London Kings Cross to Kings Lynn

The Route of the Fenman

There are two principal Anglo-Scottish main lines in Britain the East Coast Main Line out of London Kings Cross and the West Coast Main Line out of London Euston. The first to reach the capital was Robert Stephenson’s London & Birmingham Railway to London Euston. This was soon followed by the Great Northern Railway and their terminus at London Kings Cross.

The station was opened in 1852, designed by architect Lewis Cubitt, and the station roof, the largest at the time, was supposedly modelled on the riding school of the Czars of Moscow. It is also rumoured that Queen Boudicaa is buried beneath Platform 8. Also London Kings Cross features prominently in the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling as the starting point of the Hogwarts Express that takes them to Hogwarts. The train uses a secret platform 9¾ located by passing through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. When the books were filmed, the station scenes took place within the main station, with platforms 4 and 5 renumbered 9 and 10. Within King's Cross, a cast-iron "Platform 9¾" sign has been erected on a wall of the station's suburban building containing the real platforms 9 and 10. Part of a luggage trolley has also been installed below the sign; whilst the near end is visible, the rest of the trolley seems to have disappeared into the wall.

In 2008 Network Rail aims to undertake some radical refurbishment work at the station to bring it into the 21^st century and restore some of its original features. These works will increase its capacity in time for the 2012 London Olympic Games and make it a major international transport hub alongside the refurbished London St Pancras International. Work will include the removal of the existing Southern Concourse, thus exposing the original façade of the station. This will be replaced by a new Western Concourse and a new public piazza will be created at the front of the station alongside Euston Road.

London Kings Cross historically served the East Coast Main Line to the Yorkshire, Humberside, the North East and Scotland. In its heyday London Kings Cross was the starting point for such famous expresses as the Flying Scotsman, the Coronation, the Silver Jubilee, the Aberdonian, the Highland Chieftain, the Elizabethan, the Yorkshire Pullman, the Tees-Tyne Pullman, the White Rose and the Queen of Scots.

Throughout this “Through the Window” guide we describe views as being left or right from the train facing in the direction of travel out of London.

London Kings Cross to Cambridge:

As is usual with trains departing London going north, trains leave London Kings Cross and head through a series of tunnels and cuttings including Gasworks Tunnel and Copenhagen Tunnel through north London. The train then ascends the steep Holloway Bank out of Kings Cross. On the left can be seen the massive new Kings Cross Central development that is getting under way located on the former Kings Cross locomotive shed site. Soon a long elevated section takes it to Finsbury Park, with views over terraced houses and busy shopping streets. Here look out for an old Pullman carriage named Doris, on a siding at the station. It is also a short distance away from Arsenal football club's new Emirates Stadium. To the north of the station is the depot that houses modern InterCity trains and excursion train carriages. The train sweeps through Harringay, Hornsey and Alexandra Palace stations. Here the pinnacles of the restored Alexandra Palace can be seen, once served by its own branch line, crowning the hill to the left and then the Hertford Loop can be seen diverging from the main line to the right.

Trains following the mainline continue through New Southgate, Oakleigh Park, New Barnet and Hadley Wood stations. Long cuttings restrict the view as the train speeds through suburbs to Potters Bar, Brookmans Park and Welham Green. To the left can be glimpsed the picturesque, late Elizabethan grandeur of North Mymms House but this is nothing compared to Hatfield House, one of Britain’s greatest Elizabethan mansions built by Robert Cecil from 1608. The gates and the park can be seen to the right from Hatfield station but the house is out of sight beyond the church, a grand structure set on a hill above the old town. Near Hatfield House are the remains of the 15^th century Bishop’s Palace, a major example of medieval domestic architecture and a reminder that Hatfield became a bishopric in 1109.

Leaving Hatfield the line passes through the new town, one of a number of such developments that are a feature of this area, and then having crossed the Lea, it enters another, Welwyn Garden City. Largely designed by Louis de Soissons and built from the 1920s, Welwyn became the model of many later new towns with its emphasis on curving streets, trees and green spaces, and well planned shopping, residential and industrial areas. The little town that gave it its name is well away to the north west. Between Welwyn Garden City and Welwyn North, the line crosses the Mimram valley on a massive, 40 arch, brick viaduct – the Welwyn Viaduct. This carries the train 100 feet above the ground and was completed in 1850. The next station is Knebworth, a town with a church, a mansion and a golf club house by Lutyens, but the early 19^th century house and its park are over a mile to the west beyond the A1(M).

Stevenage and Hitchin stations come next and soon the Cambridge line diverges from the mainline off to the right. Just before Stevenage the Hertford Loop line rejoins the mainline.  Hitchin station is well placed for visiting this attractive market town. Its large church reflects the town’s importance as a centre of the wool trade in the Middle Ages, and it has a variety of timber framed and 18^th century buildings. Cambridge trains diverge off the East Coast Main Line here which continues off to the left, while we swing away to the north east. The next station is Letchworth Garden City, the first garden city to be built in Britain. Started in 1903 and laid out by Parker and Unwin, the new town was an attempt at translating Ebenezer Howard's late 19th century ideals into a practical reality. The 1913 station has suitable Arts and Crafts detailing. This was built at the centre of the town to replace the rather simple timber structure that can be seen in S.F. Gore's famous painting. As the train approaches Baldock there is a good view of the town's 18th century buildings spread around its handsome church, which has a small spire set on the big tower.

