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The gym as a cultural asset 💪

The gym as a cultural asset 💪

Battle for the Central YMCA reveals much about what is most dear to us

Tom Kihl
January 10, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes

“why-emm-cee-aay”

Gyms are certainly social hubs for their community, but I’d not considered them particularly as spaces of much cultural output before. Rows of weights, yoga mats and musty squash courts generally offer the same form and function the world over, and yet…

You’ve probably seen the hastily organised but impactful campaign to save the Central YMCA - London’s biggest gym, and a historic one at that - following the recent shock announcement that the building had been sold in secret months ago.

Members, many of whom have been regulars for decades, were given just a few weeks notice, but have mobilised resistance through a shared passion for a space that’s quite clearly so much more than the failing faded fitness facility it was being portrayed.

Yesterday lunchtime - gloriously bright but bone-achingly cold - saw an intergenerational flashmob take to the streets to highlight their collective plight, via the medium of The Village People.

As a piece of media activism, it seems to have worked. The obvious nostalgia for all things YMCA; the truly emotional member stories posted online; and the classic narrative of people power in the face of rapacious developers make for a great story, and one that’s been widely picked up.

Unfortunately, that is not likely to be enough. The financial realities of such deals pull in the exact opposite direction. New owners, Criterion Capital, have said some nice words about a “shared vision to…recognise the importance of this historic site”, but their plan involves expanding the neighbouring Zedwell windowless-room hotel concept down into the cavernous space, not preserving it as a hub for fitness and friendship.

Yet the stories currently pouring out, about the life-changing power of having a place for human connection and physicality right in the centre of the concrete jungle of Tottenham Court Road, show that the value of the building should not even be measured in financial units.

The glaringly obvious intangible value of the place radiates from the rosy faces dancing in sub zero sunshine, from the media interest, the clicks, likes and the crowdfund pledges. We instinctively know that the pensioners aerobics, the UCH rehabilitation sessions, the dedicated team of volunteers and the lifer members should be what matters above all else.

The cultural impact of all that has taken place in this building stretches beyond the happy side-effects of stronger muscles and reduced waistlines. That’s also been amplified hugely by its location and impressive, purpose-build brutalist architecture, offering a unique setting, very different to a cookie-cutter chain gym.

When we started the ongoing Camdenist Culture Campaign, to write supportive words and encourage action about threatened music venues, theatres, pubs and the like following the ravages of the Covid lockdowns, fitness and wellness spaces appeared to be in a much better health. It was the loss of our cherished dancefloors, stages and bar rooms that felt like the big risk to cultural incubation and discovery.

Now, the plight of a priceless asset like Central YMCA shows that the blanding forces of financially-driven redevelopment can impact culture, creativity and community wherever it may be happening.

At a time when social connection is threatened again and again by the lure of screens and the lack of informal public meeting spaces, calling time on a beloved, if currently underused, community facility responsible for improving countless lives, then replacing it with acoustically sealed box rooms for transient visitors, feels like a perverse act of cultural vandalism.

The coming years are going to be a universally bumpy ride by the looks of the current trajectory, but if people can be reminded frequently of the things that really matter, resistance can - and will - build to affect change.

Even if it takes dancing the YMCA moves in the buggering cold on a Camden pavement in your lunch break.

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📊 This week’s one-click poll

Is the Central YMCA doomed already?

Last week’s results to the question: How does the Camden 'brand' make you feel?

I love it - proud to be associated with such a well-known part of the world
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 56%

I'm not sure - it's a bit cliched, nostalgic & commercial at times
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 35%

Alienated - I have no interest in the cacophony around Camden
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 9%

Some of your comments (and there’s plenty of love in the air…)

“I’m always proud to tell people I’m from Camden Town, but instinctively try to disavow them from the ultra-touristicated, Amy Winehouse and Disney+ documentary image of the place, and instead as a fantastic and ever-evolving melting pot of culture, live music, fantastic pubs and true, local community. It’s difficult to convince “outsiders”!”

“I kind of like it- I was in Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand last year, and when I said I was from Camden, they all knew about the market and Amy Winehouse! Very few other places in major cities would garner that kind of recognition.”

“I find Camdenist a wonderful way of celebrating the Camden Brand weekly, and feel increasingly proud of living in this area thanks to the history, local updates, and literary passion of this remarkable newsletter!”

“I love the diversity of Camden, and I am ever so proud to be a Camdenist :)”

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FOOD & DRINK

Circus makes way for Bloodsports

Plus the sorry state of one Camden Town strip

The former delights of a drink at Circus

As well as providing the opportunity for that interesting headline above, the team behind lively burger joints MEATLiquor are preparing to open a brand new bar concept on Endell Street in, you guessed it, the spot formerly known as the cocktails-meet-contortions themed Circus.

The new venture, BLOODsports Bar, aims to excel as an American-style destination for all-day drinking in front of big ticket live sporting events, shown on multiple screens. When nothing of note is on, night times will be turned over to screenings of cult horror movies.

Alongside classic MEATLiquor burgers and other deep fried delights, specialty coffee comes from the kindred spirits at Portmouth’s Hideout Coffee and Donuts, providers of vampire-themed merch and top hot drinks, which they like to call a ‘caffeine fist in a velvet glove’, so it feels like a match made in heaven.

The travails of Jamestown Road

I walk up and down this backstreet restaurant riviera (well, it runs parallel to the canal) throughout the week, and the changing fortunes of the strip seem to represent a microcosm of how hospitality can be right now.

