The yard the northern trains once fed
For most of its life the land behind Kings Cross was a place of work and nothing else. From the 1850s the Great Northern Railway brought coal down from the Yorkshire and Midlands pits, and the long brick sheds known as the coal drops were built to receive it: wagons ran along raised tracks and emptied their loads through the floor into the bays below, where carts waited to carry it off across London. Around them grew granaries, goods sheds, gasholders and a canal basin, the whole machinery of a city that ran on fuel from the north.
The industry faded through the twentieth century, and by the 1990s the old buildings were better known for warehouse clubs than for coal. Then came the long redevelopment of the whole goods yard, one of the largest in central London, which kept the Victorian bones and filled them with an art college, offices, homes, parks and the evening district you can walk through today. It is now among the easiest places in London to spend a whole night without once hailing a cab.
Two roofs that lean in to meet
Coal Drops Yard itself opened in October 2018, designed by Heatherwick Studio around a pair of long Victorian sheds that face each other across a cobbled yard. The architects kept the brick arches, the cast iron and the worn setts, then did something bold with the roofs: they stretched the two inner roof slopes up and over until they curve towards each other and touch in the middle, creating a new upper floor under a sweep of old slate. Locals call it the kissing roofs, and the name has stuck.
Below, the arches hold shops, galleries, bars and restaurants, many of them keeping later hours than the average London high street, so a browse after dinner is entirely possible. The yard is at its best as the light goes, when the arches glow and the cobbles catch the lamps, and on a weeknight it is lively without being crowded.
Granary Square and the canal steps
Next door, Granary Square spreads out in front of the old granary building of 1852, which since 2011 has been home to Central Saint Martins, the famous art and design college. The square is paved with a grid of more than a thousand fountain jets that rise and fall in shifting patterns and are lit in colour after dark; on a warm evening people drift through them without quite meaning to.
On its southern side, wide terraced steps run down to the Regent's Canal, and they are one of the best free seats in London. Buy a drink, sit on the steps and watch the narrowboats pass as the light fades. A floating bookshop barge is often moored along the towpath here, and the canal walk heads west towards Camden or east towards Islington for anyone who wants to stretch their legs before dinner.
Dinner terraces and where to sit
The district has dozens of places to eat, and the best of them make the most of the old buildings and the water. The Lighterman, on the canal edge of Granary Square, spreads over three floors with terraces looking down on the towpath, and is the obvious choice for a first drink that could turn into dinner. Dishoom occupies part of a Victorian transit shed off Stable Street, a large, atmospheric room that is always busy. Around the yard itself, counters and small kitchens suit a lighter supper before a walk.
Weekends and warm summer evenings are the busiest times, so book ahead if you want a terrace table. Midweek, especially in spring and autumn, it is usually possible to walk in, and the whole place feels more like a neighbourhood than a destination.
Gasholders and the northern edge
Walk north along the canal and the skyline changes. The frame of a Victorian gasholder has been taken down, restored and re-erected beside the water as Gasholder Park, a circle of lawn inside cast iron columns with a mirrored canopy that reflects the sky. Next to it, three more linked gasholder frames now wrap around circular apartment buildings, one of the most unusual residential addresses in the city.
Across the canal on York Way, Kings Place is a concert venue with two halls under an office building, running classical, jazz and folk programmes through the week. It pairs well with an early dinner at the yard, and it is five minutes from the canal steps.
Getting there from WC2, and home again
From Covent Garden the Piccadilly line runs directly to Kings Cross St Pancras in three stops, and from the station exits Granary Square is a short walk north past the concourse. A cab from the theatres is quick once the rush hour is over, and on foot the route through Bloomsbury takes around half an hour. The hotels on this side, N1C 4TB beside the station, NW1 2AR and WC1H 8EG on the Euston Road, are all within ten minutes of the fountains.
It also makes the ideal first evening for anyone arriving by train. Eurostar passengers step out of St Pancras within sight of the district, and the Eurostar arrivals notes cover that journey in detail.
Company for a canal side evening
Milena knows this district better than any other companion on the sheet and starts her own Kings Cross evenings under the Victorian roof of an old gymnasium before walking down to the yard; direct and decisive, she is one of the raven haired companions and has no patience for a vague plan. Roxi counts the yard as home ground, noisy in the right way and easy to linger in. Nora, with her honey blonde hair and her love of arrival evenings, is the one to ask when you have just stepped off a train.
Three hours at £700 covers a drink on the canal steps, dinner and a walk past the gasholders. For an overnight stay nearby, the curtain down to coffee format runs ten hours at £1,800. Meeting a train or a flight is handled under travel and arrivals. The district is mapped on the Kings Cross and St Pancras pages, and every length is on the rates sheet.
Quick answers
Yes. The restaurants and bars stay open well into the night, and many of the shops keep later hours than a typical high street. Opening times vary by venue, so check before you set out.
Take the Piccadilly line three stops to Kings Cross St Pancras, then walk north past the station to Granary Square. The yard is a few minutes further on.
Yes. Name the bar or the spot, the top of the canal steps is easy to find, and she will be standing there, on time, when you arrive.