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Category Archives: Ken Towl
Winners’ dinners: loyal readers scoop South Norwood prizes
Congratulations to David White and Paul Hepden, winners of our latest Inside Croydon competition. Paul and David both guesstimated closest to the amount that Ken Towl paid for his delicious lunch at the South Norwood Community Kitchen, where they operate … Continue reading
Community kitchen that’s serving up much more than soul food
KEN TOWL reviews a South Norwood restaurant with a difference, and launches iC’s final competition of 2023, with two lunches for two on offer as the prizes In the well-lit open-plan kitchen, Anne and Yaba were dancing. Their smiles and … Continue reading
The cost of Croydon’s Music Heritage Trail: £750 per download!
BOROUGH OF VULTURES: Fewer than 500 people have bothered to use the special app intended to guide them around the town centre’s historic music locations. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES “Have we already fucked it up?” According to official meeting minutes … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Stranack, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Boxpark, Business, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Music, Sadiq Khan
Tagged Andy Stranack, Borough of Culture, Borough of Vultures, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Music Heritage Trail, giraffes, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Mayor Sadiq Khan, Tory
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Everything really is political on a stroll around South Norwood
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: This week, KEN TOWL wanders off on a tour of South Norwood, helped with a guide map that is available from one of Croydon’s libraries that is closed for five days of the week… The modern dictum that … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ken Towl, Libraries, South Norwood, Walks
Tagged 20th Century Society, architecture, Art, Ken Towl, Selhurst Park, South Norwood, South Norwood Library, Wilfried Zaha
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Addiscombe gallery once again shows off its art with a heart
You don’t need to go far to discover genuine art, says KEN TOWL after visiting the latest exhibition at the Croydon Art Space Aurelia Duplouich found herself stranded during the first covid lockdown, an artist without artist’s materials. She was … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Art, Croydon Art Space, Ken Towl
Tagged Addiscombe, Croydon Art Space, Ken Towl, Lower Addiscombe Road, Paul Hall
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7 killings in 6 months: Croydon Insider on the lasting tragedies
“Someone went out with a bunch of flowers in one hand and a knife in the other” Our latest episode of The Croydon Insider deals with one of the worst crises to affect Croydon, and London, after a series of … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Croydon Council, Croydon Insider, Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Knife crime, Local media, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Palace, Schools
Tagged Andrew Tate, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon schoolgril murder, Dan Wootton, Elianne Andam, knife crime, Laurence Fox, Mayor Jason Perry, murder, New Addington, Spotify, Tory, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, youth knife crime
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Taking Liberty with the arts in a way that celebrates us all
KEN TOWL takes hope, and much joy, from last week’s Liberty Festival, where deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists injected some much-needed culture into the borough. Photos by PAUL FULLER The Liberty Festival, which landed in Croydon last weekend, represented the … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Borough of Culture 2023, Comedy, Dance, Fairfield Halls, Ken Towl, Music, Poetry
Tagged Aaron Simmonds, Ashcroft Theatre, Borough of Culture, Croydon, Drunken Chorus, Fairfield Halls, Francesca Martinez, giraffes, Inner Vision Orchestra, Ken Towl, Liberty Festival, Steve Day
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A town centre amble that goes from the sublime to ridiculous
KEN TOWL took a stroll down Surrey Street and Church Street and encountered two different takes on what passes for ‘culture’ in Croydon The Croydon Clocktower has an exhibition of the works of Evacustes Phipson. “Evacustes who?” you may ask … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, Ken Towl, Surrey Street
Tagged Borough of Culture, Church Street, CNH&SS, Croydon, Croydon BID, Croydon Clocktower, Croydon Council, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, Evacustes Phipson, Ken Towl, London Borough of Croydon, Surrey Street
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Our latest podcast on giraffes, Marks & Sparks and murder
In our latest Croydon Insider podcast, our guests catch up on what’s happening in Croydon, discussing the spate of murders in and around the borough, plus what’s caught their eye on the pages of our website over the past couple … Continue reading
£1.5m being spent on our Borough of not-very-much Culture
We are now well into the third month of Croydon’s year as the Borough of Culture. Waddyamean, you haven’t seen any publicity or signs of anything special being staged? Neither have we, so we sent KEN TOWL off to see … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Museum of Croydon, Music, Sadiq Khan, Theatre
Tagged Borough of Culture, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Four Communications, Grey Label, Heritage Music Trail, Jo Gumb, Katharine Glass, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Mayor Sadiq Khan, Oliver Lewis, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Stanley Halls, Stormzy, White Label
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Recognition at last: Coleridge-Taylor gets placed centre stage
The people behind Croydon’s Borough of Culture did not invite Inside Croydon to the press night for the prestigious new production at the Fairfield Halls. KEN TOWL got in anyway At last, we can see where some of the Mayor … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Fairfield Halls, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Music, Talawa Theatre Company, Theatre
Tagged Borough of Culture, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Ken Towl, London, Mayor Jason Perry, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Talawa Theatre Company, This is Croydon
