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Category Archives: History
Family counts cost of burglary during Croydon’s Walnut Fair
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Archive newspaper reports of a burglary on Church Street in 1861 provide a useful insight into the possessions of a Victorian household, as DAVID MORGAN explains Burglaries are not new crimes. A trawl through the local newspaper archives … Continue reading
Woodland wonderland that’s hidden behind Selsdon’s suburbia
THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR: For his latest visit to a group of hard-working conservationists and volunteers, KEN TOWL retraces his steps from one of his LOOP walks to discover ‘Selsdon’s secret wood’ You know that look you get when … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Community associations, Croydon parks, Environment, Friends of Littleheath Woods, History, Ken Towl, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, South Croydon, Walks
Tagged Friends of Littleheath Woods, Ken Towl, Littleheath Woods, London Outer Orbital Path, LOOP, Monks Hill, Selsdon, Vanguard Way, Walks
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The high street business that made sure Croydon was on song
CROYDON CHRONICLES: A talented musician established a business that over the course of 60 years taught and encouraged at least 30,000 youngsters to sing, play an instrument or perform on stage. DAVID MORGAN looks at the life and career of … Continue reading
Thanks to the magic of Merlin there’s more to see in the woods
THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR: This week, seeking pudding-like rock, a Bronze Age barrow and one of the highest viewpoints in Croydon without taking a lift in a tower block, KEN TOWL has been to Croham Hurst, where he may … Continue reading
Open House 2026: from Croydon Town Hall to Downing Street
There are almost 30 venues in Croydon next month, many offering tours of normally off-limit buildings, as part of the annual London Open House Festival. And it is all free! It is one of the better years for getting a … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Art, Croydon Minster, Fairfield Halls, History, Museum of Croydon, Old Palace, Surrey Street, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Town Hall, Fairfield Halls, Greenwich, History, Leadenhall Market, Lloyd's Building, London, London Open House, London Open House Festival, Museum of Croydon, No10 Downing Street, Royal Naval College, Surrey Street, Surrey Street Market, Whitgift Almshouses, Whitgift Foundation
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Spitfire’s Battle of Britain Kenley fly-past booked for Aug 16
One of the real spectacles of the year, a fly-past of a Battle of Britain fighter aircraft, will this year be taking place – weather and good fortune permitting – over Kenley airfield on Sunday August 16, at 1pm. A … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Community associations, History, KENDRA, Kenley, Kenley Airfield Friends Group
Tagged August 18 1940, Bristol Blenheim, Douglas Bader, Hawker Hurricane, KENDRA, Kenley, Kenley Revival, RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, RAF Kenley, RAFBBMF, Spitfire, Supermarine Spitfire, The Hardest Day
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Hollywood superstar Chaplin takes his place on Coulsdon trail
Charlie Chaplin, one of the greatest movie stars of all time, is featured in the latest finial on the Coulsdon Art Trail. Chaplin’s association with Coulsdon is, perhaps typically of his screen persona, a poignant one: his mother, Hannah, was … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Cinema, Comedy, Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, History, Transport
Tagged Cane Hill, Charles King, Charlie Chaplin, Comrades Club, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Club, Coulsdon History Trail, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, ECRA, Farthing Downs, Finials, Hannah Chaplin, Happy Valley, Mammoth, Merstham Tunnel, Navvies, Stoats Nest Farm
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The Whybrew family trade that really put a feather in your cap
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Trades and professions come and go with the passing years, as fashions ebb and flow. Using the Minster’s archive records, DAVID MORGAN discovers another skill, common in Victorian times and used by a local family firm, but which … Continue reading
Crystal Palace’s dinosaurs are no longer at risk of extinction
Crystal Palace Park’s Grade I-listed dinosaurs have been removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, after years of painstaking work by expert restorers and local volunteers. The move comes as the multi-million-pound restoration project across the whole park has … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Bromley Council, Community associations, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, Education, Friends of Crystal Palace Park, History
Tagged Bromley Council, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace dinosaurs, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, Hot air balloon, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Victoria Pinnington
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Pioneer of sociology whose book called for an evolution
