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Category Archives: Ken Towl
How Winston McKenzie became Croydon’s Public Enema No1
It seems every election has a joker in the pack, and this year Winston McKenzie, the candidate who declared ‘Croydon is a dump!’, is once again seeking your votes. KEN TOWL read his manifesto, so that you wouldn’t have to … Continue reading
‘Any would be better for Croydon than the old strong leader’
With a month until election day, hustings for the borough’s first-ever Mayoral contest are coming thick and fast. KEN TOWL went along to last night’s event held in Park Hill, so that you didn’t have to… Val Shawcross really ought … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Jason Perry, Ken Towl, Peter Underwood, Richard Howard, Val Shawcross
Tagged 2022 Mayoral election, Andrew Pelling, Boris Johnson, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Mayor, Croydon Mayoral election 2022, DEMOC, Democratically Elected Mayor of Croydon, Green Party, Jason Perry, Ken Towl, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London, Peter Underwood, Richard Howard, Tony Newman, Tory, Val Shawcross
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A night at the comic opera: from sublime to the ridiculous
Box office closed, bar closed, bistro closed and toilets closed… KEN TOWL went along to see what the Fairfield Halls experience is like these days, and with a box seat (pictured left) he managed to last longer than the Mayor … Continue reading
Finding the perfect something in Addiscombe’s Aladdin’s Cave
KEN TOWL has been back to a local gallery for a bit of artful Christmas shopping It is not every day that the councillor from the next-door ward sends you an email reminding you to pick up a limited edition … Continue reading
Golden Ark’s laidback landlord meets Orwell’s demands
CROYDON PUB OF THE YEAR: Our man standing at the bar with a packet of pork scratchings nearby, a pint of pale ale in hand and a dog-eared paperback of Animal Farm poking out of his jacket pocket, KEN TOWL, … Continue reading
Posted in Ken Towl, Pubs, Selsdon and Addington Village
Tagged CAMRA, Croydon and Sutton CAMRA, Ken Towl, The Golden Ark
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You can’t put a price on this exhibition of a year’s isolation
What was your ‘lockdown project’? Paul Hall opened an art gallery in Addiscombe, and KEN TOWL popped along to view its first show In a backstreet in St Leonards on Sea last year I noticed – you couldn’t miss it … Continue reading
Whitgift Centre pop-up museum provides a tribute and legacy
A vacant unit in a shopping centre is the venue for an exhibition which celebrates the history of the Windrush generation. KEN TOWL was impressed by what he found there Deighton flew from Barbados to England in 1961 with the … Continue reading
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
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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
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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
