Westfield’s latest sop for failing to deliver the long-promised regeneration of the town centre has been to have tons of sand dumped on the top of a shopping centre’s multi-storey car park. KEN TOWL donned his ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hat and went along to find out what all the fuss is about
Oh, the glamour: shopping centre managers Westfield have ensured that the signage to the car park is clear
It’s the old problem. What do you do when you go to the beach and it rains?
What might be a bit of a downer on the Costa del Sol or on Brighton beach is less of a problem at a costa closer to home.
Starting today, for the whole of the month of August, there is a beach in the centre of Croydon, on the roof of Centrale shopping centre, and, because the people running it know that the sun doesn’t always shine on Croydon, they have added a load of weather-proof activities.
Yesterday, for a press preview, in between the showers and the storms, they needed it.
Grey day: enter Costa Del Croydon for a view of the town’s skyscrapers, whatever the weather
“You picked a nice day for it!” I said when I arrived under a grey sky for the second session of the day and made my way around the puddles across the brightly coloured surfaces that will probably look quite dazzling if the sun decides to shine at some point over the next few weeks.
My first impression was one of optimism.
There is something hopeful about a load of brightly painted wooden tables and a large square of clean yellow sand. And what could be more optimistic than a game of hook-a-duck?
And defiance, too.
There were kids splashing about in the water play area and toddlers feeling the sand between their toes on the “beach”. All in all, the optimism and defiance characteristic of a typical British day out at the seaside.
It was all quite idyllic. A couple of old codgers (aged around 11 or 12, I’d guess) were playing chess with giant pieces. Security guards looked on with smiles on their faces; it is easy to police happy people. You felt the sun could come out at any moment.
High bar: Costa may be free, but booze prices are not cheap
I tried the bar. It would have been remiss of me not to. This space is not just for children but also for anyone who wants to recreate the holiday experience by drinking a porn star martini (£9) or a pint of Amstel (£6.50). There is a wide range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks (£1.50 for water, £2 for carbonated drinks, £4 for coffee to £4.50 for a mocktail), while the organisers told me that people are “welcome to bring food and non-alcohol drinks into the event”.
Entry to Costa Del Croydon is free and, if you book tickets here, guaranteed, for either an 11.30am to 3pm session or a 3.30pm to 7.30pm session.
There are unbooked walk-ups available, and you might get lucky if the Costa is relatively clear. The first week is fully booked but, usually, for free events, there are a lot of no-shows.
Also, you can have a look at the digital brochure to see a full list of daily free activities. To give you an idea, activities tend to be for a couple of hours and include a diverse range to suit just about everyone: comic drawing workshops, nail painting, yoga on the beach, bingo on the beach, music, belly dancing and puppetry.
Tip-toe round the puddles: the weather should improve through August
Costa Del Croydon looks like a great deal for anyone with kids to entertain over the summer. And they won’t be on their mobile phones if they are splashing each other in the water play area. Well, you’d hope not, anyway.
My advice: if you have kids and they want something to do over the next month, go on the website and book tickets.
Maybe you’ll be lucky. The sun does sometimes shine, even in Croydon.
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I used to live near Nottingham and in the city for a number of years they brought in tons of sand to make a beach in the market square. Everybody loved it. Nottingham has a lot of character, certainly in the old market square. Probably more than a shopping centre roof in Croydon.
But good luck to them anyway. Hope nobody falls off the edge.
Something nice in Perry’s dilapidated Croydon for once
Congratulations
Life’s a beach. And then you die