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Category Archives: Ken Towl
Schooners and horizontal tanks offer lager on industrial scale
POST-LOCKDOWN (NOT QUITE) LOCK-INS: In his never-ending quest for the perfect outdoor pint, or even two-thirds of a pint, KEN TOWL hopped on the tram to prove it is possible to organise a piss-up at two breweries Someone at Anspach … Continue reading
Posted in Anspach and Hobday, Business, Ken Towl, Pubs
Tagged Anspach and Hobday, Ken Towl, Signal Brewery, Therapia Lane
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Masks and casks: good to be back in the open at The Oval
Planning a trip to the pub post-lockdown requires face masks and careful monitoring of the weather forecast, as KEN TOWL discovered yesterday It was snowing when I woke up, but the childish wonder I usually feel when I see snow … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Ken Towl, Pubs
Tagged Addiscombe, coronavirus, Covid-19, Croydon Male Voice Choir, East Croydon, Esther Sutton, The Oval Tavern
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Spooky goings on down in the basement at Stanley Halls
On the eve of All Hallows’ Eve, KEN TOWL ventured off to South Norwood to encounter a weirdly life-affirming live performance Isn’t it always Hallowe’en these days? As if the times aren’t scary enough, I was intrigued by the invitation … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ken Towl, Stanley Halls, Theatre
Tagged Ken Towl, South Norwood, Stanley Halls
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READER OFFER: Join our post-covid guided ramble, Sep 19
UPDATED Sep 10: With great regret, following the government’s latest change to its covid-19 guidelines, we have taken the decision to postpone this event. Anyone who booked a place will be contacted directly. We apologise for any inconvenience – we … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Walks
Tagged Inside Croydon, Inside Croydon Guided Walk, Ken Towl
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Pub gardeners’ question time: Builders has others in the shade
Just where is the best beer garden to go in post-lockdown Croydon for a socially distanced, covid-safe drink with old mates? KEN TOWL, pictured right in his best new normal going-out gear, needed no second invitation to try a few … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, East Croydon, Ken Towl, Pubs
Tagged coronavirus, Covid-19, Ken Towl, pubs
2 Comments
Feeling the heat on the way along the North Downs to Oxted
When the BBC Weather page tells you to expect 34 degrees centigrade by mid-afternoon in Merstham, you know you should prepare well before heading out to walk eight miles along the North Downs Way. The North Downs Way runs for … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Ken Towl, Outside Croydon, Walks
Tagged Ken Towl, North Downs Way
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Bank robbers and Beethoven: life on the buses has changed
Our roving reporter, KEN TOWL, after months of observing lockdown, has been roving a little more than usual this past week, checking how Croydon’s public transport is coping with the new normal Friday, and I can’t help but think that … Continue reading
Posted in Ken Towl, TfL, Tramlink, Transport, West Croydon
Tagged coronavirus, Covid-19, Croydon Tramlink, East Croydon station, Ken Towl, West Croydon, West Croydon Bus Station
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Little Bay deserves top tips with Chancellor’s Dosh for Nosh
Vegans should probably look away now, as armed with his government eating out subsidy, KEN TOWL goes in search of a T-bone steak for little more than a tenner “To get customers back into restaurants, cafés and pubs, and protect … Continue reading
Posted in Ken Towl, Little Bay, Restaurants
Tagged coronavirus, Covid-19, Ken Towl, Little Bay, Restaurant Quarter, South Croydon, South End
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A covid pub crawl round Croydon: Mine’s a pint of sanitiser
While Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, does his Jimmy Pursey impersonation with a chorus of ‘We’re Going Dahn The Pub’, our roaming correspondent, KEN TOWL, right, took a more cautious approach to the reopenings Young people are, of course, immortal. So … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Ken Towl, Pubs
Tagged Addiscombe West, Croydon, Ken Towl, Ruskin House, Sarah Jones MP, The Claret and Ale, The Oval Tavern
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Learning lessons from teaching remotely during lockdown
Secondary school teacher KEN TOWL on how he and his pupils have managed to master the technology and the etiquette of staff meetings during the coronavirus quarantine With just 10 minutes of the lesson to go, instead of the expected … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Ken Towl, Schools
Tagged coronavirus, Covid-19, Ken Towl, schools
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It is time for some difficult conversations, not virtue signalling
KEN TOWL on a tale of two (or is it three? Or four?) online petitions “What, another one?” is my default reaction these days to online petitions. There seem to be more of them than ever, perhaps a symptom of … Continue reading
Posted in Chris Clark, Fairfield, Ken Towl, Niro Sirisena
Tagged #BLM, Black Lives Matter, Chris Clark, Churchill mural, Ken Towl, Niro Sirisena, Winston Churchill
3 Comments
