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Our journey through Beaujolais provided a nouveau experience
KEN TOWL’s unrelenting quest to uncover the best of Croydon culture sees him sent on some very demanding assignments. Thankfully, he managed to survive his latest
Quite an evening: seven wines and good food, plus good company, was on the menu at the South London Local Wine School
“Spit or swallow?” I asked, though only to myself. A virgin in the wine-tasting world, I was unaware of the etiquette.
The couple across from me put me at my ease the moment I arrived. They asked if I had come far. I said no, that the venue, the Basil and Grape on George Street, was just three tram stops from my Adddiscombe flat.
“Have you,” I asked, “come far?”
“Hertfordshire,” they said.
They had come by train because they would not be able to drive after the seven glasses of wine that we were about to try. It turned out that swallowing was very much de rigeur in these circles. It was, after all, about enjoying one of the finer things in life; and this evening was a celebration of the Gamay grape, the grape that goes into Beaujolais wines. Continue reading
Take a short walk to begin 16 days of activism against VAWG
Croydon Council begins its 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women and Girls on Tuesday with a community awareness walk, beginning at 3.30pm outside Marks and Spencer on North End.
The 16 Days is a global campaign calling for the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence.
Working with the Croydon VAWG Network and the Global Majority Heritage Domestic Abuse Partnership, the council walk aims to stand in solidarity with survivors and reaffirm Croydon’s commitment to ending VAWG.
A school choir will open the event, which will finish at Queens Gardens with the unveiling of a memorial bench dedicated to those who have lost their lives to domestic abuse and violence. Participants are invited to the Town Hall for refreshments, a second choir performance and speeches. Continue reading
Santa’s Reindeer at Christmas Village Mayow Park, Dec 12-14
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Reform party official wants to scrap vital New Addington trams
EXCLUSIVE: As Nigel Farage’s company-cum-party struggles with a constant credibility crisis, here in Croydon, one member has a policy idea which could damage their election chances. By STEVEN DOWNES
End of the line?: Reform’s Peter Morgan wants to scrap the tram network, including the vital link to New Addington
Ahead of next May’s local elections in Croydon, Peter Morgan wants to make it Reform UK policy to scrap the tram system.
That’s according to Croydon members of Reform, some of whom have described the Coulsdon motoring lobbyist’s policy proposals ahead of next year’s local elections as “bat-shit crazy”.
Reform seems somehow able to ride out any scandals and incompetence among its leadership, candidates and officials. The latest piece of Reform criminal sleaze saw their former leader in Wales being sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking bribes in return for publicly backing dictator Vladimir Putin’s Russian regime.
Closer to home, their national party HQ chose as their candidate for Croydon Mayor a dead woman from Yorkshire. Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Coulsdon, Crime, Parking, Policing, Purley, Schools, Transport
Tagged Conservative, Cordrey Gardens, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Tramlink, Croydon Trams, Fieldway, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Metropolitan Police, New Addington, Nigel Farage, Peter Morgan, Reform UK, Sharon Carby, Surrey, Surrey Police, TfL, Tory, Transport for London
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NHS is bringing its flu vaccine service to Londoners this week
NHS London is taking its vaccination service to the people over the coming week, with mobile centres offering free flu jabs rolling up at football grounds, shopping centres and children’s play schemes across the capital.
Prevention service: the NHS is taking its vaccinations to the people, in shopping centres and play groups
Football fans heading to Fulham’s match against Sunderland at Craven Cottage tomorrow will be offered jabs at the ground.
Parents of two- and three-year-olds can get their children vaccinated against flu at soft play centres across south London next week, too, with Kidspace in Croydon, Cheeky Chimps Soft Play in New Malden and Bertie and Boo Adventure Island in Balham all getting a visit.
