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Category Archives: David Morgan
School for girls where learning was more valued than exams
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A school where the wonders of the Crystal Palace and the nature of the Surrey Hills were part of the progressive curriculum, where cricket was played by girls, and where exams were barely tolerated, was founded in Addiscombe … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, David Morgan, Education, Schools
Tagged Addiscombe, Charles Ingham, David Morgan, Moira House School, Mona Swann, Roedean
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Music hall star Minnie Cunningham does a turn for North End
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The Croydon public had a wide choice of theatres to choose from in Victorian times, where they could see the top acts of the day and witness the latest technological wonder: moving pictures from the Theatrograph, as DAVID … Continue reading
Centre of excellence serving Croydon’s youth for 80 years
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The Sir Philip Game Centre in Addiscombe is a ground-breaking experiment in crime prevention which has provided access to a range of activities for thousands of youngsters since it opened. DAVID MORGAN recounts its history and some of … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Boxing, Charity, David Morgan, Duke McKenzie, Education, Policing, Sir Philip Game Centre, Sport, Youth Services
Tagged Addiscombe, Boxing, David Morgan, Duke McKenzie, Frank Bruno, Frankie Lucas, Judo, Morland Avenue, Roy Hudd, Sir Philip Game Centre, St Vincent, Tommy Trinder
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Enter the Almshouses and travel back in time four centuries
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: There will be an opportunity later this year to take a sneak peak back in time, to 400 years ago. DAVID MORGAN recently visited one of Croydon’s oldest buildings, that trace their history back to the time of … Continue reading
Posted in Charity, Church and religions, David Morgan, History, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Archbishop John Whitgift, Croydon, David Morgan, King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, Rev Samuel Finche, Roisha Hughes, Spanish Armada, The Treacle Bible, Whitgift Almshouses, Whitgift Foundation, William Shakespeare
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Anderson’s art captured Surrey greats and church monuments
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Surrey’s first home match in their 180th county cricket season got underway at The Oval on Friday, and DAVID MORGAN was there for the opening over. Here, he recounts the career of an historian and artist who put … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Cricket, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Jamie Smith, Rory Burns, Sport, Surrey CCC
Tagged Archbishop Grindal, Croydon, Croydon Minster, Croydon Minster Fire 1857, Croydon Parish Church, David Morgan, John Corbet Anderson, Julius Caesar, Rory Burns, Surrey, Surrey CCC, Surrey County Cricket Club, The Oval, Tom Lockyer, Tom Sherman, William Caffyn
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Find beauty in the mundane as Thames gives up lost treasures
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: There’s artefacts of history all around us, but as Minster archivist DAVID MORGAN found at an exhibition this week, there can be few sites as rich in finds as London’s often perilous river banks An exhibition has just … Continue reading
From Dolly Parton to Haydn: Whitgift concert jazzed things up
DAVID MORGAN reports from an event which saw one of the Fairfield Halls’ biggest audiences for a while – and certainly one of its most enthusiastic The excitement and expectation of more than a thousand primary school children from across … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Art, David Morgan, Education, Fairfield Halls, Music, Schools, Whitgift School
Tagged Croydon, David Morgan, Fairfield Halls, Whitgift School
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Film star from Croydon whose career ended in a tawdry scandal
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: He appeared alongside world-famous actors such as Lillie Langtry, Errol Flynn, Bela Lugosi and Basil Rathbone. But Lionel Atwill’s time in Hollywood came to a tough end after a party with some blue movies, as DAVID MORGAN explains … Continue reading
Willoughby really knew how to put on a show in New York
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Emigrating to America and becoming a ‘Broadway sensation’ is the stuff of dreams, but as DAVID MORGAN explains, for one surveyor’s apprentice from South Croydon, after four years in a Prisoner of War camp, it became a reality … Continue reading
Posted in Art, David Morgan, History, Theatre
Tagged Broadway, David Morgan, Hugh Willoughby, South Croydon, West End
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Christophers and The Sixteen weave their magic in the Minster
By DAVID MORGAN Croydon Minster was full on Monday night, those in the pews buzzing with expectancy about a very special concert they were about to enjoy. Croydon was the opening night venue by the internationally renowned choir, The Sixteen, … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Music
Tagged Anna Clyne, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Harry Christophers, John Taverner, Orbits, The Sixteen, Will Todd
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Victorian opera star whose family enjoyed burgeoning success
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: From a simple entry in the registers of Croydon Minster, DAVID MORGAN uncovers the story of a family of performers, including the leader of the regular concert party at the Crystal Palace The baptismal registers at Croydon Minster … Continue reading
Read all about it! Croydon’s streets of crime from 100 years ago