Mystery and suspense: a bit of lockdown theatre in your home
KEN TOWL is a little liar. And he’s more than a bit pleased about it, too I have always liked liars. Society places so much value on truth and the telling of it that we forget that sometimes we need … Continue reading
Author tracks 20 years of history with Croydon Tramlink
KEN TOWL reviews an extensive and exhaustive new book about the local light rail network, which opened for service in May 2000 As former ITN newsreader and “The Voice of Tramlink”, Nicholas Owen notes in his foreword that the transport … Continue reading
Posted in Ken Towl, Sandilands derailment, Sutton Link, TfL, Tramlink, Transport
Tagged Croydon Tramlink, Gareth David, Ken Towl
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Size isn’t everything, but two metres is only just enough
CROYDON COMMENTARY: After a sunny spring weekend which saw the police move in and some parks in south London close their gates to the public because social distancing was not being properly observed, KEN TOWL (at a safe distance, left) … Continue reading
Wot? No eggs? War-time rationing hits Addiscombe’s stores
“Armageddon! Ahm a getting outta here!” was once a gag in a Carry On film. But KEN TOWL, right, has opted to keep calm and carry on as he shopped around Addiscombe as the coronavirus shut-down begins to bite The … Continue reading
There’s high art, and then there’s art high up in Crystal Palace
Our resident culture vulture KEN TOWL has taken the high ground for an outstanding community event The second Crystal Palace Artists’ Open House, being staged this weekend and next, features more than 90 artists, ceramicists, photographers, printers, designers and miscellaneous … Continue reading
Sausage and mash comes with ‘jus’ in this Triangle of pubs
Crystal Palace Triangle is thriving with pubs, but it has only two types of pub, as KEN TOWL explains. Photographs: SIMON BENTLEY “You should write a piece on the pubs in the north of the borough,” said the senior local … Continue reading
World War Three, Brexit, Boris… but there is always The Hope
There was a whole load of wassailing going on in Carshalton at the weekend. KEN TOWL went along to find out what the fuss was all about. Photos: SIMON BENTLEY I find myself speaking to a man who appears to … Continue reading
Posted in Ken Towl, Pubs
Tagged Carshalton, George Orwell, Ken Towl, Rodger Molyneux, The Hope
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Brewers’ ‘smart’ pigeon brand homes in on Therapia Lane
There’s a new brewer in town, and KEN TOWL couldn’t wait to visit When Walter White realised that the cotidian lifestyle was not for him, he ended up breaking bad. When Messrs Anspach and Hobday decided to strike out on … Continue reading
Posted in Anspach and Hobday, Broad Green, Business, Ken Towl, Pubs
Tagged Anspach and Hobday, Ken Towl, Therapia Lane
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This is how we have always run elections, since before there was TV or even radio, and no one’s noticed how pointless it is
KEN TOWL finds there’s not much recreational fun in this electioneering lark, as he attends last night’s set-piece hustings Having tried my hand at canvassing at the weekend, I thought I would really throw myself into the democratic melee by … Continue reading
Posted in 2019 General Election, Croydon Central, Croydon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Croydon Greens, Esther Sutton, Ken Towl, Mario Creatura, Sarah Jones MP, Simon Sprague
Tagged Brexit, Brexit Party, Conservative, Croydon Central, Esther Sutton, Fairfield Halls, Green Party, Ken Towl, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mario Creatura, Peter Sonnex, Sarah Jones MP, Simon Sprague, Stormzy, Tory
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Thornberry, white vans and taking canvassing on board
Just what are those political party activists, armed with clipboards and little slips of paper, doing when they come knocking at your door at election time? KEN TOWL set off to find out On Saturday at 10am, Emily Thornberry was … Continue reading
Gallery in South Norwood offers a bit of Brazil in batik
On a rainy night in Croydon, KEN TOWL heads off to Portland Road for a feel of Latin American sunshine At the weekend I was taking brunch with members of the self-titled FILTH – Failed In London – Try Hastings … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ken Towl, South Norwood
Tagged Elizabeth James Gallery, Ken Towl, Portland Road, South Norwood
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Wintry Thames towpath walk that’s like entering another world
WANDLE WANDERER: Croydon’s own river, the Wandle, eventually reaches the Thames itself, which provides a multitude of possible walks. Here, KEN TOWL sets off for Richmond to see what the towpath has to offer With friends visiting from Hackney and … Continue reading
Posted in Ken Towl, Pubs, Walks, Wandle Wanderer, Zac Goldsmith MP
Tagged Ken Towl, Kingston, Richmond, River Thames
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160 voices sing Verdi’s Requiem at Croydon’s People’s Palace: with Elton John in the toilets and ‘limited nibbles’ for £15
The Croydon Philharmonic Choir made its long-awaited return to the refurbished Fairfield Halls last night. And so, too, did KEN TOWL When a Croydon re-opening commands the presence of the Mayor of London himself, you know something big is happening. … Continue reading
