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Category Archives: Croydon Airport
Biggles and the curious case of the curate from Croydon
CROYDON CHRONICLES: One of the most-read fictional action heroes of the 20th Century was based at Croydon Airport. DAVID MORGAN pulls on his sheepskin helmet and goggles and goes in search of adventure Biggles, the character James Bigglesworth, appeared in … Continue reading
Remembrance and History: a special Croydon Insider episode
Can you help in our appeal, with the Deputy Lieutenant of Croydon, in providing details of personnel from Croydon who have been killed on active duty in the years since the end of World War II? On Remembrance Sunday, our … Continue reading
Posted in Bourne Society, Croydon Airport, Croydon Insider, Croydon Minster, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, David Morgan, History, Inside Croydon, Johnny Dobbyn, Under The Flyover
Tagged Battle of the Somme, Caterham, Croydon, Croydon Airport, David Morgan, Deputy Lieutenant of Croydon, Fiona Satiro, First World War, Johnny Dobbyn, London, Menin Gate, Phil Swallow, Remembrance Day, Remembrance Sunday, Royal West Surrey Regiment, Second World War, Warlingham, World War I, World War II, World War One, World War Two, Ypres
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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
10% off Croydon book that Captain Sensible says is ‘stonking’
The paperback edition of Croydonopolis has just been released, and Inside Croydon subscribers can purchase it with a special discount code “A Journey to the Greatest City That Never Was” proclaims the cover of Will Noble’s Croydonopolis, which traces the … Continue reading
Airport ready for take-off for anniversary of Johnson’s flight
Croydon Airport and the Aerodrome Hotel have teamed up to host a series of events over the May Bank Holiday to mark the 95th anniversary of one of the most significant flights in aviation history. In 1930, Amy Johnson became … Continue reading
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
Day that ‘Croydon Boys’ mourned their Secret Army heroine
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Remembrance does not end on November 11, nor is it limited to servicemen from this country, as DAVID MORGAN discovered when researching the life of a Belgian civilian woman resistance fighter who saved the lives of countless Croydon … Continue reading
British spy who flew from Croydon to start Spanish Civil War
The prelude to World War II in Europe was a nasty and brutal civil war in Spain, used as a proving ground for Hitler’s troops. And Croydon played a role in its start and its end, writes JIM JUMP Croydon … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Airport, History
Tagged Adolf Hitler, Bill Harrington, Croydon, Croydon Airport, Cyril Sexton, General Francisco Franco, George Wheeler, Guernica, Harry Evans, International Brigades, International Brigades Memorial Trust, Jim Jump, John Peet, Major Hugh Pollard, Miles Tomalin, Spanish Civil War, World War II
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Don’t look back in anger – book shows what might have been
Croydon gets a bad rap. Yeah, we know that, with much of it recent and wholly deserved. Croydon has some fascinating history. Yeah, we know that, too. But as DAVID MORGAN found out from a book to be published next … Continue reading
Special offer: Win a signed copy of new book Britain 1940
Inside Croydon, in conjunction with publishers Pen and Sword Books and award-winning author Anton Rippon, are delighted to be able to offer two copies of his latest book in an exclusive competition for this website’s subscribers. And all readers can … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Airport, History, Inside Croydon
Tagged Anton Rippon, Inside Croydon, RAF Croydon, The Blitz
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Britain 1940: The day that bombs rained down on Croydon
ANTON RIPPON, the author of a new book published to mark the 80th anniversary of the Blitz, explains how deadly bombs dropped on Croydon provided the ‘realisation that the war had finally come to London’ They called it the Phoney … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Airport, Croydon Airport Society, History
Tagged Anton Rippon, The Blitz
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Video: See how Croydon led the world in developing air travel
This week marks the centenary of the first air traffic control system, which was developed at Croydon Airport. Volunteers from the Historic Croydon Airport Trust offers guided tours around the remaining buildings – and the world’s first air traffic control … Continue reading
Croydon Airport celebrates centenary of pioneer control tower
February 25, 1920: The world’s first air traffic control tower was commissioned by the government 100 years ago today, in a move that helped usher in the age of mass air travel. The tower was built at Croydon Airport, then … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Airport, Croydon Airport Society, History
Tagged Croydon Airport, Historic Croydon Airport Trust
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Brick by Brick to open its doors for Open House weekend
Croydon’s Council Tax-payers will get the chance to see how loss-making Brick by Brick has managed to piss away at least £1million on new office furniture and a real estate sales showroom this weekend. The Brick by Brick shop and … Continue reading
Kenley Revival sees Spitfire flying into David Lean Cinema
Over the past 80 years, the sound of a Merlin engine, humming above Croydon and the rest southern England, has become a reassuring fixture of the summer. In more recent, more benign times, thanking that well-engineered purring sound, and the … Continue reading
Croydon Airport open days, first Sunday of every month
Posted in Activities, Croydon Airport, Croydon Airport Society, History
Tagged Croydon Airport, Croydon Airport Society, Waddon
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Council remembers to publicise civic Remembrance service
Croydon Council’s press office, having forgotten to include any reference to this weekend’s Remembrance Sunday ceremonies in its autumn edition of the quarterly, Council Tax-payer-funded Your Croydon magazine, managed to put out a press release detailing the civic arrangements for … Continue reading
Reader with windmills on his mind wins our tourist prize
Inside Croydon loyal reader Tony Skrzypczyk will be able to lead his guided tours around Shirley Windmill through the rest of this summer proudly wearing a South Norwood Tourist Board T-shirt, as the winner of our latest competition. There were … Continue reading
Step back in time with an historic Zeppelin walk, Mar 28
Retrace some of the route of the terrifying bombing raid of October 13-14 1915 with Ian Walker, the chair of the Historic Croydon Airport Trust, with a guided Attack of the Zeppelins walk this Wednesday, March 28. Find out about … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Airport, Croydon Airport Society, History
Tagged Croydon Airport, Historic Croydon Airport Trust, Zeppelin
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Kenley Revival celebrates brave women heroes of WWII
Throughout March, to help mark this week’s International Women’s Day, the Lottery-funded Kenley Revival team is focusing on the significant and essential roles women had during World War II. The project will be hosting a few different activity days, school … Continue reading
Kempster’s historic airport mural flies in to Croydon
An important piece of historic artwork is going on public display at the Historic Croydon Airport Open Days in 2018. The artwork, called “The History of Aviation”, is a giant mural, 26 feet long, painted by one of the major … Continue reading
