The latest episode of the Croydon Insider podcast is now available – free for our paying subscribers as premium content via Patreon, or for purchase on our Spotify page.
It’s another jam-packed episode, with a panel of iC readers going behind the headlines to look into the stories that matter to you.
And it includes top politics pundit Andrew Fisher (the i paper, BBC television and radio and Sky News) previewing what to expect in John Healey’s Budget statement tomorrow. Continue reading
Inside Croydon is delighted to offer a pair of tickets to next week’s long-awaited concert return of Steeleye Span to Croydon as the prize in our latest exclusive subscriber competition.
Steeleye Span will be performing live at the Ashcroft Theatre next Thursday, November 5, and one lucky subscriber and their guest will be their courtesy of the band’s promoters, provided that they can answer one simple question in our prize competition.
Steeleye Span changed the face of folk music forever by taking it into the world of gold discs and international tours. Continue reading
From Charlie Chaplin to an Olympic athlete, from woolly mammoths to the Suffragettes, the Coulsdon Art Trail pays a tribute to them all.
Tasty treat: the Romans brought snails to Britain 2,000 years ago. ECRA’s finial celebrates their presence on Farthing Downs
And for the latest finial atop a piece of Coulsdon street furniture, the local residents’ association is highlighting one of Farthing Downs’ cherished creatures – the Roman snail.
The Roman Snail, also known as the Burgundy snail, belongs to the Helicidae family and is native to continental Europe. The snail is edible, and was brought to Britain during the Roman invasion 2,000 years ago as part of the legions’ food stock.
Roman snails can be recognised by their globular brown shell, five to six whorls, having a large shell (up to 2inches across) with a ridged texture Their shells can be variable in colour and some can have more prominent markings than others which may be striped. Roman snails are the only species that form a calcified white structure over the mouth of the shell during the winter, called an epiphragm. Continue reading
With more customers turning to online shopping instead of heading to the high street, independent shops in Croydon are having to adapt. As a result, many businesses are creating online stores to capture audiences further afield.
But, can online sales really help Croydon’s independent shops stay competitive?
Let’s explore the benefits of having an online presence alongside a physical establishment, and how it’s helping brands in Croydon stay ahead of the competition. Continue reading
A special meeting attended by a local law centre is taking place tomorrow in South Norwood to help military veterans, disabled people, lone parents and those on low incomes with their Council Tax
South West London Law Centres will be at South Norwood Community Kitchen on Portland Road tomorrow, Tuesday, October 27, from 10am to help people with Council Tax.
They will also be discussing the council’s Council Tax Support consultation, which is considering reducing help for severely disabled or unwell residents, lone parents with children under five, disabled working residents and residents on very low income.
One local resident who will be helping to lead tomorrow’s discussion told Inside Croydon: “I am encouraging all residents to respond to this consultation.
“The council is consulting on changes to Council Tax Support and they want to hear directly from us as residents how future support could work for people who may be struggling with household costs. Continue reading
KEN TOWL goes all around his hat to interview Maddy Prior, lead singer of Steeleye Span, ahead of their concert at the Ashcroft Theatre on Nov 5
Folk performer: Maddy Prior and Steeleye Span are back in concert in Croydon next week
“We are heavy on sex and death,” says Maddy Prior as we chat about the band that formed in 1970, introduced English folk music to a generation and gave the world All Around My Hat (and not to be confused, of course, with Steely Dan, American yacht-rockers who gave us Ricky Don’t Lose That Number in 1974).
Prior, Steeleye Span’s lead singer since the band was formed, is discussing the songs that they will be performing at the Ashcroft Theatre next week.
Steeleye Span have been a transformative force in folk music, blending traditional sounds with a contemporary edge. I have suggested that their latest album, “Conflict”, attests to a serious, darker side of Steeleye Span. Continue reading
Weather warning: the scaffolding outside the former Pratts and Payne bar on Streatham High Road collapsed in the high winds of the stormy weekend
Two people were taken to hospital after being trapped under collapsing scaffolding outside the former Pratts and Payne pub on Streatham High Road yesterday.
The incident came after a weekend of high winds and stormy weather that lashed the country, particularly the south-west and Scotland. There have been two reported fatalities.
