High flyers: airport expansion was a worry for many in 1925, when this photograph was taken, as well as 2025, with Croydon becoming Britain’s first international airport
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: For all the modernisation of our lives in the 21st Century, a flick through the pages of a local newspaper from 100 years ago shows that there were key similarities, as DAVID MORGAN explains
In 1925, The Croydon Times newspaper was published twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It provided readers with news of what was going in the borough. You could look for jobs, seek out a place to live, catch up with the sport or find out the latest “hatches, matches and dispatches” – births, marriages and deaths.
History helps us to see events through a wider lens, so it is really interesting to see some of the stories which made the newspaper in their final edition of February, 100 years ago, and which still resonate with us today.
One of the concerns of local residents in 1925 was the planned expansion of Croydon Aerodrome. Residents who lived close to the runway were alarmed that the values of their homes would go down significantly. Householders who had retired to live in Purley were upset that their plans were going to be ruined.
A petition was raised and sent off to the Air Ministry. Four resident representatives and their chair, Rev JF Cowley, attended the monthly meeting of the Wallington and Beddington Urban Council.
Newspaper ads: they knew how to enjoy themselves in 1925’s Croydon
The residents presented some alternative solutions to the official expansion plans which were part of the Bill which soon to be put before Parliament. They suggested a route using Redford Avenue and making the runway 480 feet shorter. This, they argued, would avoid a heavy outlay on relaying all the drains and moving fences.
The residents also pointed out that without any changes, a five-road junction would have to be created. They also felt that the 500 children from Bandon Hill School would be too close to the line of approach and takeoff.
The chair of the urban committee, Councillor Thomas JP, promised that she would give the suggestions “the most careful consideration”.
The Act of Parliament was passed, so the airport expansion went ahead with Croydon benefiting hugely from having Britain’s first international airport.
Another news story with a link to today’s concerns was the safety of women and children. The monthly meeting of the Women’s branch of the Addiscombe Ratepayers was held the previous week. Their Wednesday meeting had two speakers. One was Mrs Carey, the Croydon Women’s Probation Officer. The other was Miss Glazier who spoke about the need to keep Croydon’s parks and open spaces safe for all.
Miss Glazier argued that during World War I, with many man off fighting at the front, the streets and parks were patrolled most effectively by women. The Ratepayers’ Association thought that such patrols should be brought back “so that decency and decorum could be preserved in open spaces such as Duppas Hill and the Wandle”. Whatever could they have meant?
The Superintendent of Police for Croydon had been approached but he was very unsympathetic to the idea of having women police, despite the existence of a Metropolitan Police Women’s Patrol. It was decided to approach the borough council with a deputation.
Miss Glazer pointed out that there were many dangers to children from “undesirable characters who haunt those open spaces” and there was a need to keep young couples “within the bounds of decorum”. She urged the ratepayers of Addiscombe to use every endeavour to influence the Roads’ Committee to sanction the employment of at least half a dozen women park keepers.
She was supported in her move by the Vicar of Croydon, Rev Pat McCormick, who had been to the Croydon Borough Council meeting the previous week arguing for the appointment of women patrols.
Mrs Carey then spoke about her role within the Borough. The attendees listened to her outlining that much of her time was spent dealing with the hundreds of domestic troubles which came across her desk each year. This took up a far greater amount of her working time than dealing with actual probationers either released from prison or under a court sentence.
High Street business: Ebbutt’s offered West End Quality from their furniture shop in central Croydon
What was the weather like in Croydon 100 years ago?
On the Sunday that week there was a slight fall of snow in Croydon and the temperature was the lowest it had been that winter. In other parts of the country there had been heavy snow falls. This cold snap was problematic to local gardeners and growers. The earlier part of February had been mild, resulting in fruit bushes, rose trees and early spring vegetables being far more advanced than they should have been for the time of the year. Primroses and wallflowers had already been picked.
Much grumbling there would have been in response to the cold snap, no doubt.
Addington Palace was very much in the news 100 years ago.
Under the headline “Palace to be a Club”, readers were informed that the former home of the Archbishops of Canterbury was to be turned into an Anglo-American Club. A syndicate, headed by Lord Teynham, Henry Roper-Curzon, had been formed with the aim of transforming the building.