Young children get the flu vaccine as a quick, painless nasal spray that takes seconds – and could prevent a hospital stay this winter. It’s a timely reminder: during 2022-2023, more than 6,000 children under the age of five in England were hospitalised due to flu. Continue reading
Posted in Health
Tagged Croydon, flu jab, Flu vaccine, London, NHS London, Vaccination service
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End-of-year fixtures key to Trams’ and Rams’ promotion hopes
NON-LEAGUE NEWS: With some crunch games scheduled for the weeks through to the end of the year, both our local clubs are still in the promotion race in their respective leagues, as ANDREW SINCLAIR reports
Returning hope: Brandon Pierrick’s goals have boosted Croydon Athletic
Danny Kidwell’s Croydon Athletic are still in the mix for the Isthmian League South-East Division promotion race, having won two of their last three games, including putting five past Merstham last week and then winning 3-1 against Hassocks at the Mayfield Stadium on Tuesday.
As we approach the halfway point in the league season, with the excitement of their FA Cup run in the autumn now behind them, the Rams sit fourth in the table, comfortably in the play-off spots and just six points off leaders Three Bridges.
Tuesday’s win saw Brandon Pierrick, the former Crystal Palace youth player, scoring twice, taking his tally to six in eight games since his return from a spell in the National League South with Tonbridge Angels. Continue reading
Bromley traffic wardens in 48-hour strike over ‘poverty pay’
Bromley’s traffic wardens are out on strike today and tomorrow, and will be marching on Bromley’s civic centre tomorrow in protest at a derisory offer from their employers to improve what they call their “poverty pay”.
Strike action: the traffic wardens in Bromley have been working to rule for a fortnight
The traffic wardens are members of the GMB union, and are employees of APCOA Parking, who have the outsourced contract from the council for parking enforcement in the borough.
Traffic wardens in Bromley are paid £12.21 an hour. APCOA want to pay their employees in Bromley just £13 per hour. APCOA staff doing similar work in Lambeth and Wandsworth are paid £15 per hour. The London Living Wage is set at £13.85 per hour.
Bromley’s traffic wardens have been working to rule for a fortnight. The 48-hour strike is their first where they have withdrawn their labour, after they rejected overwhelmingly the employer’s last-ditch offer. Continue reading
Posted in Bromley Council, Outside Croydon, Parking
Tagged APCOA, Bromley, Bromley Council, GMB, GMB Union, Traffic wardens
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Reed confirms council funding formula will favour Croydon
#FUNDCROYDONFAIRLY: Government announces it will re-set its system for deciding grants to local government and, at last, cash-strapped Croydon might receive a fairer share. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
‘Now, about that funding…’: minister Steve Reed in discussion with Croydon mayoral candidate Rowenna Davis in Thornton Heath last night
The Labour government has today announced that it is to scrap “outdated funding formulas” for local councils, “so local people finally get the vital public services they deserve”.
According to senior Katharine Street sources, “This could mean very good news for Croydon.”
Inside Croydon has long given its support to a people’s campaign, comprising residents’ associations, trade unions, council workers and community groups, which has demanded #FundCroydonFairly, to address the disparity in central government grants between neighbouring boroughs. Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Steve Reed MP
Tagged 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Cllr Rowenna Davis, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed OBE, Tory, Waddon
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Two Harris academies in Croydon get plugged in to solar power
Two Croydon schools have been announced among 250 that are to benefit from having solar panels fitted to their roofs under a scheme run by Great British Energy.
Cost-cutting: using solar power helps schools redirect funds into their education budgets
The funding from Great British Energy and the government should enable millions of pounds from school budgets to be channelled into books and teaching equipment, as schools in the scheme each save thousands on their energy bills.
Harris Primary Academy Benson on West Way, Shirley, and Harris City Academy Crystal Palace have both been included in the national scheme, with Natasha Irons, the Labour MP for Croydon East, which includes the primary, describing the move as “a fantastic investment”. Continue reading
Posted in Croydon East, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Education, Harris Academy Crystal Palace, Natasha Irons, Schools, Shirley North, Shirley South
Tagged Croydon, Croydon East, Crystal Palace, Great British Energy, Harris City Academy Crystal Palace, Harris Primary Academy Benson, Labour, Natasha Irons MP, Shirley, solar panels
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Photo exhibition to celebrate Adam Ballard’s inspiring legacy
Be Inspired: the photo exhibition at a Brixton gallery next week features Croydon young people who have been helped through the work of the community group. All photos: Aneesa Dawoojee and courtesy of Be Inspired and Photofusion
Croydon-based youth organisation Be Inspired and some of the young people it has helped are the subject of a powerful photographic exhibition to be held at a Brixton art gallery next week.