Ashwell & Morden station is unfortunately a long way from the two villages, and then the train runs through a varied landscape, with the wooded Pen Hills to the right southwards. The downland of Therfield Heath, with its Bronze Age barrows, precedes Royston, a handsome town that grew up around the crossing of the Ermine Street and the Ickneild Way, and then the train crosses an open landscape with good views to the left westwards to reach Meldreth. Approaching Shepreth there is a fine view of the church, and then the line swings east to follow the Cam through a low lying landscape of water meadows. Another village station is Foxton, with its barge boarded signal box and another good church view. The village itself lies half a mile to the east and is well worth a visit for its main street of timber framed and thatched cottages. After Foxton, rounded Rowley's Hill dominates the landscape to the right southwards and then Little Shelford Church stands in woodland to the right southwards as the train crosses the Cam, shortly before the junction with the former Great Eastern main line from London Liverpool Street. Trains from London Liverpool Street now usually terminate at Cambridge and no longer continue to Kings Lynn except occasionally. The approach to Cambridge is rather low key, with Trumpington to the left westwards and the huge hospital complex to the right eastwards. There is no view of the city, and no equivalent of Oxford's enticing skyline of towers and spires.

Cambridge station is a distinctive 1845 building, with a facade of 15 arches with the arms of the colleges in the spandrels. Equally distinctive is the long main platforms, served by trains in both directions. A frequent bus service runs into the city centre from the station, which because of the city fathers' resistence to the arrival of the railway, was built at some distance from the city centre.

Cambridge is a city with Roman, Saxon and Norman origins and has become a centre of learning since the 13th century, when students from Oxford fled here to escape rioting and founded Cambridge University. Of the 31 colleges, 12 were founded before the 16th century, and it is these that form Cambridge's ancient heart. With their quadrangles, chapels and gardens, or Backs, many of which run down to the river, these give the city a quality that puts it apart from other university cities. Seeing Cambridge from the river is an essential pleasure, a visual treat without equal in Britain, and an especially good way is from one of the famous punts. Another good way to see Cambridge is from the top of the 17th century tower of Great St Mary's, the official church of the university. One of the most visited college chapels is King's College Chapel, home to one of the most famous church choirs in Britain. with its magnificent fan vaulting. The city centre is small, compact and relatively traffic free, with the bicycle being the preferred means of transport, so walking about is the best way to see its many treasures, which include the round church of 1130, one of only four in England, the open air market, the Fitzwilliam Museum, one of the oldest in Britain, the mathematical bridge and Kettle's Yard, a shrine to British 20th century art. Churchill College is home to the Churchill Archives Centre containing the papers of Sir Winston Churchill and to over 570 collections of personal papers and archives documenting the history of the Churchill era and after.

Cambridge to Kings Lynn:

Leaving Cambridge station, the train makes its way out of the city, passing the junction with the line to Norwich which diverges off to the right. With the Cam and its guillotine locks to the right eastwards, it enters the strange landscape of the Fens, with the line running dead straight for miles to the distant horizon. The tower of Waterbeach Church can soon be seen and near Waterbeach station are Car Dyke, a Roman canal, and the remains of 12th century Denny Abbey. The landscape is the characteristic blend of rich, brown earth, huge fields of vegetables, isolated farms and smallholdings and everywhere the dykes that control the water levels surround the line beneath huge skies. Sheep, cows and horses wander over the dykes, often standing higher than the roof of the train. To the right eastwards is Wicken Fen, 730 acres of original fenland carefully preserved as a nature reserve, and to the left westwards is the tall chimney of the old steam pump at Stretham. The train crosses the Ouse, by its junction with the Cam, with the towers of Ely Cathedral gradually filling the horizon, like a great ship at anchor. Ely is the landmark of the journey, to be seen for miles in all directions, and its details will already be familiar by the time the train reaches the station.

Leaving Ely the train crosses the Ouse with a fine view of the old quays and wharves against the background of the city huddled on the slopes of the cathedral mound. The lines to Norwich and Peterborough branch away to the east and west, and then the train continues north beside the Ouse to Littleport, a pleasantly old fashioned timber station. The fine 15th century church is best seen from the north. As the train approaches Downham Market, the windmill at Sluice Common can be seen to the right eastwards, while to the left westwards is Denver Sluice, marking the tidal limit of the Great Ouse. Downham Market is a pleasant town of soft coloured brick and stone, with gabled buildings showing Dutch influence. To the north, the great raised banks of the waterways dominate the landscape and limit the views, their height marked by chimneys and roofs peeping over the top. The next station is Watlington, and this is the stop for visits to the Wiggenhalls, including Wiggenhall St Mary the Virgin, whose church has some of the best carved benches in Britain. The romantic ruins of Wiggenhall St Peter are clearly visible across the dykes to the left westwards. To the right eastwards is West Winch's windmill and then the train makes its rather private entry into Kings Lynn, creeping around the back of the town to the station that once served much of North Norfolk, including the royal estate at Sandringham. It is a pretty building, well cared for and with plenty of decorative woodwork, and it makes a good gateway into Kings Lynn itself.

Kings Lynn is one of England's treasures, a small town that has somehow survived the worst ravages of modern redevelopment. In the 14th century the town was one of England's busiest ports, and much of Lynn's wealth and style can be traced back to that period. The 18th century was also important, and so what remains is a predominately Georgian port town of great character, with a strong medieval heart. there are two medieval churches, one in each of the town's two great market squares, and a 15th century St George's Guildhall. The guildhall is now managed by the National Trust and is the largest surviving English medieval guildhall. It is used as the Kings Lynn Art Centre.  Decorative flintwork is the characteristic style, and the late Victorian Town Hall has matched it perfectly. The Georgian parts are all brick, and the best streets lead down to the old quays and to the fine 1683 Customs House. Ships still use the harbour, and so Lynn has a lively atmosphere that is often lacking in better known, but more self consciously preserved maritime towns. Famous also for its glass, Kings Lynn is a delighful town.