CROYDON CHRONICLES: A quiet residential street in South Croydon was where one of the leading works of 19th-Century philosophy was drafted and written. DAVID MORGAN looks at the life and works of Benjamin Kidd After Benjamin Kidd died of heart … Continue reading
Up! Up! And away! You’re invited to Crystal Palace celebrations
After more than a year of regeneration works, key areas of Crystal Palace Park have been transformed, including the world-famous Grade I-listed dinosaurs, while the new Visitor Centre is ready to open and a dinosaur adventure playground has been built. … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Community associations, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, Friends of Crystal Palace Park, History, Music
Tagged Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace dinosaurs, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, Hot air balloon, National Lottery Heritage Fund
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Ruskin House Folk and Blues Festival, Coombe Road, July 18
C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T For more information about the festival and all the Croydon Folk and Blues Club performances, click here
Ruskin House Folk and Blues Festival, Coombe Road, July 18
C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T For more information about the festival and all the Croydon Folk and Blues Club performances, click here
Bowie’s old school ties sees his old friend back in Bromley
David Bowie’s best friend told pupils at the Bromley school they had attended together about their youthful music obsessions and haircuts gone wrong. George Underwood visited Ravens Wood School this week for an event organised by the Heritage of London … Continue reading
The weather warnings from history: thunderbolts and lightning
CROYDON CHRONICLES: A timely trawl through the Minster archive has discovered reports of extreme weather episodes going back more than 400 years. By DAVID MORGAN “Rycharde Esteinge, a young man, being killed suddenlye with a stroke of thunder and lightning … Continue reading
150 years after the last round-up for the Croydon Wool Fair
CROYDON CHRONICLES: For much of the Victorian era, Croydon was a trading centre for Surrey farmers trading one of the products on which the nation’s economy had depended for centuries. But by 1876, all that was about to change. DAVID … Continue reading
Take a turn around Shirley Windmill for a history masterclass
Making a strong pitch for a promotion to becoming Inside Croydon’s tea and cakes correspondent, KEN TOWL pictured left, makes a visit to the Shirley Windmill and adds it to your summer ‘To do’ list We started on the dust … Continue reading
Carriage driver yelled ‘Murder!’ in a Victorian road rage episode
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Almost 200 years ago, travelling even modest distances, between the capital and coast, could be a perilous business – especially if you had a short-tempered baronet driving your stagecoach at high speed. DAVID MORGAN explains Impatience on the … Continue reading
Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of the 24 unaffordable flats
Planning permission was refused last night for a scheme that threatens a South Norwood heritage building which was once home to Arthur Conan Doyle. But this case is not closed yet… And so it came to pass… The first planning … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Council, History, Housing, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Sean Fitzsimons, South Norwood
Tagged 12 Tennison Road, Arthur Conan-Doyle, Blue plaque, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mark Johnson, Melanie Felten, Nicola Townsend, Planning Committee, Sean Fitzsimons, Sherlock Holmes, South Norwood, Tory, Walker Properties Ltd
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Sea Cadets recreate HMS Belfast crew for The Big Help Out
Eighty Sea Cadets from across the capital stepped aboard HMS Belfast on Saturday, June 6 – the 82nd anniversary of D-Day – to learn from volunteer crew and reimagine their place in the ship’s story. The Sea Cadets were taking … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Community associations, History, London-wide issues, Old Coulsdon, Sea Cadets
Tagged Bromley, Caterham, Croydon, D-Day, HMS Belfast, Imperial War Museum, National Volunteers Week, Old Coulsdon, Pool of London, Sea Cadets, Sutton, Tower Bridge, Volunteers Week, World War II, World War Two
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Roll up! Roll up! Enjoy Croydon’s summer fayre, 1920s style
CROYDON CHRONICLES: With summer fairs being planned and organised across the borough, this week DAVID MORGAN looks back more than 100 years at the stalls and events staged for the church fête of 1921 The bunting’s up. The marquee is … Continue reading
Paxton is given a new perspective across the park he designed
Paxton’s head is back! The bust of Sir Joseph Paxton, the designer of the Crystal Palace, has been relocated to its original location on the Italian Terraces in Crystal Palace Park, as part of ongoing regeneration works.
Posted in Art, Croydon parks, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, History, Victoria Pinnington
Tagged Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, National Lottery, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Paxton's head, Sir Joseph Paxton, Victoria Pinnington
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