“Despite Everything: Finding Purpose” has been curated in collaboration with award-winning photographer Aneesa Dawoojee and takes place at the Photofusion Gallery next Thursday, November 27.
The exhibition “celebrates the resilience and potential of young people in Croydon”. Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Art, Be Inspired, Charity
Tagged Adam Ballard, Aneesa Dawoojee, Be Inspired, Brixton, Gloves Not Gunz, Photofusion
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Streeting’s ‘manoeuvres’ do nothing to reduce NHS waiting lists
While the NHS in Croydon is slipping back on one of its key performance measures, the health secretary has been busy positioning himself for a possible new job. ANDREW FISHER on the conflicted priorities of the Labour government
Eye on the prize: health secretary Wes Streeting has been rumoured to be after another job
At the General Election last year, the NHS was the top priority for voters. NHS waiting lists had risen from 2.5million in 2010 to 7.59million by July 2024.
In the past week, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, was celebrating that waiting lists had fallen to 7.39million by the end of September, down from 7.41 million in August. “The NHS is on the road to recovery,” Streeting declared.
So by September, when Labour had been in office for 14 months, waiting lists were down by 200,000. This is welcome, but at this rate of progress waiting lists would still be around 6.7million by the time of the next General Election 2029. Continue reading
Worries over ‘nasty’ Peter Morgan’s part in Croydon Reform UK
EXCLUSIVE: The party that selected a dead woman to be their candidate for mayor in Croydon is once more having questions asked about its checks on candidates and officials. By STEVEN DOWNES
He’s back…: motoring lobbyist Peter Morgan, who has become camera shy in recent times
Still without a mayoral candidate for the local elections which are less than six months away, the Reform party in Croydon has meanwhile handed personal details of its members to a man who almost four years ago was arrested, later released without charge, during a police investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse.
Coulsdon motoring lobbyist Peter Morgan has over the past 30 years become notorious in Croydon political circles for being so toxic that he was once even kicked out of UKIP, the Reform predecessor party which was described as a “bunch of fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists”.
Morgan was also expelled as a member of the Conservative Party (at least once).
But now Peter Morgan has resurfaced, apparently as a leading figure in the local branch of grifter Nigel Farage’s party.
And Reform members have contacted Inside Croydon to express their serious concerns about Morgan and what they describe as his “bat-shit crazy” ideas. Continue reading
Posted in Coulsdon, Crime, Parking, Policing, Purley, Schools, Transport
Tagged Conservative, Cordrey Gardens, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, Metropolitan Police, Nigel Farage, Peter Morgan, Reform UK, Sharon Carby, Surrey, Surrey Police, Tory
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East Croydon provides platform for Railway Children campaign
Poster campaign: representatives from charity the Railway Children met officials from Govia Thameslink at East Croydon Station this month
Govia Thameslink Railway is working with safeguarding charity the Railway Children to discuss how best to support vulnerable children and young people across London’s rail network.
Govia Thameslink’s chief exec, Angie Doll, met representatives of the Railway Children at East Croydon Station earlier this month, after the company’s Your Station, Your Community Improvement Fund awarded a grant to strengthen the group’s training, community engagement and direct intervention programmes. Continue reading
Posted in East Croydon, Health, Transport
Tagged Angie Doll, East Croydon station, Govia Thameslink Railway, Rebecca Butler
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50% off mains at Orleans Smokehouse before grand opening
There’s a new restaurant coming to Upper Norwood next week – and Inside Croydon readers who want to get in early can get half-price mains dishes to try out the new Orleans Smokehouse on Beulah Hill.
Half-price treat: this Sunday and Monday, Nov 23-24, at Orleans Smokehouse Upper Norwood, mains are 50% off
The restaurant (what used to be the Beulah Spa pub, later a Harvester) officially opens next Tuesday. It will be the first from the business to open in all of London.
