Run 2: Thornhill Square to Queen Square.

   

Thornhill Square, N1.
Very nice, but a lot easier to head south from than, say, northwest, 

     Run Two. It begins in a square on the "wrong" side of Liverpool Road, but where a four-bedroom house can still set you back £2,000,000, and winds down to the middle of town.
     It's slightly more difficult than Run One, but not exactly an eye-opener for anyone who knows Central London tolerably well.
     It involves the odd nondescript street and negotiates the King's Cross one-way system. As with Run One, the routes taken by the various Knowledge schools differ slightly.
     One school stays on Caledonian Road all the way to King's Cross Bridge, then turns left into Pentonville Road. I can't be having that. That corner surely has to be cut.
     Another school turns left into Carnegie Street from Caledonian Road, then right into Muriel Street. It crosses Pentonville Road at the Rodney Street / Penton Rise junction, then turns left into King's Cross Road from Penton Rise. Nothing wrong with that, though the light at the bottom of Rodney Street is lengthy.  
   

Queen Square, WC1.
Tucked away. Home to a lot of doctors and, in his youth, Barry Sheene.
I doubt he could have done The Knowledge on any of his race bikes.  

     Leave by - Matilda Street
     Right - Richmond Avenue
     Left - Caledonian Road
     Left - Killick Street
     Left - Pentonville Road
     Right - Lorenzo Street
     Left - King's Cross Road
     Right - Acton Street
     Left - Gray's Inn Road
     Right - Guilford Street
     Left - Guilford Place
     Right - Great Ormond Street
     Queen Square facing

     I begin my reccie of the 440-yard radius with a look at a pair of pigs - and I don't mean a couple of uniformed slobs waddling to their patrol car from the door of Islington Nick in Tolpuddle Street.
     Whereas the Points most often asked on the Gibson Square side of Liverpool Road are straightforward, with few restrictions on setting down and leaving, a couple of popular Points to the west of it are difficult.
     The most popular of these with Examiners is the Young Actors' Theatre, located on the eastern side of Barnsbury Road, just north of Copenhagen Street. It's difficult because a beefy central island prevents it being either set-down or left on the right and because there's a "No Right Turn" sign that stops anyone wanting to head west using Copenhagen Street.
     To set down at the Young Actors' Theatre on the left, it's necessary to enter Barnsbury Road from its northern continuation, Thornhill Road. To get into Thornhill Road, you more or less have to enter from Lofting Road, which is quite a way north.
     To evade the "No Right Turn" into Copenhagen Street and head west, it's necessary to use the council flats in the middle of Maygood Street and Eckford Street as a roundabout. Alternatively, Penton Street, Donegal Street, Rodney Street and Wynford Road provide an escape to Caledonian Road.
   

The Young Actors' Theatre on Barnsbury Road.
Drama and tragedy may ensue when Knowledge Boys
are asked this Point at the Public Carriage Office.  

     The other popular tricky Point is Cloudesley Square. It's barricaded-off on three of the four access roads, meaning it can only be entered by the arm off Cloudesley Road... a street which, in turn, can only be entered from the south, via Copenhagen Street, as it's one-way north once it passes the access arm of Cloudesley Square.
     I take a look at the escape route from Cloudesley Square, which involves Richmond Avenue, Lonsdale Square and Barnsbury Street.
     There are fewer Points in the vicinity of the relatively down-at-heel Liverpool Road and genuinely run-down Caledonian Road than in the upmarket shopping and eating area centred on Upper Street that ends Run One. There are a lot of barriers on the streets in the area, but limiting the options for exit on to main roads arguably makes things easier to learn.
   

Buddhist Centre on Caledonian Road. No minicab drivers, no
agitated preachers, no chips on shoulders (Halal or otherwise),
no Pakistanis, nobody cutting off heads or blowing people up.
It could give eastern religions a good name at this rate.  

     Scoot around completed, I start the Run.
     I use Richmond Avenue, rather than Caledonian Road, as the Caledonian Road green phase at the Copenhagen Street light is longer than the green phase in Copenhagen Street.
     The Royal Scot Hotel is now a Travelodge; Clerkenwell Magistrates' Court is now a Youth Hostel. I'm almost glad to see the King's Cross one-way system is still its familiar pain in the arse.
     I see nothing of interest on Gray's Inn Road, though London House in Guilford Street is under repair, along with several other major buildings in the area.
   
     At the WC1 end, I look around at the nearby squares.
     Russell Square station is the most regularly asked Point. There aren't any serious tricks to it, though it's necessary to go down to the roundabout at Brunswick Square to leave it - Marchmont Street being one-way against.
     The Renoir Cinema is now a bog-standard Curzon. Sacre bleu! Is nothing immune from being rebranded by chains?
   

Russell Square station, on the south side of Bernard Street,
in watery sunshine. A popular Point with Examiners. 

   

Now that's not exactly professional, is it, Mr LS-56-CZV?
Three points on an appearance at the Public Carriage Office
is welcomed. Three points for setting on a zigzag less so. 

     I cannot get used to Russell Square being two-way. As a traffic system, it's confusing and it doesn't work. I note Catton Street and Fisher Street are still closed. Must be more than 10 years now. It's been so long I've forgotten which was one-way east and which was one-way west.
     To an only slightly lesser degree than at the end of Run One, this is an area where parking the bike and having a walk around is likely to be beneficial. Some of the hotels between Bloomsbury Square and Russell Square aren't easy to spot from a scooter when there's a bus or Addison Lee transit on your back wheel. There are a few walkways, such as Cosmo Place and Lamb's Conduit Passage, while Lamb's Conduit Street is "access only"... and Camden Council's traffic department, being the evil, scheming vermin they are, monitor the cameras more or less permanently. Examiners are also at liberty to ask Knowledge Boys any of the statues in the gardens of the squares.
     Thankfully, there were no nasty shocks on my first visit to Central London for almost a year. I'm sure that'll change when I get to the City or the West End proper.
     Two down, 318 to go.