There is nothing like a railway line, cutting through parts of the city you think you know, to make everything look unfamiliar.
Then add computer imagery that combines what is already there with scenes yet to be brought into being, and you have a rich, puzzling mix.
Having become aware of the proposed Camden Highline through an upcoming talk advertised by The Garden Museum, its exact site was hard to picture. So off I went to Camden Road Station, Camden Gardens and the old streets secluded around there.
The proposal for a high garden walkway on disused track has been publicized for several years, much design work has already been done and planning permission for the first phase was granted in January, so the Highline is not breaking news.
However, as I prowled about both platforms of Camden Road Station, trying to understand where the sylvan, floriferous computer-generated scenes were to be realised, the railway staff I spoke to were also puzzled … no, they had heard nothing about anything like that, they said.
It’s true, the whole thing does sound unlikely, which makes it all the more imaginative. The raised walkway will be short, only from Camden, via Camley St to King’s Cross. Which, clearly, is not the existing route.
So one of my tasks was to locate the disused track. Peering through a fence on Platform 2 reveals such a wealth of self-seeded trees and bushes, mainly sycamore and buddleia, that the far side is invisible – a deep enough space, perhaps, to be the lost track?
I then took a ride eastwards towards Highbury, knowing we were not going to Kings Cross, but at least gaining a brief glimpse of tracks curving roughly South East. They didn’t look high, but in a more promising direction.
Enough of speculation … this being written when those who know are on holiday, here is what is there for anyone to see right now. First, the wonderful fanlike brickwork under the Victorian arches holding up the railway, second, the tiny arched-over Camden Gardens from which the highline will start, third, the pleasing example of rewilding discernible from Platform 2 … sycamore, ash, sorbus, wild rose, honeysuckle, holly, ivy, buddleia, wild cherry, bramble, hawkbit, and some acer-like sapling I can’t identify.
Let’s hope that the project’s plan for native woodland will start from what nature has already provided, and that the funding will include an allowance for maintenance to keep everything beautiful.
Things to do in the Garden
Sat September 2, Plant Heritage Autumn Plant Fair, 9.30 – 2.00, St Michael’s Primary School, North Hill, Highgate.
Flower Shows: Saturday September 2, Highgate Horticultural Society, United Reformed Church, Pond Square, Highgate 2pm – 5pm; Saturday September 9, Hampstead Garden Suburb Horticultural Society, Free Church Hall, Northway, NW11, 3pm – 5pm; Saturday September 16, Muswell Hill Horticultural Society, North Bank, Pages Lane, N10, 3pm – 5pm.
Sunday September 3 Golf Course Allotments, Winton Ave, N11 2AR, open through the National Gardens Scheme, 1pm – 4.30pm
Garden Museum Talk: Camden Highline, Reviving Urban Space, Repurposing Brownfield Sites. September 19, 7pm. Booking; gardenmuseum.org.uk. The Museum is at 5 Lambeth Palace Rd SE1.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here