Across Croydon, the clear-up has begun of several fallen trees or broken branches, though there have been no reports of any injuries arising from the first storms of the season – Storm Austen and Storm Boelo. Continue reading
Under fire: Capt Carpenter kept HMS Vindictive close to the Zeebrugge Mole for almost two hours while under fierce bombardment. Painting in the Royal Naval College collection at Greenwich
CROYDON CHRONICLES: As we approach the season of Remembrance, DAVID MORGAN has found articles and documents in the Minster archive which tell of the conspicuous gallantry of Captain Alfred Carpenter
On April 27 1918, the Croydon Times hailed Captain Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter of the Royal Navy as “Croydon’s naval hero” after the exploits of him, his crew and Royal Marines aboard HMS Vindictive in the Zeebrugge Raid led to him being awarded the Victoria Cross.
Carpenter came from a line of navy officers, with his father, also Captain Alfred Carpenter, living in retirement in the Red House, Sanderstead.
For his homecoming a month later, locals came out in force to welcome Croydon’s conquering hero. Continue reading
Blocked: Mayor Jason Perry’s business plan is in tatters after Wednesday’s council meeting
CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘Zero plan and zero competence’ – Croydon Mayor has his proposed business plan blocked at the Town Hall this week in an embarrassing reverse for the Tories and the council’s interim CEO.
WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports
Croydon’s failed Mayor, Jason Perry, now can’t even get his own business plan passed at council.
In the week when Labour officials across the country were warned by party HQ not to work with the Greens, Croydon Labour voted with the Greens, and the LibDems and even the grifters of Reform Ltd to block piss-poor Perry’s piss-poor plan.
With absentees on both sides of the Town Hall Chamber, for what was the first meeting of full council in more than three months, when Perry’s business plan for 2026 to 2030 was put to the vote, 39 councillors opposed it with just 27 true blue Tories voting in favour.
The only good thing opposition councillors could find to say about the glossy, 24-page virtual document was that it had been nicely designed.
The business plan is supposed to be part of the council’s policy framework, and is closely connected to the Mayor’s 2027-2028 Budget, where Perry again intends to increase Council Tax by the maximum allowed without need of a public referendum, while making cuts across a range of services. Continue reading
Off the buses, and trams and Tubes: Jason Perry is now taking freedom passes away from disabled people
The consequences of the council losing its LTN case in the High Court in March, and with it millions of pounds in fine refunds and lost revenue, now sees Croydon’s failed Mayor taking travel passes from the disabled.
WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports
As well as wanting to deny Council Tax Support for Croydon’s poorest families, Jason Perry now wants to withhold free travel passes from the borough’s disabled.
This is one of the latest cuts proposed by piss-poor Perry, who has added £300million in extra borrowing at the crisis-hit council since he became Mayor in 2022.
By withdrawing the offer of the travel pass, the council says it could make savings over two years of £140,000 – much less than Mayor Perry will trouser over the same period from his £86,000 annual salary.
Pressure from government-appointed Commissioners – sent in in July 2025 because of Perry’s incompetence – is seeing spending on all or any services that are not legally required being rolled back.
One opposition councillor described the cuts to disabled travel passes as “utterly outrageous”. Continue reading
One of the great ballets returns to Croydon with festive season magic, featuring a full live orchestra.
Enchanting: The Nutcracker is full of magical moments
And one lucky Inside Croydon patron, plus a guest, can be at the Fairfield Halls on Saturday November 28 to enjoy Tchaikovsky’s wonderful score married with the beautiful dancing of The Nutcracker.
iC has a pair of tickets to give away in our latest super prize competition.
Imperial Classical Ballet brings The Nutcracker to Fairfield Halls as part of Amande Concerts’ 20th anniversary season.
The Nutcracker will get everyone in the festive mood, whether classical music fans or newcomers to ballet.
A Christmas Eve gift takes Clara into a world of enchanted toys, snowflakes and the Kingdom of Sweets.
Tchaikovsky’s score includes the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Waltz of the Flowers, music that will be familiar to most people even before their first visit to a ballet.
The production pairs classical dancing with costumes and stage settings that follow Clara’s journey from a family celebration into a dream. Continue reading
Grassroots: rugby clubs in and around Croydon play an important role in the community
In Croydon, rugby isn’t just a hobby or form of entertainment. Local rugby clubs do more than their fair share for the community, from giving young people, newcomers and adults more opportunities to get involved in the sport, to bringing the community together and contributing to youth development.
