Perry admits he has no idea when work will start on Purley Pool

Posted on August 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

Not waving but drowning: five years since he promised to reopen Purley Pool ‘immediately’, now Jason Perry says he has no idea when it might open

Not for the first time, Croydon’s Mayor is out of his depth when facing the most straightforward of questions, reports PEARL LEE

Five years after promising to reopen Purley Pool “immediately” as part of his original election campaign, and Croydon Mayor Jason Perry has been forced to admit he has no idea when work on the £60million scheme might begin.

“I can’t give you a time right now,” Perry was forced to admit to a resident last night when asked about the long-promised pool. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Neil Garratt, Planning, Polaska, Polaska Assets Ltd, Property, Purley, Purley Pool | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

MP Jones’s donations and her connection with Flint lobby firm

Posted on August 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

INSIDE CROYDON INVESTIGATES:
Is there something that the MP for Croydon West might learn from the newbie MP for Croydon East?
In our latest probe into Croydon MPs’ outside interests and earnings, we scour the official declarations

Natasha Irons is Croydon’s newest MP, having been elected for the new constituency of Croydon East at the July 2024 General Election. Maybe that’s why she has the fewest declarations of any of the borough’s four MPs.

Clean slate: Natasha Irons’ only declaration at Westminster is her previous job at Channel 4

It’s all a bit of a blank slate, and nothing like the somewhat involved nexus of outside interests shown by Croydon South’s secretive Chris Philp, as we reported earlier this month. 

Irons was a Labour councillor in Merton before becoming MP. The only thing that she has declared in the official Register of Members’ Financial Interests (maintained by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards), relates to her job at Channel 4 before she became an MP. Unless Irons has “forgotten” to declare other things, her record of no second jobs, no massive shareholdings, no freebies from big business and lobbyists and no donors, dodgy or otherwise, is exactly what you would hope to see from an MP.

Natasha Irons should be applauded for that.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of our other MPs. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Croydon East, Croydon West, Gatwick Airport, Natasha Irons, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bank Holiday brunch ideas that appear effortlessly chic

Posted on August 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

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All lined up: staging your garden party under gazebos adds a touch of style

There’s something about eating outdoors on a weekend morning that makes even the simplest food feel like an occasion. You don’t need a huge garden, a catering team or a Pinterest-perfect set-up to pull off a brunch that your friends will actually talk about afterwards.

What you do need is a bit of planning, a few clever shortcuts and a willingness to keep things relaxed.

From a make-ahead menu to a drinks station your guests can help themselves to, here’s how to put together a backyard brunch that looks put-together without the stress. Continue reading →

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Blues at The Oval: Two-Gun Mathilda, Sun Aug 30, free entry

Posted on August 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Addiscombe West, Advertisement, Advertisement features, Art, Business, Music, The Oval Tavern | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

South Norwood man jailed for life over 2021 fatal shooting

Posted on August 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

Trevin Campbell was today sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in jail after being found guilty of the 2021 murder of Gary Mayhew.

Murderer: Trevin Campbell, sentenced today to 30 years

Campbell was twice arrested for the murder: first in 2021, when he was stopped at Gatwick Airport about to board a flight for Jamaica. After the case was dropped for lack of evidence, a further investigation ultimately led to Campbell’s second arrest last December.

Campbell, 35, of Harrington Road, South Norwood, had been on trial at Croydon Crown Court for two weeks before, on Friday, the jury found him guilty of murder.

According to Scotland Yard, it was 6.13am on October 21, 2021, that police were called to King’s College Hospital, where the victim, Mayhew, had self-presented with gunshot wounds to his legs.

The 32-year-old died in hospital later that day. Continue reading →

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Top restaurant critic Rayner in tribute to Morleys chicken shops

Posted on August 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

Tucking in: restaurant critic Jay Rayner devotes a chapter of his book to Morleys-style fried chicken

Jay Rayner, the country’s top restaurant critic, who each week visits 5-star hotels such as Claridge’s or Michelin-approved restaurants in the great cities of Europe, is publishing a book next week in which he sings the praises of… Morleys takeaway chicken shops.

