Network Rail apologises as essential work temporarily closes city farm horse arena
Network Rail is carrying out essential repair work on a wall in Kentish Town. This wall supports an area of Kentish Town City Farm which has had to see the horse arena closed as a result.
Gary Walsh, route director for Network Rail, said: “We’re really sorry for the impact our work is having on the farm and local residents. The wall next to Tottenham Curve tunnel was moving. To address this, we’ve been excavating above the tunnel and have managed to stabilise the wall. However there is more work to do on site to fully fix the issue.
“We know how important the farm is to the local community and will do everything we can to support the farm and complete our work as quickly as possible.”
Eira Gibson, Director of Kentish Town City Farm said “We are absolutely gutted that as we emerge from the pandemic and into our 50th Birthday year we have had to close part of the site. We understand the essential nature of the work and are thankful that no one – person or animal – has been hurt.”
“The closure of the horse arena will be really bad news for lots of people in our community, especially members of our pony club which includes classes for children and young people with disabilities. Before the pandemic we invested in a hoist so we could extend this provision and were looking to reinstate this activity as soon as possible. Sadly, this incident has mean further delay.”
“While this is a huge disappointment, we know we will continue to adapt, evolve and grow back stronger. The support of local people has central to the farm’s survival, and we ask that you bear with us while we understand the full impact of this on our site.”
“The farm remains open, and we look forward to welcoming you – for early year’s farm fans, many who love seeing the trains as well as much as the farm animals, for a short time only we have an added attraction of an enormous digger! Come and visit the horses Murphy andJester and the rest of the animals soon.”
KTCF Riding Programme
Our horse riding programme is professional, friendly and approved by both the British Horse Society and the Riding for the Disabled Association. We have three horses and two donkeys and a floodlit outdoor riding arena.
We offer four kinds of accessible low-cost riding opportunities to city children:
- Pony & Donkey Rides Weekend rides for young children (currently suspended)
- Pony Club Young people living in the London Borough of Camden can learn horse care & riding skills.
- Riding Therapy We offer therapeutic riding to people with special needs.
- Children’s Summer Rides We offer rides to playschemes & other children’s groups.
Kentish Town City Farm Riding is sponsored by The London Borough of Camden.