Been down Mornington Crescent recently? If so, you might have seen that the area has had a bit of a spruce-up.
Rewind a few months and the place – with its central, decaying statue of the liberal Victorian statesman Richard Cobden – had long seen better days. But after an eight-year campaign by local BID Camden Town Unlimited to raise funding we reckon it’s been successfully scrubbed up, with a now-pedestrianised space strewn with sandy areas and stone benches.
Even on a grey October afternoon, drizzle in the air, an unexpectedly serene atmosphere prevailed on our visit yesterday, with folk sitting, chatting and eating in an area formerly clogged with traffic.
“It was funded by a combination of CTU, Camden Council and the Mayor of London – and it’s still not finished,” says CEO Simon Pitkeathly. “The bits with sand in them will be planted with trees and there’s a few more benches and other stuff to go in. Richard Cobden went away to be cleaned up and re-mounted – and he seems much happier on his new home.”
Far better, we reckon you’ll agree, than that nasty triangle of tarmac in the middle of the road surrounded by railings.
Best of all, this new public space is to be used for all manner of events, food markets and creative happenings. There’s an art installation (Points of View by JakBox) there at the moment, with some striking lighting due to be installed for Xmas.
And new shops are springing up around it, too. “The two burnt-out buildings at 11-13 had been left derelict for over twenty years,” says Pitkeathly. “We worked with the council to get a Compulsory Purchase Order in place and this finally persuaded the owner to do something with them. As you can see they’re now occupied and really add something to the retail mix on the junction.”
It’s true, these new additions are looking pretty smart, mostly hip streetfood outlets like Hunger Dog, Band Of Burgers and Hawker. Definitely worth a foray this weekend, if you don’t already pass through that way on a daily basis for work.
And isn’t the next step is for KOKO to open an all-day cafe, like the one at the Ritzy in Brixton, with tables and chairs spilling out onto the now leisurely piazza? After all, long in the shadow of its immediate neighbour to the north, it’s high time the Crescent really became a hangout in its own right.