There are at least 10 branches of Morleys in Croydon, including on South End, on Whitehorse Road and Mitcham Road, in New Addington and in Coulsdon, which all mostly do a steady trade from lunchtime through to the early hours each morning. It means that about 10% of all Morleys outlets are in the borough of Croydon.

Rayner, who now has a weekly column in the Financial Times after more than 20 years at The Observer, is a quite brilliant writer, though his pen is sometimes dipped in acid.

His scathing review of Le Cinq, on Avenue George V in Paris, where meals start from 100 quid, was a hum-dinger: “By far the worst restaurant experience I have endured in my 18 years in this job,” Rayner wrote in 2017.

His amuse-bouche looked “like a Barbie-sized silicone breast implant”.

Le Cinq’s dining room decor was “various shades of taupe, biscuit and fuck you”. Continue reading →

Posted in Albert's Table, Birch (Selsdon), Business, Restaurants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Crap’ council is caught taping over the cracks of listed building

Posted on August 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

Croydon Council has been accused of failing to protect and preserve one of the town centre’s heritage buildings, the Grade II-listed Segas House, on the corner of Katharine Street and Wellesley Road.

Left to rot: the council has failed to secure the site of the listed Segas House in the town centre

The office building was given listed status in 1992, but this example of art deco design from the middle of the 20th Century has been standing empty for all of the 21st, as it has been shuffled between mega-billion property developers while the local council, its offices just a couple of minutes’ walk away across Queen’s Gardens, has stood by, impotent.

And now, it seems, gormless with it.

Fairfield ward councillor Ria Patel has flagged significant safety issues with the building, where security hoardings supposed to protect its windows from further damage and ingress have been secured in position by council contractors with nothing more than gaffer tape. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Business, Croydon Council, Croydon School of Art, Fairfield, Mayor Jason Perry, Nestle Tower, Planning, Ria Patel, Segas House, St George's Walk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Selsdon Community Fair, Old Farleigh Road, Sun Sep 6

Posted on August 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Activities, Advertisement, Advertisement features, Community associations, Friends of Selsdon Woods, Purley, South Croydon, Walks | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A23 Streatham Hill final phase of works due to start next week

Posted on August 24, 2026 by insidecroydon

The major works on the A23 Streatham Hill, north of Croydon, which began 12 months ago, are due to enter their final phase from September 1.

New lanes: the A23 works enter their final phase next week, more than a year since they began

The works have been undertaken by Transport for London in conjunction with Southern Gas Networks, who have been conducting major gas mains repairs on Brixton Hill, just to the north of the junction with the South Circular.

There were 72 collisions on this stretch of A23 in the three years to October 2024, with 75 people injured. “Safety improvements are a key priority,” TfL has said. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Cycling, Lambeth Council, Streatham and Croydon North, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Banned in Whitgift Centre, werewolf’s on the prowl in Croydon

Posted on August 24, 2026 by insidecroydon

GABRIEL MacARTHUR was on set for a music video shoot with a difference – it didn’t have Taylor Swift in it 

Local attraction: Friday’s music video shoot caused some excitement on the high street

There’s been a werewolf on the prowl on the high street and, in true Croydon fashion, most passers-by seemed more interested in taking a photograph with the beast than running from it.

The werewolf sightings were mostly on North End and on George Street on Friday, as the beast had come to town for the recording of a music video for local alt/funk band Slack Magic.

The Slack Magic werewolf was caught prowling in The Oval Tavern, at Riff RafFs on George Street and at the Never Say Die! tattoo studio. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Art, Business, Centrale, Gabriel MacArthur, Music, Riff Raffs, The Oval Tavern, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Walk and Talk Riddlesdown, weekly every Sunday from 9am

Posted on August 24, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Family counts cost of burglary during Croydon’s Walnut Fair

Posted on August 23, 2026 by insidecroydon

Walnut Fair: staged where the Fairfield Halls stands today, this annual autumn festival was an important tradition in Victorian Croydon. As well as an opportunity for burglars…

CROYDON CHRONICLES: Archive newspaper reports of a burglary on Church Street in 1861 provide a useful insight into the possessions of a Victorian household, as DAVID MORGAN explains

Burglaries are not new crimes. A trawl through the local newspaper archives comes up with any number of incidents.