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In the Roaring Twenties, the local paper was filled with reports from the magistrates court of armed crime, drunkenness and ‘inexplicable frivolity’, as DAVID MORGAN delves into the archives for more of the events of March 1925 The … Continue reading
Here’s the news in 1925: policing, airport expansion and sport
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 … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History
Tagged 1925, Croydon, Croydon Aerodrome, Croydon Airport, Crystal Palace FC, David Morgan, The Croydon Times
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Prize-winning ‘English Conrad’ whose books spanned the globe
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: One of the foremost British writers of the 20th Century enjoyed his most productive period when living in Croydon. DAVID MORGAN sets off on an adventure to trace the literary career of HM Tomlinson You never know what … Continue reading
From Brooke Bond vans to Bubblecars, Trojan was in top gear
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Croydon, with a site just off the Purley Way, was once the home of a leading motor manufacturer, which innovated on transport throughout its history. By DAVID MORGAN In 1931, a grand competition was held in the Davis … Continue reading
Posted in Business, David Morgan, History
Tagged Bubblecar, Croydon, David Morgan, Lambretta, Leslie Hounsfield, Peter Agg, Purley Way, Trojan, Trojan cars, Trojan vans, Trokart, Vicarage Road
2 Comments
From Grimaldi to Chaplin: Bult’s mission to record clown faces
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Unique collection showing the history of clowning was the work of an Addiscombe man, as DAVID MORGAN explains From his home at 26 Canning Road during the 1930s, Stan Bult set about recording and reviving the art of … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Comedy, David Morgan, History
Tagged Canning Road, Charlie Chaplin, Clowns International, David Morgan, Joseph Grimaldi, Stan Bult
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Spackman was at the heart of Croydon’s art scene for 30 years
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The Croydon Camera Club, the Writers’ Circle and even a masonic lodge all found a warm welcome at the Edridge Road home of a family of artists, as DAVID MORGAN explains The building of the Croydon Flyover in … Continue reading
The man who made shopping at Kennards feel a bit magical
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A former Music Hall performer used his modelling genius to brighten the lives of countless children in one Croydon department store, while creating famous stage dummies including Archie Andrews and Lord Charles. DAVID MORGAN looks back on the … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Centrale, David Morgan, Debenhams, History
Tagged Archie Andrews, BBC Radio, Croydon, David Morgan, Drummond Centre, Eric Morecambe, Kennards, Len Insull, Music Hall, Peter Brough, Ray Alan
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For those in peril on the sea: HMS Racehorse’s Manx legacy
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A surgeon from Croydon who served in the Royal Navy of Nelson’s era, survived a traumatic shipwreck that prompted the formation of a fine institution, as DAVID MORGAN discovered with the help of fellow archivists from the Isle … Continue reading
When shopping required a visit to the Harrods of south London
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Hard to imagine today but Croydon once had shops that would see customers flying in from Europe and could provide tea for the Queen. DAVID MORGAN looks back to Grants Departmental Store and the halcyon days of the … Continue reading
Posted in Business, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon, David Morgan, Grants, Grants Centre, Grants Department Store, Harrods, Queen Elizabeth II
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Archbishop Lanfranc and the Norman Conquest of Croydon
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: For his first essay of 2025, Croydon Minster archivist DAVID MORGAN delves back almost one thousand years, to the time of William the Conqueror and the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury Who should be the next … Continue reading
Here’s our wish-list for a better Croydon and Sutton in 2025
What do you want for Croydon, and Sutton, in 2025? We approached a wide range of figures, including loyal readers, religious leaders, educators and business people for their thoughts – and hopes – for the New Year Ken Towl Addiscombe … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Andrew Fisher, Claire Bonham, Climate Crisis Commission, Council Tax, Crime, Croydon Council, Croydon Harriers, Croydon Insider, Croydon parks, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace FC, David Morgan, Environment, Housing, Inside Croydon, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Ken Towl, Knife crime, Lloyd Park, Mayor Jason Perry, Nick Mattey, North End Quarter, Peter Underwood, South Bank Poly, Sutton Council, The Andrew Fisher Interview, Under The Flyover, Waste incinerator
Tagged 2025, Addiscombe, Allders, Andrew Fisher, Anna Arthur, Beddington, Bishop of Croydon, Claire Bonham, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Harriers, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace FC, David Morgan, Deborah Bowen, Donna Fraser, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Green Party, Jerry Fitzpatrick, John Jefkins, Johnny Dobbyn, Ken Towl, Labour, London, London South Bank University, Maureen Levy, Mayor Jason Perry, Nick Mattey, Peter Underwood, Rt Rev Dr Rosemarie Mallett, Tim Coombe, Vanguard Way, Vanguard Way Association, Whitgift Centre
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Christmas Eve marks cententary of the Croydon air disaster
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Christmas Eve marks the centenary of what in 1924 was the worst air disaster in British history, when an aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from Croydon Airport, killing everyone on board. DAVID MORGAN has scoured the archives … Continue reading