Five Archbishops had lived at Addington Palace and Frederick Temple was Archbishop of Canterbury when the Church of England decided to sell the Palace. It was bought in 1897 by Frederick English, a wealthy South African diamond merchant who subsequently spent £110,000 on redecoration and improvements.
The Croydon Times pointed out that the Palace had about 60 bedrooms. There was a ballroom, panelled entirely in teak, with a remarkable marble fireplace which had cost £4,000 to install. There was a Chinese drawing room with handpainted wallpaper depicting Chinese birds, “no two of which were alike”.
The report also made reference to the chapel, which was built around 1830 by Archbishop Howley. There were frescoes on the wall which it was said were painted by Archbishop Temple’s daughter.
The 18-hole golf course got a mention. A great round of golf could be followed by a magnificent 19th hole!
No local paper of 1925 would be without its sport. There was a great of it, too.
Hockey enthusiasts could look forward to Waddon Women v Streatham Women at the weekend. The previous weekend had seen a hockey match held in Mitcham between the women’s university teams of London and Paris. London won convincingly.
Table-toppers: local football leagues got extensive coverage in the sports pages of The Croydon Times in 1925
Two cross-country running events were publicised, The Southern Counties 10-mile championship, together with a club match, South London Harriers “A” v Canterbury.
Local darts leagues were featured. There were teams from 18 pubs in the Central Croydon League. With most teams having played 60 matches, Sheldon, Whitgift and Wandle occupied the top three places, with the Crown and Sceptre, Acacias and Royal Oak propping up the table.
The secretary of the Fox Under The Hill team received a public rebuke in the newspaper’s sports editor for not sending in the result of their match with Royal Oak.
There were many football reports. Local leagues were very strong back then, with most companies and organisations fielding teams.
Croydon Parish Church itself had two teams in the Croydon League. The previous Saturday, their A team had beaten Christ Church Social 2-0 in Division 1, while their B team had defeated the third division leaders, Elmers Swifts, 3-1.
An accident in the Streatham v Waddon Aircraft match in the Premier Division caused the game to be abandoned. The Waddon centre forward broke his leg.
As well as a Croydon League there was also a Thornton Heath League. This contained such teams as Parsons Athletic, Homedean, Holy Innocents, Kenley Elmwood and Thornville. It was the last named teamed who were top of Division 1, having trounced North Croydon 6-1.
News about Crystal Palace also filled many column inches. The 1924-1925 season saw them playing in the old Second Division. It was a strange season in many ways. The offside law was planning to be changed at the end of the season. The new law which they brought in was the one we are currently using. A cynic might say that we have had 100 years of confusion!
Since the 1880s, the offside had stated that a player was offside if they were ahead of the ball when it was passed to them. The rule was created to prevent “goal hanging”, where players would wait near the goal for a pass to score, but it made moving forward up field very difficult.
Palace staged a friendly match against Corinthians so that they could play under the new offside rule and assess its merits. The reporter was an advocate for the change in rule saying “the game was quicker and brighter in every way. There was far more shooting and better offensive and defensive play than was usual in modern soccer”.
At least two of the four goals which Palace scored would not have been allowed under the old rule, so it was generally agreed that the new offside rule was going to be a success.
The reporter also looked ahead to Palace’s next league match, which was at home to Blackpool. He thought that the team were coming together well. Morgan on the left wing was getting better and better with each game that he played.
Sadly, such optimism failed to translate into a Palace win as they fell to 2-1 defeat. The Second Division contained some interesting teams that season, including South Shields, Clapton Orient, Chelsea and Manchester United. Palace huffed and puffed their way through the season but were relegated after finishing second from bottom. Of their last 13 games, they only won one.
Even though this snapshot of Croydon from 100 years ago showed life was different, there were several similarities with our 21st century lives. People needed to know about the weather, they worried about the price of property, airport expansion was a real issue and Crystal Palace results meant a lot and personal safety was a live issue.
The newspaper was read cover to cover by many people who were keen to know about folk they went to school with or who lived in nearby streets: 1920s social media, in print!
David Morgan, pictured, is a former Croydon headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster who offers tours or illustrated talks on the history around the Minster for local community groups
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- Prize-winning ‘English Conrad’ whose books spanned the globe
- From Brooke Bond vans to Bubblecars, Trojan was in top gear
- Spackman was at the heart of Croydon’s art scene for 30 years
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
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