King's Cross is witnessing a dramatic transformation, with a new city rising above, alongside and within some of the country's most compelling railway heritage.

While the former Railway Lands remain extraordinarily rich in historical features, those who now reside, work, study, dine or play in this new world will find their origins hard to decipher. The arrival of the Regent's Canal and the Great Northern Railway, with its goods depot, locomotive sheds, coal yards and stables, served the needs of the ever-growing metropolis.

After the demise of steam, the decaying industrial landscape was colonised by new enterprise, contested by developers and the community, and captured by artists and photographers. Peter Darley unfolds the story over the last 200 years.