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Category Archives: Croydon Minster
How Croydon’s second rink skated past Edwardian Nimbyism
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Following ‘Rinkomania’ 30 years earlier, Croydon got a second roller skating rink early in the 20th Century which thrived despite public opposition from residents living close to East Croydon Station. DAVID MORGAN on the brief history of a … Continue reading
Discover your Croydon heritage that goes back 1,000 years
UPDATE 5pm 17 SEPTEMBER: This guided tour is now FULLY BOOKED Croydon Minster has been at the heart of the life of the town for more than a thousand years. And on Tuesday October 7, you will have a chance … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Inside Croydon
Tagged Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History tour, Inside Croydon
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Church Street pub where Penny performer sang of the great fire
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: From the Victorian age of gas lamps and music halls, DAVID MORGAN traces the history of one Old Town venue that delighted audiences for a quarter of a century The fire which consumed Croydon Parish Church in January … Continue reading
The prodigy with a tin whistle who took music around the world
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The Shakespeare family in Croydon had multiple musical talents. From a portrait of a Victorian soprano, DAVID MORGAN traces the local connections to a small boy playing the organ at St Andrew’s and beyond in a career lasting … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Music
Tagged Adelina Patti, Arthur Rubinstein, Croydon, Croydon Minster, Croydon Parish Church, Crystal Palace, Franz Liszt, James Sant, JB Shakespeare, Jenny Lind, Johannes Brahms, Queen Victoria, Royal Academy of Music, St Andrew's Church, St Andrews, William Shakespeare
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The MP hidden away on third floor of a deserted shopping mall
Finding your way around the desolate maze that the Whitgift Centre has become has been made much more difficult since the shopping centre’s managers started blocking off entrances and removing staircases. It’s almost as if no one is welcome to … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Annabel Smith, Business, Croydon West, David Morgan, Johnny Dobbyn, Ken Towl, Sarah Jones MP, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Annabel Smith, Croydon, Croydon West, Destination X, Hammersfield, Johnny Dobbyn, Ken Towl, Sarah Jones MP, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
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Shopping centre providing puddles but no help in our quest
Armed with just a printout of an address, and an incorrect address at that, we invited some of our regular contributors to set off on a quest into the desolate maze that the Whitgift Centre has become. With the shopping … Continue reading
Shakespeares who made music part of their family business
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: For a century and a half, one of Croydon’s best-known firms has been funeral directors J B Shakespeare. DAVID MORGAN delves into the Minster archives and sees the writing on the wall for that family’s musical role in … Continue reading
Buildings ancient and modern open their doors for Open House
The London Open House Festival takes place this year from September 13 to 21, and as well as the always fascinating and revealing opportunities it presents with buildings around the capital, there’s also a better-than-usual programme arranged in and around … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Museum of Croydon
Tagged 1948 London Olympics, Croydon Almshouses, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, John Grindrod, Leadenhall Market, London Open House, MHA The Wilderness, Olympic Park, Shirley, Shirley Poppy, South Norwood, South Norwood Library, Westminster Abbey
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When ‘Rinkomania’ skated up Park Lane to delight Croydon
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Town centre attractions and installations are nothing new, as DAVID MORGAN demonstrates with a delve into the archives from 150 years ago There was no such thing as Costa Del Croydon for our Victorian predecessors. But they knew … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History, Sport
Tagged Croydon skating rink, David Morgan, Mint Walk, Park Lane, Rinkomania, roller skating
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George Street family business that put Croydon in the picture
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: From a business begun on George Street, using pioneering photography and with paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy, John Marshall and his son, John Fitz Marshall RBA, were acclaimed artists of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. By DAVID … Continue reading
Best Polonius you’ll never see: Miles Malleson’s classic clown
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Born in South Croydon in 1888, actor and playwright Miles Malleson’s work drew plaudits from Olivier, Thorndike and Gielgud. DAVID MORGAN recalls the life, career and campaigning of a well-recognised but often overlooked talent Alice Malleson, one of … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Theatre
