Camley Street Nature Reserve

Camley Nature Reserve Site History 2021. Site location board.

When you next visit the elegant Thomas Heatherwick coal-drop shopping complex adjacent, you might be sad to learn that you are looking at the lesser of the two coal drop yards. The site now occupied by the nature reserve hides a fascinating history. The Camley Coal Drop Yard was the first of its kind in the world. This locomotive viaduct system was a game-changing innovation that allowed trains to unload quickly. This Victorian monument to the industrial revolution vanished many years ago.

Although the coal-drop yard no longer exists, we do have the beautiful Camley street nature reserve. Without the destruction of the former, we may not have the latter. Go visit!