And diners who visit on Sunday November 23 or Monday November 24 (from noon to 3pm and from 6pm to 9pm) can take advantage of the terrific half-price offer on the Orleans Smokehouse’s main courses. Continue reading
Commissioners critical of Mayor Perry’s risky financial plans
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Council Tax UP- Borrowing UP
- Council debts UP
An official report ahead of a Town Hall meeting tomorrow night paints a grim picture. And the government Commissioners are unimpressed.
By WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor
Croydon’s financial position “remains extremely fragile and leaves the council vulnerable to any future financial shocks”.
That’s the uncompromising view of government-appointed Commissioners in their first public pronouncement since they arrived in Croydon in July on the state of the cash-strapped council’s finances.
Failed Mayor: Jason Perry won’t be toasting the Commissioners’ first public report on the council
The Commissioners’ report is buried in a pile of finance paperwork going to tomorrow night’s council cabinet meeting, in which they are scathing about failed Mayor Jason Perry’s “transformation” plan.
“It’s pretty damning,” according to one Town Hall source.
“If Kerswell hadn’t already gone, this report would have forced her to leave.”
Katherine Kerswell resigned last month after five years as the council’s chief executive, a period that included three Section 114 notices, but was rewarded with a £50,000 “golden goodbye” authorised by Mayor Perry so she would not have to work out her notice period. Continue reading
Posted in Commissioners, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Ged Curran, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Uncategorized
Tagged Auditors, Commissioners, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Ged Curran, Grant Thornton, Jane West, Katherine Kerswell, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
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The questions Sutton leader won’t answer about Throwley Yard
INSIDE SUTTON: A week after the last picture show at the council-subsidised cinema, why is Councillor Barry ‘Basher’ Lewis dodging serious matters of genuine public interest? By CARL SHILTON
Old pals act: cinema boss Preston Benson and Sutton Council leader Barry ‘Basher’ Lewis (right) now both have records of corporate failures that left huge debts
Throwley Yard Cinema in central Sutton staged its very own “Last Picture Show” on November 9, less than 18 months after it was opened with close to £3million of council cash and public grants.
The four-screen cinema off Sutton High Street was the last surviving venue in the portfolio of the struggling Really Local Group Ltd, which has collapsed under the weight of a pile of unpaid debts.
It is reckoned that Sutton Council could be owed as much as £90,000 by the failed cinema operators in unpaid rents.
Sutton is just the latest in a series of subsidised venues closed by Really Local Group: late last year, when they closed their Catford cinema, they owed Lewisham Council £387,000.
The cinema’s parent company formally went into administration last week – dodging a High Court winding-up order from one of their creditors. Continue reading
Posted in Barry Lewis, Bexley, Business, Cinema, Lewisham, Outside Croydon, Really Local Group, Sutton Council, Throwley Yard Cinema
Tagged Barry 'Basher' Lewis, Barry Lewis, Catford, Future High Street Fund, Lewisham, Liberal Democrats, London, Preston Benson, Really Local Group, Sidcup, Sutton, Sutton Council, Throwley Yard Cinema
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Time to scrap overpriced Gatwick Express ruse, says rail report
Campaign group says ‘premium’ service’s ticket prices ‘bamboozle’ foreign visitors, and can be up to three times more expensive than standard fares. Railfuture is holding a public meeting this week to explain how capital-to-coast services could be improved immediately
A group representing rail passengers is calling for the end of the underused and expensive Gatwick Express service between Victoria and the airport, and for the four-trains-per-hour capacity to be used instead to relieve congestion on other Southern services, while including stops at Clapham Junction and East Croydon.
Gatwick Express has operated as a central London to airport service since 1984, using dedicated rolling stock. Since 2008, it has been operated by Southern, latterly Govia Thameslink.
But at a time when the Department for Transport is looking to streamline the rail fares system across the country, Gatwick Express is charging extra for its “premium” service, with the he operators implicitly accused of ripping off international visitors arriving at Gatwick.