Tagged Alec Guinness, BBC Radio, Bolshevik Revolution, Brighton College, Croydon, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, First World War, Herbert Beerbohm Tree's Academy of Dramatic Art, John Gielgud, Labour, Lady Constance Annesley, Laurence Olivier, Miles Malleson, RADA, Six Men of Dorset, Sybil Thorndike, Tolpuddle, Tolpuddle Martyrs, University of Cambridge, World War I
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YouTuber Swallow is taking us on a Croydon walk through time
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: On a stroll through the town centre, take a look up – or you won’t realise what you’re missing of the local heritage. That’s the message a local historian shared with DAVID MORGAN “Croydon is a goldmine of … Continue reading
Champion Ivy Russell’s weighty influence on women’s sport
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: With a story of another of Croydon’s forgotten heroines, DAVID MORGAN profiles sporting pioneer Ivy Russell, a weightlifting champion and professional wrestler The excitement was building in the Greyhound Hotel. It was a Saturday night dance with a … Continue reading
Witherby’s life’s work gave migrations of birds a ring of proof
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A Croydon man’s fascination with wildlife saw him travel across Europe and Africa and into the Arctic Circle in pursuit of rare and precious birds, and begin the practice of ringing which tracks the movement of avian migrants, … Continue reading
Whitgift boy who got top Marks as a silversmith to high society
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Works by a self-taught craftsman from Croydon, who was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement popularised by William Morris, now sell for thousands of pounds at auction. DAVID MORGAN explores the story of Gilbert Marks Croydon has … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Croydon Council, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Schools, Trinity School, Whitgift School
Tagged Antiques Roadshow, Archbishop John Whitgift, Arts and Crafts, Boer War, City of London, Cowes Regatta, Croydon, Croydon mace, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Gilbert Marks, Johnson, King Edward VII, Prince of Wales, Sir Frederick Eldridge, Walker and Tolhurst, Whitgift Grammar School, Whitgift School, William Morris, Winston Churchill
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Croydon cricketer who helped establish game in Melbourne
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In the baptismal records in Croydon Minster’s archives, DAVID MORGAN has discovered another cricketer who was influential in the early years of the international game – except that Sam Cosstick was playing for the Australians The entry in … Continue reading
Posted in Cricket, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Jamie Smith, Sport, Surrey CCC
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Minster, Croydon Parish Church, David Morgan, Melbourne, Melbourne Cricket Club, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Sam Cosstick, Surrey County Cricket Club, Test cricket, Tom Lockyer, WG Grace
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Lost at sea: nearly 300 dead on their journey for a new life
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: When the Kapunda sailed from London in 1886, bound for Fremantle, it proved to be the last sailing vessel ever to embark from Britain with emigrants for Australia. DAVID MORGAN records the tragedy of a teacher from Oval … Continue reading
Litter pick at Croydon Minster: volunteers welcome, Sat July 5
Posted in Community associations, Croydon Minster
Tagged Croydon Minster, Litter pick, Old Town, Volunteers
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Admiral Aldrich and lasting mystery of the Arctic’s lost ships
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In 1849, the Admiralty sent out two ships, the Erebus and Terror, on a mission to find the North West Passage. The mystery of what happened to the ships of the Franklin Expedition has never been entirely solved. … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History
Tagged Admiral Robert Dawes Aldrich, Bathurst Island, Canada, David Morgan, HMS Erebus, HMS Resolute, HMS Terror, President Donald Trump, President Rutherford B Hayes, Qausuittuq National Park, Queen Victoria, Sir John Franklin, The North West Passage, The Resolute Desk, The White House, Washington DC
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Help the Separated Child Foundation, Croydon Minster, June 29
Posted in Activities, Charity, Church and religions, Croydon Minster
Tagged Croydon Minster, Separated Child Foundation
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Courtroom drama in 1892: ‘An Infuriated Bear Shot in Croydon’
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The closest we get to performing bears in Croydon these days is seeing Paddington on the big screen. DAVID MORGAN goes back more than 130 years to the weekend when a bear was in the dock, and would … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, David Morgan, History, RSPCA
Tagged Baptiste, Bear, Bow Street Magistrates Court, Croydon, Croydon Magistrates Court, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Paddington Bear
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Waddon vicar appointed to take up new parish in Lewisham
David Adamson-Hill, who has served as the vicar of St George’s church in Waddon for the last four years, is set to leave Croydon in the autumn to take up the role in a parish in Lewisham. Formally, Rev Adamson-Hill … Continue reading