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Podcast: The Croydon Insider discusses issues of the week
Hear about the plans to get Croydon’s biggest organ throbbing once more. Listen as our guests discuss the arrogance of local authority chief executives who have described a £6,000 per year pay rise as ‘pettiness’. Talk about Croydon’s speeding drivers. … Continue reading
Five Hills of Croydon: 20 ramblers, 4 miles, countless memories
PHOTOSTORY: Thanks to all the Inside Croydon readers who joined us on Sunday for our guided walk over five of the ‘seven’ hills of Croydon, following a route suggested in the book Hillwalking London: Ten High-Level Walks to the Heights … Continue reading
Step out with Inside Croydon for a guided walk into the hills
May is National Walking Month, and to do our bit, Inside Croydon is going for a bit of a stroll this Sunday, May 14, and our readers are very welcome to join us! UPDATE: 9am May 11: This guided walk … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Environment, Health, Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Walks, Wildlife
Tagged Addington Hills, Ken Towl, London LOOP, New Addington, Seven Hills of Croydon, Vanguard Way, Walks
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Podcast: Croydon Insider – the Borough of Culture Special
Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Boxpark, Croydon Insider, Fairfield Halls, Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Neil Chandler, Under The Flyover
Tagged Borough of Culture, Boxpark, Cheryl Fergus-Ferrell, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon FM, Croydon Insider, Emma Hope-Fitch, Fairfield Halls, Ken Towl, London, Mayor, Neil Chandler, Under The Flyover
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This capital walking guide book rises well above the ordinary
KEN TOWL pulls on his walking boots and, armed with a new ramblers’ guide book, strides on towards the Seven Hills of Croydon. PLUS: Special reader offer with 10% discount on Hillwalking London Guidebooks can be a bit pompous in … Continue reading
Posted in Ken Towl, Walks
Tagged Addington Hills, Caroline Buckland, Hillwalking London, John Grindrod, Ken Towl, New Addington, Safe Haven Books
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Politicians struggle to be heard over iftar’s soup slurping
KEN TOWL broke a Ramadan fast with two out of Croydon’s three MPs and two Mayors (one all togged up). He just couldn’t really hear much of what they had to say The acoustics aren’t great in the Braithwaite Hall, … Continue reading
Posted in Alisa Flemming, Braithwaite Hall, Chris Philp MP, Church and religions, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Croydon South, Faiths Together In Croydon, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Alisa Flemming, Braithwaite Hall, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Croydon South, Iftar, Ken Towl, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Ramadan, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed OBE, Tory
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Perry’s budget cuts to cause borough serious legal problems
Last year, the South West London Law Centre provided help and advice to 3,200 people. This year, Croydon Mayor Jason Perry is cutting all council funding to the centre. KEN TOWL attended their annual meeting last week to hear about … Continue reading
Posted in Charity, Council Tax, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, South West London Law Centres
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Ken Towl, Labour, LASPO, Legal Aid, Patrick Marples, Sarah Jones MP, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, South West London Law Centre, SWLLC, Tory
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Scorziello steals the show as Coulsdon drama gamble pays off
The latest play being staged by Coulsdon’s high-achieving amdram group succeeds in its huge ambition, says KEN TOWL The people at Theatre Workshop Coulsdon are ambitious. Instead of the relatively light and broadly mainstream fare of amateur theatre, in Machinal, … Continue reading
Sampling some good Vybz from Selsdon’s Jamaican restaurant
A start-up business was recommended by their local councillor to seek some promotional publicity from Inside Croydon. KEN TOWL tried the food at Yaad Vybz and got a 5% off offer for this website’s readers Councillor Joseph Lee may have … Continue reading
Posted in Joseph Lee, Ken Towl, Restaurants, Selsdon and Addington Village
Tagged Ken Towl, Selsdon, Yaad Vybz
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Windrush Generation’s exhibition is playing sounds of the 70s
After a week spent playing ‘silly games’ with the borough’s politicians, for a deserved break, KEN TOWL got serious about Lovers’ Rock Croydon’s musical heritage is immense. It is so rich and varied that the council is putting together some … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Community associations, History, Ken Towl, Music, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Christine McNabb, Janet Kay, Ken Towl, Lovers' Rock, Sonia Williams, Whitgift Centre, Windrush Generation, Windrush Generation Legacy Association, Wraydette McNabb
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Inside track on Council Tax – listen to our latest podcast here
Posted in Andrew Fisher, Charity, Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon FM, Croydon Insider, Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Schools, Under The Flyover
Tagged Andrew Fisher, Cheryl Fergus-Ferrell, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon FM, Croydon Insider, Ken Towl, Lee Townsend, Under The Flyover
4 Comments
Teachers in unanimous vote to escalate their strike action
A little bleary-eyed after a night in the Town Hall Chamber schooling recalcitrant politicians about their duties to the public, KEN TOWL was back on the picket lines this morning as teachers ramped up their industrial action Thursday morning, and … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Ken Towl, Schools
Tagged Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, National Education Union, NEU
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‘You never mentioned 15% tax hike when seeking election’
Tonight, in the Town Hall Chamber, Inside Croydon contributor KEN TOWL, pictured right, presented a petition that opposes the 15% Council Tax hike and calls for fairer funding for the borough. He was, in effect, speaking on behalf of the … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Ken Towl, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
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