It’s always been a tough call; just off the main Market drag, meaning most tourists blindly walk straight past, while locals can’t face swimming through the tide of human traffic to get there, so the restaurant offering has ended up being dominated by ‘safe’ chains like the huge Wagamama.

Despite recent arrival Turtle Bay packing ‘um in with bottomless offers, the pizza pasta outpost Rossopomodoro shut suddenly and unceremoniously a few weeks back, seemingly for not coughing up the rent. Meanwhile, brand new Irish bar Cushla (which took over from the 50s themed All About Eve) bizarrely embarked upon a full rebrand in the autumn, before promptly closing for good straight after. Posters for the launch of its cabaret night and TV sporting events from October remain in the windows, with the furniture and glassware stacked up behind, gathering dust.

And our friends at Mediterranean bistro Peron No.4 seem to have quit the strip after the Xmas period too; a combination of increases in rent, NI and business rates apparently making carrying on trading - at least on this site - impossible. They follow the lovely coffee shop up at Guy Gold Osteopaths in having to throw in the towel this time last year.

All in all it makes for a rather bleak list, a showcase of why our current economic malaise means we can’t have all the nice places that make a gritty place like Camden Town exciting for all the right reasons. The numbers rarely seem to stack up.

Having said all that, The Lock Inn seem to be just close enough to the madness on Jameston Rd to be making a go of their new party bar space, and Mildred’s classy plant-based joint is consistently bumping, particularly at this abstemious time of year.

Huge credit to the indefatigable spirit of anyone trying to make a go of a hospitality business right now, and save us from boarded up high streets. Let’s hope the units on this strip don’t sit empty for too long. It’s in nobody’s interest to make trading unviable.

🍞 For newcomers to Camdenist newsletter, we’re not normally this full of negative stories (honest!), but news reaches us today of another sad closure. Kentish Town Rd’s trailblazing Filipino Panadera Bakery have just announce that January will be their last month serving pandesal loaves and colourful sandos.

Its a similar story of multiple rising costs and outgoings getting too much, but owner Florence looks set to bring the concept back elsewhere, so we’ll keep you updated.

Help Camdenist to grow and thrive

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

🚋 Holborn’s lost underground tram tunnels

This short Pathé News clip shows a tram descending into the Kingsway Tram Tunnel at Waterloo Bridge before emerging from the darkness by Holborn tube station, as used to happen regularly for 46 years. I find it fascinating to think that, for some locals, the tunnel would have been operating throughout their entire lifetime as a permanent feature of London life, yet it has since sat empty since the 1950s, when London’s tram network was rather shortsightedly shut down.

You can, of course, still see the tracks descending down the grand slope at Holborn, and occasional TfL trips, art installations, location filming and Elizabeth Line construction projects have taken place down there. But, as a Grade II-listed asset owned by Camden Council, it basically sits in long-term limbo - a far cry from the bustling scenes in the video…

MUSIC

🎤 4 top draw tribute bands to tempt you out this week

Frank Zappa celebration with The Lovers of Invention

🎸 Head to The Fidlers Elbow tonight (Fri 10th Jan) where The Grateful Dudes will be exploring the songs, improvisations and jams from the The Grateful Dead’s vast repertoire, emulating the sound, style, freedom and adventure of their infamous live shows.

🎸 Simply Us and Them celebrate the genius of Pink Floyd with a show dedicated to playing their masterpiece LP, Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety live tonight (Fri 10th). The band will also play more Floyd classics including songs from the Syd Barrett era as well as moving into the David Gilmour era after the departure of Roger Waters. It’s at Pizza Express Live Holborn - tickets are now waitlist only.

🎺 The legacy of jazz legend Dave Brubeck is celebrated by his eldest son at The Jazz Cafe on Sun 12th Jan, as The Darius Brubeck Quartet performs Dave Brubeck’s Time Out plus The UK premiere of Darius’s historic South African jazz project, Jazzanians.

🎶 An eight-person tribute to the music of Frank Zappa, The Lovers of Invention faithfully aim to reproduce Zappa’s original sound, while exploring the spirit of his live improvising in his shows. Catch this collective of some of the finest young UK jazz talent at Pizza Express Live Holborn on Thurs 16th Jan.

STAGE

🎭 A month of dance debuts

Survival Entitlement Hedonism at Etcetera Theatre

🩰 Euston’s dance hub The Place is celebrating and supporting new work by over 70 emerging artists, at their annual Resolution Festival. It runs Fri 10th Jan to Sat 15th Feb, where the artists will take to the stage in a stellar set of triple bills.

This Sat 11th sees bodies merge with machines at We Are The World (pictured), eating and over-consumption explored in Feeding Time, and Signature Moves, a thought-provoking piece by David Ainsworth, who dropped his career as an accountant to be come a choreographer when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. His company of older dancers explore acceptance of new ways of moving through life.

👔 Celebrating 100 years of the Greatest American Novel at the Etcetera Theatre, Tues 14th-Thurs 16th Jan, The Great Gatsby depicts the era’s jazzy reverie through vibrant period dances including the Black Bottom, Waltz, Foxtrot, and the mighty Charleston.

🎤 Chalk Farm’s Libre Theatre Cafe is hosting a three month series of performing arts events kicking off this Thurs 16th Jan. Naala’s House Presents: LOUD NATION includes workshops and clothes swaps early doors, performances from music to dance and spoken word, and ending up with networking drinks, all in aid of their work combating homelessness and poverty.

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