Croydon Wanderers and Trinity are two examples of local clubs that are inspiring people in the area to participate, whether that be as a player, a volunteer or a coach, and solidifying the importance of grassroots rugby clubs as part of the local community. Continue reading
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A year since the vacancy arose at Fisher’s Folly, the Mayor is no closer to recruiting someone for the top job to take over from Katherine Kerswell.
KEN LEE, Town Hall correspondent, reports
Jason Perry has failed again.
Despite dangling a £275,000 salary carrot, no one interviewed for the job of the council’s chief executive was reckoned to be good enough (“with the right experience and leadership”, according to Mayor Perry) to take on the job of running Croydon’s clusterfuck of a council.
It is a year since Katherine Kerswell flounced out of Fisher’s Folly, helped on her way with a £50,000 pay-off approved by Perry so she didn’t have to work her notice period.
And it is four months since the council placed ads in the trade press seeking a new “champion” for Croydon.
And still we are no further forward.
Today, Perry’s bankrupt borough is on its third CEO in just 12 months, with Mike Jackson being paid at least £1,500 per day as an interim. Initially hired for six months, following Perry’s announcement to last night’s meeting of full council, it looks as if Jackson could be in Croydon’s hot seat for a while longer. Kerr-ching!
This is all turning into another costly shambles under the Tory Mayor. Continue reading
Zencity is owned by a cyberwarfare expert who learned his sinister trade in an elite unit of the Israel Defense Force. The use of the firm has been subject to growing complaints and scrutiny in America
‘Powered by Commonplace’: Jason Perry’s council has handed its Council Tax survey to an AI company owned by an Israeli spyware expert
Croydon’s “digital first” council has outsourced its public consultation on Council Tax Support (Perry looks to inflict pain for his failures on Croydon’s poor) to a company owned by a former member of the Israel Defense Force’s elite cyber warfare unit.
Piss-poor Perry’s survey to find out from whom he should snatch vital support – The poor? The old? The disabled? – is being hosted by Commonplace Digital Ltd. Commonplace was taken over in 2025 by Zencity. The company’s founder and chief executive is Eyal Feder. Continue reading
‘Complex’: a fault in the embedded track on a bend in the road near Lebanon Road tram stop has forced TfL to close the stop and cancel all services to Elners End
Even before Transport for London shuts down almost half the Croydon tram network at the weekend for a fortnight of “planned engineering works”, Inside Croydon readers have been reporting significant disruption to services.
According to long-suffering tram passengers, there has been overcrowding at peak times due to a shortage of trams on the route between Croydon and Wimbledon – not an area supposed to be affected by the maintenance works – and an all-round less reliable and less frequent service.
TfL has confirmed that they have been forced to close the Lebanon Road tram stop due to some faulty track nearby.
There have been no services to or from Elmers End all this week.
Services are not expected to return to normal until November 6. Continue reading
Not content with axing services that protect children, closing libraries and committing ‘cultural vandalism’ over CALAT, Croydon’s Mayor is now coming after lone-parent families and even disabled residents.
WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, on Perry’s plan to make cuts to Council Tax Support
Jason Perry, Croydon’s failed Mayor, must really be some kind of genius.
He’s just realised that if you increase Council Tax by 39% in just four years, as he will have done with the next increase in April 2027, you cause more financial difficulties for more residents, and more people will need Council Tax Support.
So now he’s looking to cut the council’s subsidy of its local tax, which is received by 19,000 of the borough’s residents. According to the council’s own propaganda, Piss-poor Perry is even looking to cut Council Tax Support to lone-parent families and disabled residents.
“Pushing people further into poverty who are already only just making ends meet is not an option,” is the response from the South Norwood Community Kitchen. Continue reading
As Croydon’s £86,000 per year piss-poor Mayor looks to cut support for lone parents and the disabled, this is your chance to let him know what you really think…
The lovely, helpful people at the South Norwood Community Kitchen have put together some suggested responses for the council’s “public consultation”, supposedly on reducing Council Tax support, but in reality the latest in a long line of lip-service foregone conclusions.
Below, we list the council’s leading questions with the template responses, an easy cut-and-paste job for a wet October evening…
But what really interests us is your most creative and cutting responses to the final question from the Tory-run council.
Next April will put Council Tax at 39% more than it was when Jason Perry was elected. That huge hike comes on top of piss-poor Perry’s increases on parking permit chargees, his library closures and his needless vandalism in outsourcing CALAT.
Now the £86,000 per year failed Mayor wants to inflict financial pain on lone-parent families and Croydon’s disabled residents. Continue reading
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