Musician Bob Stuckey in Keystone Crescent, which has also become a popular destination for Instagram users

THE great-great-grandson of a builder responsible for a picturesque row of houses just a stone’s throw from King’s Cross station is calling for a plaque to recognise its history.

Bob Stuckey, a musician who lives in Keystone Crescent, which was built by his father’s grandfather, Robert Stuckey, says it should be seen as an important construction from Georgian times – and that King George IV should be given the credit.

The street has become a popular location for TV and film shoots and is famous for having the smallest radius of any crescent in Europe. Instagram users love to have their photos taken on the curve of the road.

Mr Stuckey has placed signs in the street pointing visitors towards its history for those who may pass by, but says an official plaque should now go up at the station.

He said: “If you look at what monarch has had the most influence on London architecture, it is definitely King George IV. You’ve got Buckingham Palace, Pall Mall, Regent’s Street, Regent’s Park, Regent’s Canal – those are during his time.

“King’s Cross station is named after King George IV and there should be a plaque up to him. I have had a go at asking English Heritage but I am going to try again.”

Keystone Crescent was originally called Caledonia Crescent, taking its name from Caledonian Road. Robert Stuckey also built almost 100 other properties in the area.

The Tribune spoke to Bob about his great-great-grandfather after a talk on his family’s history that he gave at the King Charles I pub in Northdown Street on Wednesday.

Robert Stuckey had letters to his grandchildren Algernon and Vida that were stashed under a bed for decades. Bob found the letters at 2a Keystone Crescent, King’s Cross, when the family were clearing out the room and pieced them together to form his book, My Dear Little Grandchildren.

He explained that Robert’s son had wanted to redevelop the street to make it more upmarket but his proposals were resisted.

Bob said his father had a more conservationist outlook and was one of a group of campaigners who had gone to the House of Lords to argue that Eurostar should go to St Pancras, when originally it was planned for the Pentonville Road Thameslink line. The first plan – later rejected – would have involved knocking down part of Keystone Crescent.

He said: “They resisted that and what has happened is a wonderful thing, as King’s Cross and St Pancras have really taken off now.”

Bob was helped by friend Sue Smallwood to design the book, while another neighbour donated a sum of money to go towards the printing costs for the book.

• For more information about My Dear Little Grandchildren: The final letters from a Victorian builder of King’s Cross streets, edited by Bob Stuckey, visit bobstuckey.com/my-dear-little-grandchildren/

Tribute to railways pioneer Wilston

Wilston Samuel Jackson. Photo: Molly & Polly Jackson

BRITAIN’S first black train driver will be honoured with a blue plaque at King’s Cross railway station.

Wilston Samuel Jackson, who died in 2018, made history after arriving in London with the Windrush generation from Jamaica.

Some white railway colleagues had at one stage refused to work with him but he was determined to reach his goal and studied how to drive locomotives.

In 1964, he was severely injured in a head-on crash near Finsbury Park station, but after nearly two years in hospital he returned to the railways and went on to drive the famous Mallard and the Flying Scotsman, and also headed trains transporting the Queen.

He later lived in Zambia where he met his wife Naomi. She said after his death: “Wilston talked about his job all the time. You could see tears in his eyes whenever he saw an old train.”

Network Rail have asked for planning permission for the plaque.