I was on one of my flying visits to London today, for a couple of work meetings. The trains from the north all go into Kings Cross St. Pancras; I have a nifty little money-saving tip that I’m going to share here, just in case it helps anyone else.
You see, when I get to Kings Cross I always pack away my laptop and swap my comfy boots for spiky heels. But this leaves me with a couple of extra bags that I don’t want to haul around all day long – and especially not when I’m balanced precariously on designer footwear! Kings Cross has a Left Luggage desk but it’s £6.50 per item per day, which is pretty steep in my book.
So this is what I do. I exit the station and pop into the lovely British Library, next door. There’s a locker room down the stairs, and it’s free to use. The lockers take luggage of all shapes and sizes; they take a pound coin as deposit, but you get that back when you open them again. The lockers are intended to be used by the readers, but even if you aren’t a registered reader (which I am *flutters eyelashes*), the locker room is in a public part of the building and technically, it’s open to all. So you shouldn’t feel too naughty!
This ploy saved me £13.00 today; not quite enough to offset the stupendously stupendous price of my train ticket, but hey ho.
|
Share the love
|
Get free updates
|
Beauty
Christmas
Competitions
Deals & Bargains
Eco
Fashion
Food
Going Out
Holidays
House & Garden
Personal Finance
Staying In
Uncategorized
Wedding
Xtras
What a great tip, I don’t know if I’d be brave enough to leave my laptop though… that badboy is rarely allowed out of my sight!
I know exactly what you mean – I’m crazy protective over mine too. But I’m perfectly happy to leave it in a British Library locker – partly because the place has such a peaceful, cosy “safe” feel to it. And partly because nobody expects you to leave a laptop in one of the lockers: the readers who use the lockers tend to take their laptops in with them!
Hi – I came via FruGal’s site and wanted to say thanks for this tip. Sometimes I travel down from oop north for a workshop and I have mightily resented paying the King’s Cross fee.
Sparkly
@Sparkly: Yay! I was worried that this tip might be a bit “niche” – so I’m really happy that it has helped someone.
THANK YOU!!!
This will be a great tip for me :0)
Frugal Trenchess last blog post..I’m Back & Gratitude!
I agree with your post. Which is not something I will usually do!
I enjoy reading a post that will make one think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
Pingback: There's frugal, there's cheap and there's cheap and rotten... | Miss Thrifty
Great tip!! Although… are the lockers big enough to take a rucksack and a (small) tent? I’ll be killing time in London en route to a festival so as long as it’s big enough for a rucksack!
@Iain: yep, reckon you could squeeze a rucksack into one of the larger lockers – you may have to give it a good shove though!
- Miss T.
Hmm, change of plan – any tips for similar facilities near Liverpool Street station??
Iain
Sorry Iain – I don’t! I normally end up lugging my bags around when I go via Liverpool Street. Grumble.
- Miss T.
Thanks, this a great idea.
Wonderful tip! I am heading to Edinburgh today to surprise my boyfriend so this is perfect as I will have a large suitcase of work stuff with me… thanks a million and fingers crossed! x x
I see….so this is the reason why one can never find a free locker in the BL! I agree that £6.50 is a bit steep but how about leaving them for those of us who actually go there to do work? Might want to think about that next time….
@Graham Can you really never find a free locker in the BL? Whenever I am there, irrespective of the time of day, there are scores of them!
Besides, if the lockers are all full, you can always leave your coat/bag in the manned, secure cloakroom…
- Miss T.
Hello, do you know until what time you can access the library’s lockers at night?
Apart from the enormous amount of money needed to leave you luggage at Kings’ cross Left Luggage (it’s 8 £ now!) they close at 11 p.m. and since I’m going to a gig on Friday night I might as well be running late…
Thanks!
Hi Miss Thrifty!
Thanks! I have been searching around online on storage of luggage and found that I could do this.
Is the locker room locked at any time of the day? And it should be safe to put stuff in since I would be the only one with the keys (sorry I sound extra paranoid) ? Lastly how easy it is to find the BL’s locker room, any clues/direction you can provide too? I hope there aren’t many long flights of stairs along the way?
Thanks much! I hope it works for me as I am staying in London for a few days [coming from Paris (via London St Pancras) and going to Cambridge (via London King Cross)] and I hope to find a solution whereby I need not bring the luggage around.
@jusme You are welcome!
The BL locker room is downstairs: the stairs/ramp are to the right of the main desk as you walk in. It is open when the BL is open, so it isn’t one for leaving stuff in overnight, if that is what you were hoping to do – if memory serves the BL reading rooms close at 8/9pm-ish on weekdays. I have never had any safety/security problems.
Hi sorry it’s me again. As you wrote this article in 2008, has there been any changes to this policy or you have made use of the lockers in BL recently so it should be fine? Thanks alot!
Hi Miss thrifty! Oh I misunderstood, I thought it would be ok for me to leave my stuff for 1-2 days! Thanks alot!
Have you thought that you’re blocking the whole facility for the library users who are REQUIRED to leave their belongings before using the reading rooms?
The cloakrooms and locker rooms are frequently completely full because of people mis-using the facilities and selfish people like you are going to force the British Library to start charging for the lockers.
@rag No, the thought hadn’t occurred to me – partly because the modest amount of traffic to this VERY niche post is insufficient to “block” the locker facilities, even if every single person who read it went on to make use of the locker rooms. Partly because, as a British Library cardholder for the past 8 years, I have never yet encountered any problems stashing my belongings there. (Although perhaps that’s because when I go there, I get there early?) And partly because I haven’t heard, read or been able to find anything about plans for the BL to begin charging for lockers…
It might interest you to know that the Library is changing its policy – from February 2011 there will be a size restriction on bags and a charge for the lockers. See the Library’s website for full details
No wonder why i cannot get a locker when I arrive to use the reading rooms in BL! May I suggest that try not to do that around may-june time – EXAMS?! I am sure all the readers will be appreciated!