Among the teeming train tracks, heaving gas containers, roaring roads and ever-growing development lies a magical slice of wilderness called Camley Street Natural Park. Home to all manner of beasts and beanstalks, London Wildlife Trust’s reserve is a must visit for all urban wildlife watchers.

And this July things are getting even more magical. To celebrate the London Festival of Architecture, a Sleeping Beauty’s castle of fairytale proportions will float up the canal and onto the reserve’s pond. Kids and adults alike are sure to be enchanted with this fantastical sight – where fairytale will merge with nature in the truly urban environs of King’s Cross.

The castle will arrive on July 6th and stay there for a few weeks, throughout the London Festival of Architecture.

If you visit Camley Street Natural Park on Sunday 6th July between 10am – 6pm there will also be a living roof exhibition and wildlife gardening workshops, as well as lots of exciting arts and crafts and pond dipping activities for children. Entry is free.

A fairytale wildlife spotter’s guide

Dragons and damsels: look out for dazzling dragonflies and damselflies in flight around the pond

Beasts and beanstalks: hunt for mini beasts in the teeming log pile

Feathers and fur: you could be lucky enough to spot a reed warbler or a kingfisher, and make sure you meet resident rabbits Coco, Patch and Merlin, who keep the wildlife meadow in the check.

A fairy tale castle in an urban wilderness

In response to London Wildlife Trust’s Camley Street Natural Park and the redevelopment of Kings' Cross St. Pancras, artist Nick Hornby is building a 16 foot tall sculpture inspired by Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle. A castle that is seen as both a manifestation of a child's dream as well as an international brand logo of a billion dollar business.

Placed in an area subject to massive physical and social regeneration, the project aims to connect the site's industrial past with its future development, and at the same time interacting with local wildlife.

Nick is working his magic on the castle at the moment - here it is as a work in progress!

Find out more: www.camleystreetprojects.org

There's lots going on on and around the Regent's Canal to celebrate the London Festival of Architecture, take a look at www.refreshregentscanal.co.uk