By Elliott West
Introduction
Formerly known as the King’s Cross Club, the Hurricane Room is a snooker club that weathered the storms of time. Situated near the hustle and bustle of King’s Cross station at 368 Gray’s Inn Road, this establishment has been completely transformed, a flagship and beating heart of this North West London community. With its new, clean and modern open-plan design, even the well-lit entrance draws you towards it like a powerful magnetic force. Housing 10 snooker tables, 6 English pool tables and 9 American pool tables in a dedicated pool room, this club lies just above the track of the Northern Line and occasionally you can still hear the rumble of trains below. A twilight zone with a peaceful silence that is only broken by the clink of glasses, the clatter of snooker balls and the incoherent conversations that echo throughout the building.
Steeped in History
If the walls of this snooker club could talk, they could tell a range of interesting stories. This is somewhere where Alex Higgins and Patsy Fagan used to come and practice. A heaving snooker factory that used to be adorned with wooden panelling and gilt-framed photographs of some of the legends of snooker such as Steve Davis, Joe O’Boye and Doug Mountjoy. This was when it was the King’s Cross Snooker Club, a club with 18 tables. Quiet in the afternoon with only a few people playing, there was a steady stream of players who entered via the anonymous door and up a set of well-worn stairs into the bar area.
This was a place where people came after work before they headed home or after the pubs had closed to squeeze a few more hours into their night out. Illuminated with the low lights from the tables, television screens that showed Sky Sports with the volume turned down or the flicker of the slot machines that are fed with the occasional coin. A unique snooker zone where unique friendships were formed and a few cues were damaged in frustration.
Alive and Kicking
The Hurricane Room continues to be a success story, a club that has survived while many others closed their doors for good. The club provides dedicated coaching and recently welcomed Mark Allen for a snooker exhibition. This is a place which is open till late, a rarity nowadays and is ideal for cue sports or just a quiet drink. With reasonably priced membership fees, this club is well worth the money paid, lighting up your time spent there with the tapestry of colour coming from the pool and snooker tables. Definitely worth a visit and somewhere that you could easily fall in love with.