One such crime occurred in October 1861. Not only was the crime reported by the newspapers in some detail, it also revealed a great deal about what an ordinary household owned at that time.

Families living in Croydon in Victorian times looked forward to their treats, like all generations. One of the highlights of the year was the Walnut Fair. Although smaller in size than the fairs years ago, Croydon’s Walnut Fair was a tradition extending back for many years, and an occasion when the family could all go out together and have fun. Continue reading →

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Woodland wonderland that’s hidden behind Selsdon’s suburbia

Posted on August 23, 2026 by insidecroydon

Growing woodland: encroachment on some fields has seen the woodland extending in Littleheath over the past two decades

THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR: For his latest visit to a group of hard-working conservationists and volunteers, KEN TOWL retraces his steps from one of his LOOP walks to discover ‘Selsdon’s secret wood’

Volunteer guide: Chris Hyde from the Friends of Littleheath Woods

You know that look you get when you tell people you are from Croydon?

The faux sympathy, the “Oh, I’m so sorry”, the assumption that you will collude with the characterisation of Croydon as just a little bit more awful than any other London borough?

I couldn’t help but think just how inappropriate and simplistic it is as I strolled through the magnificent beech trees of Littleheath Woods. I could not help but notice the almost pristine, litter-free nature of the place. I could have been a thousand miles from civilisation. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Community associations, Croydon parks, Environment, Friends of Littleheath Woods, History, Ken Towl, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, South Croydon, Walks | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Climate Grief Café, Croydon Clocktower Café, Sat Sep 26

Posted on August 23, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Captain Chippies Summer Barbeque, Oval Tavern, Mon Aug 31

Posted on August 23, 2026 by insidecroydon

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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September 1 return for services to Lewes following derailment

Posted on August 22, 2026 by insidecroydon

Lift off: special cranes were needed to recover the derailed carriages outside Lewes, with the first one being moved on Thursday

It will be Tuesday September 1 before services between Haywards Heath and Lewes will resume, following the passenger train derailment on August 13.

Network Rail and train operators Southern have been continuing the work to recover the derailed carriages and restore and repair the track and embankment at the scene of the derailment. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, East Croydon, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Investigation after man died in the cells at Windmill Road

Posted on August 22, 2026 by insidecroydon

Under investigation: the Windmill Road custody centre in Selhurst

A man died in police custody in Croydon in the early hours of Friday morning.

The Metropolitan Police has not yet named the man, who was 52 years old. The Met says that an investigation is under way.

The death occurred in the cells of the Windmill Road custody centre. It was at this centre where Police Sergeant Matt Ratana was shot dead by a prisoner in custody in 2020. Continue reading →

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South Croydon Model Railway Show, St Paul’s Church, Sep 12

Posted on August 22, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Carshalton Jazz Summer Festival, CryerArts Centre, Sat Aug 29

Posted on August 22, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Schools hire public relations firms to play GCSE numbers game

Posted on August 21, 2026 by insidecroydon

Education correspondent GENE BRODIE gives a Grade 3 to the public relations firms working for some of the borough’s secondary schools, whose news releases failed to include the hard facts on GCSE results day

Numbers game: Croydon College and Coulsdon Sixth Form College had more than 2,000 sitting GCSEs. But there’s no numbers for those getting top grades

GCSE results day this year came with a blizzard of press releases, many of which were distributed by public relations firms on behalf of academies, all making a raft of claims of success and achievement.

Yet many of them failed to provide what might be regarded as a realistic overview, or comparable statistics, of a school’s results. It’s almost as if they have something to hide.

“They tend to be unhelpful because they are essentially marketing, so they are selective,” according to a veteran secondary school teacher, who preferred that we didn’t name them.

