Word: betjeman
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Despite its history, in 1966 the government announced it would merge St. Pancras with Kings Cross, demolishing the former in favour of a sports center and social housing. But a campaign led by the then poet laureate Sir John Betjeman galvanized public opinion already stung by the demolition of the nearby old Euston station a few years earlier...
...Letters to the London Times, sit-ins and the pleas of Betjeman eventually persuaded the bureaucrats to stop the bulldozers a mere 10 days before demolition day, but that didn't halt the area's decline. For the last three decades, the area surrounding St. Pancras has become infamous as a haven for the homeless, prostitutes and drug dealers. Anyone unfortunate enough to have to walk through its streets tended to quicken their step. The inspiration for its redemption came from the across the Atlantic...