I finally got over to the Camley Street Natural Park, located between St. Pancras Station and the Regents Canal. It is built on the site of an old railway coal yard that functioned until the 1960s. In the early 1980s the London Wildlife Trust ran a successful campaign to save it from development, and it is now one of the first examples of a purposely created nature reserve in the UK. It is remarkable that there is this oasis amidst all of the development around it.

Fencing made of hazel wood

Reality is not far away

It's not that large, I walked through it in 15 minutes or so, but it has a wetland, grassland, and woodland, and they even keep honey bees.

I am far from a wildlife enthusiast because at one point, while I was enjoying the nature around me, I started looking more carefully at the plants along the edge of the path and was convinced some of it was poison ivy. Of course any plant with three leaves must be poison ivy in my mind. But when I looked it up tonight, my photo looked pretty darn close to the photos online.

I then walked over to St. Pancras Gardens, which was part of the burial grounds of St. Pancras Old Church. Many of the graves had to be moved in the 1860s when the railway lines were put in, and again in the beginning of this century to accommodate the high speed rail. Thomas Hardy, before becoming a full-time writer, worked for an architect who was overseeing the project and Hardy was given the job of supervising the removal of the bodies and tombs. He took the leftover headstones and arranged them around an ash tree, which is now known as the Hardy Tree.

Also in the yard is Sir John Soane's family mausoleum, which Soane designed. It is said to resemble a telephone booth, but that wasn't invented until a century later, by the grandson of the builder of St. Pancras Hotel. Soane didn't know it, but his monument was the inspiration for Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

The church and churchyard were mentioned in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and were used by the Beatles for the "Mad Day Out in London" photographs.

The  church is thought to be on the oldest site of Christian worship in London (from the 4th century).

The most interesting thing about my visit today was the Day of the Dead ceremony taking place by a tomb. I didn't want to get too close, so my photos aren't good. The group of about 8 or 10 men and women were in the traditional white makeup, the women were wearing wigs, and they had set up the tomb as an altar with offerings. I couldn't hear them very well from where I stood, but I wouldn't have been able to understand the Spanish anyway. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. A woman near me was taking pictures and we started talking. She also didn't know Spanish, although she did say she heard one of them say Donald Trump. I don't know if they were asking for an intervention from their deceased loved ones or not, but if they were I hope it doesn't matter that today is November 5, not November 2.

It was a nice sunset, even through the railway power lines and the cranes.