“It’s what they don’t say that is interesting,” they said. Continue reading →

Posted in Caireen Mitchell, Coulsdon Sixth Form College, Croydon College, Croydon High, Education, Meridian High, Oasis Academy Shirley Park, Schools, Trinity School | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The anxiety and the ecstasy: one fan’s journal from Leipzig

Posted on August 21, 2026 by insidecroydon

With the Premier League season about to get underway, SETH GILLMAN, pictured below, looks back on Palace’s night of nights in May when the Eagles soared to their first European trophy at the Conference League final

Wednesday May 27 – Matchday

I rest in the hotel until lunchtime, then make my way into town, first for refreshment and sustenance, then on to the Red Bull Stadium for the game. I find myself on the sun-drenched balcony of a bar in the city centre. It’s packed with the travelling Palace faithful, whose red and blue attire gleams in the bright sunlight.

With food and drink flowing freely, I speak to Tracey and Jo, who were travelling alone until they met and bonded on the journey to Leipzig. Both started watching Palace as children but later had to stop for family and logistical reasons, then began again in the last few years.

Jo had been dubious about the cost of coming, but asked herself when this opportunity might arrive again. “I haven’t regretted it one little bit,” she says. Tracey nods in agreement. “It took 50 years of me supporting to win the FA Cup,” she says. “Just being in this final feels like a win.” Continue reading →

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Pampisford Road Allotments annual Open Day, Sun Sep 6

Posted on August 21, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Kit Packham’s One Jump Ahead, The Oval Tavern, Sun Aug 23

Posted on August 21, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Addiscombe West, Advertisement, Advertisement features, Art, Business, Music, The Oval Tavern | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Perry’s ‘caught on camera’ fly-tipper is following council’s rules

Posted on August 20, 2026 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Mayor’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach to fly-tipping is to feature on local television news tonight, as council videos ‘exposes’ a local trader doing what they have been instructed to do by… the council! 

X-rated video: the council’s ‘faked’ news, claiming that a Brigstock Road shopkeeper is a fly-tipper

Jason Perry, the incompetent Mayor of Croydon, has launched an anti-fly-tipping campaign using a video that shows someone… disposing of rubbish exactly as they have been instructed to do by Croydon Council.

Rubbish contractors Veolia and the council introduced “banded” night-time rubbish collections almost 10 years ago.

Under this TBWC system – Time-Banded Waste Collection, for those not fluent in councilspeak – shop-owners and those living in flats above shops along the borough’s high streets, have been encouraged to put black bin bags and recycling out for collection overnight.

That scheme is reckoned by some to be one of the prime contributors to the awful state of many of Croydon’s streets. It has made an already bad street scene situation worse. However carefully placed the bin bags might be, they often leak waste fluids over the pavements, they are always an eyesore and they often attract further fly-tips, too.

Earlier this year, Mayor Perry and his council was exposed as running “the fly-tipping capital of England”, with on average more than 1,000 fly-tips reported in the borough every week in the most recent year for which official figures are published by DEFRA, the government’s environment department. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Haily Cluff, Litter Free Norbury, Mayor Jason Perry, Norbury, Refuse collection, Tony Hooker, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Chocolate, cakes and a choir: ‘Reedham Village Lates’ returns

Posted on August 20, 2026 by insidecroydon

Reedham Village Lates returns to Old Lodge Lane this week with a gathering of lovers of art, culture and good conversation hosted at Steven Robertson Art tomorrow evening.

Village people: businesses in Reedham are staging a special evening on Aug 21

Reedham businesses Tenpin Records and Cocoa Jones Chocolate join forces with the art gallery to open late this Friday, August 21, for locals to view the art, shuffle through vinyl and sample craft chocolates.

Cocoa Jones will be providing demonstrations of different aspects of the chocolate-making process, Steven Robertson will be speaking on why “Art is a Necessity not a Luxury” and Tenpin Records will be spinning vinyl and host a performance by the SING a-Cappella Choir.

SING is a choir, based in Coulsdon and Purley which sings without instrumenta accompaniment. They perform all genres of music from classic pop to contemporary Americana and this Friday they will be singing a chocolate-themed repertoire. Continue reading →

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