Gatwick Express fares can be more than three times the cost of a regular ticket between Victoria and Gatwick. something campaigners call a “ruse” intended to “bamboozle” travellers.
Posted in Commuting, East Croydon, Transport
Tagged Charlie King, Gatwick, Gatwick Airport, Gatwick Express, Govia Thameslink, GTR, Railfuture, Southern Rail, Victoria
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Raggio di Sole, handmade pizzas made to order, South Croydon
Posted in Advertisement, Business
Tagged Advertisement, Raggio di Sole, South Croydon
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Man sentenced to 13 years for ‘brutal killing’ of Croydon teen
Romario Gordon was today sentenced at the Old Bailey to 13 years in prison for his part in the killing of 16-year-old Camron Smith in front of his mother, in July 2021.
Killer: Romario Gordon hid in The Gambia for two years
The jury at his trial at the Central Criminal Court was told that Gordon was a member of a Thornton Heath drugs gang who went out “hunting as a pack”, armed with weapons including a zombie knife, and pursued the teenager into a bedroom of his own home on Shirley’s Shrublands Estate.
Gordon, then aged 17, evaded arrest for two years by taking a flight to The Gambia in the aftermath of what the police described as a “brutal killing”.
Gordon was seen on CCTV fleeing from the stolen taxi and disposing of a large machete in an adjacent road.
Despite the Metropolitan Police issuing an international arrest warrant for Gordon, he was not taken into custody until his return to Britain in August 2023.
The jury found Gordon guilty of manslaughter at his trial in September. Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Knife crime, Shirley North
Tagged Camron Smith, Jordan Tcheuko, murder, Old Bailey, Romain LaPierre, Romario Gordon, Shirley, Shrublands, Shrublands Estate
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#BINMAGEDDON: Veolia performance is worse under new deal
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The rubbish contractor handed a £40m eight-year contract by Mayor Jason Perry, just two years after he sacked them for underperforming, is now taking longer to clear fly-tips than under their old deal. NORA BERRY reports
Down the pan: Veolia’s performance on fly-tips has got worse since April
Figures compiled by resident campaigners at Litter Free Norbury show that the performance of the council’s rubbish contractors, Veolia, has got much worse since Mayor Jason Perry handed them a new, £40million, eight-year deal in April.
Tony Hooker, of Litter Free Norbury, has studied publicly available figures for fly-tip clearances and says that Veolia’s performance has “taken a nosedive” since the start of the new contract, with the contractor managing to clear reported fly-tips in an average of under 24 hours only once in the past six months.
Hooker is still waiting for Croydon Council to respond to his repeated requests for sight of the revised Veolia contract, to allow him to check the updated performance indicators the contractors are expected to achieve. Continue reading
Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Mayor Jason Perry, Norbury, Norbury Park, Refuse collection, Scott Roche, Veolia
Tagged Cllr Scott Roche, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, fly-tip, Fly-tipping, Litter Free Norbury, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Scott Roche, Tony Hooker, Tory, Veolia
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£18.7m rail scheme brings contactless ticketing to 50 stations
Rail passengers will be able to use pay as you go with contactless ticket barriers at 21 more stations served by Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern from December 14.
Tap in: the government says that the new contactless payment system being rolled out at 50 stations next month will allow for fairer fares
The stations getting the updated payment system include Ashtead, Box Hill and Westhumble, Dorking, Dormans, East Grinstead, Hurst Green, Leatherhead, Lingfield, Oxted, Reigate and Woldingham on Southern routes, and Harlington, Leagrave and Luton on Thameslink.
The change is being made as part of the Department for Transport’s plan to simplify rail fares and make it more convenient for people to travel by train. The rollout is taking place at a total of 50 stations in the south-east, including Stansted Airport. Continue reading
Posted in Commuting, East Croydon, London-wide issues, Reigate and Banstead Council, Surrey, TfL, Tramlink, Transport
Tagged Contactless, Department for Transport, DfT, Dorking, East Grinstead, Great British Railways, Leatherhead, Lord Peter Hendy, Oxted, Pay as you go, Reigate, TfL, Transport for London, Woldingham
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