St Pancras Cruising Club
St Pancras Cruising Club (SPCC) is a members' association of boat owners located between Camden Town and Islington on the Regent's Canal in central London. Most boats in the basin are narrowboats, the most common form of craft on the British canals. As the club is near to King's Cross station, it is affected by the ongoing developments at King's Cross Central, formerly known as the Railway Lands.
Location and facilities[edit]
St Pancras Cruising Club is based at the basin of the same name, next to Camley Street Natural Park, between St Pancras Station and St Pancras Old Church, one of the oldest church buildings in London,[1] hence the name of the district. The club, which was founded in 1958,[2] is situated in a canal basin that was used to handle building stone.
SPCC has a clubhouse with a bar. It constructed the first new dry dock in London for many decades, now the only one in the capital. In 2001 the club became the guardian of a listed water tower, originally used to refill the steam locomotives. The Victorian Gothic brick structure, designed by the office of Sir George Gilbert Scott around 1870, was moved a few hundred metres to save it from the path of the Eurostar high-speed rail link from the Channel Tunnel.[3]
Activities[edit]
SPCC has gained a reputation as one of the country's foremost cruising clubs, based not least on the year-round safe navigations that it conducts and marshals on the Tideway, the tidal Thames. Notable cruises include the 2007 one to the Houses of Parliament protesting DEFRA cuts to the inland waterways budget [4] It was also a pivotal organiser in the narrowboat contribution to the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012.[5]
SPCC has always played an active part in waterways events. It is a founder member of the Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs,[6] of which the current chairman, David Pearce, served for seven years as the commodore of SPCC. The club helps organise events such as the Angel Canal Festival [7] and the Canalway Cavalcade, in which the boat handling competition novice winner's trophy is named after a former commodore of SPCC, Dr Roger Squires.[8]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Historic England. "Old church of St Pancras (1113246)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- ^ "St Pancras Golden Anniversary". Waterways World. June 2008. p. 52. ISSN 0309-1422.
- ^ Armitage, Stuart. "All change at St Pancras". Institute of Historic Building Conservation. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- ^ "Event Report - Campaign Cruise to Parliament, River Thames, January 2007". Save our Waterways Campaign. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008.
- ^ Summerley, Victoria (1 June 2012). "Setting sail for the Jubilee". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022.
- ^ "About AWCC". Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008.
- ^ Angel Canal Festival Islington
- ^ "Canalway Cavalcade Awards". IWA London Region. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008.
External links[edit]
- Club website
- Map sources for St Pancras Cruising Club