at 3:15p at King's Cross Station for the Camden Borough Tour. We will walk through part of King’s Cross to get to the British Library where we will  hold class. Ther we will have an option of indoor or outdoor classroom space. We will then travel together to the Chalk Point underground stop where we will walk through Chalk Point to Camden Market to eat.  We can meet at the Camden Town stop and take the underground from there to the theatre. It is roughly half a mile between the Chalk Farm and Camden Town underground stops, and most of what is in-between is the Camden Market.

I have attached an itinerary with images I took while exploring my borough here of our upcoming tour of the Borough of Camden.

Option 2: If we don’t have time for all this because we have a play that evening, I would like to propose that we instead meet at the Chalk Farm station at 3:15p. We will from there walk to Camden Market where we can get food and have class. This option will be a little louder than where we have had class thus far however, which is why I suggested the British Library for a class space. I think the area of the borough of Camden between the Chalk Farm and Camden Town underground stop is more important to show my classmates the uniqueness of Camden and it’s formation, then the areas similar to King’s Cross (which we have already all seen or seen areas which are similar).

There are no costs, except the option to buy coffee or food (the market has plenty of both!).