Croydon Airport wins on the Lottery for Zeppelin war project

Posted on September 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

The Historic Croydon Airport Trust has announced that it has received a National Lottery grant of £9,200 for its “Fighting for Air: The First World War Origins of Croydon Airport” project.

Croydon Airport: Lottery grant is making possible a WWI project

With the money from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project will promote understanding of how Croydon Airport was developed from two aerodromes, at Beddington and Waddon, as part of the nation’s developing air defences during World War I, when parts of London came under under bombing attacks from Germany’s giant Zeppelin airships.

The project will also commemorate the 1918 opening and work carried out by the local community at the National Aircraft Factory No1, located on the former airport site.

Coinciding with the centenary commemorations of WWI, the project will enable volunteers to research and interpret information on the first war in the air, the implementation of air defences and the long-term impact of the aviation industry on parts of Croydon and Sutton. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Airport, Croydon Airport Society, History, Waddon | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wandle Park’s International Mela announces line-up for Sep 30

Posted on September 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

A stunningly colourful cultural festival is coming to Wandle Park at the end of this month

The Colors Croydon International Mela in Wandle Park on September 30 will celebrate the culture of the local Asian communities and showcase a combination of international artists, local talent, extraordinary dance and spectacular street theatre.

“There really be something for everyone,” say the organisers, “and this plethora of delights is all free of charge.”

Continue reading →

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New term starts for Cantilena women’s choir on Sep 13

Posted on September 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

Cantilena Singers welcomes new members.  

The women’s choir’s  new term begins on Wednesday September 13.  Continue reading →

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Studio Upstairs begins arts sessions for Creative Carers

Posted on September 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

Studio Upstairs, the town centre arts venue, is starting a Creative Carers group, funded by the council’s community fund.

Led by qualified professionals, the two-hour sessions will give carers the space and time to invest in their well-being and widen their support network over a 12 week period.

The Studio Space at 2-4 Park Street, CR0 1YE is a welcoming environment where people can work in a range of artistic media, alongside others in a safe, therapeutic setting. Continue reading →

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Boozepark applies to extend bar opening times until 1am

Posted on September 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

KEN LEE, our Town Hall correspondent, has found some interesting documents on the council’s planning site

Open all hours: Boozepark

Within nine months of opening, and Boxpark has been applying to Croydon Council to drop some of the conditions linked to its planning permission so that it can stay open until one o’clock in the morning selling booze.

Boozepark, next to East Croydon Station, opened at the end of October last year. Built out of disused shipping containers, it is a giant shed which houses more than 30 different food and drink outlets, plus the business’s own Boxbar. Hundreds of customers filter through Boozepark each day, where they can sit in their overcoats at garden tables, eating from cardboard boxes and drinking from plastic beakers, being “waited on” by contract cleaners in hi-viz jackets. Continue reading →

Posted in Boxpark, Business, Croydon Council, East Croydon, Fairfield, Jo Negrini, Planning, Property, Pubs, Ruskin Square, Stiles Harold Williams, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brixton sewers force veteran car rally on a Croydon bypass

Posted on September 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

Our transport correspondent, JEREMY CLACKSON, on a traditional event giving the borough a swerve

The veteran car rally is bypassing Croydon this year.             Photo: Lee Townsend

The London to Brighton veteran car run, which has been chugging along the Brighton Road from London to the south coast for 90 years, is set to bypass Croydon when it is staged on the first Sunday in November.

Long-term, major road works earlier on the route, at Brixton Hill, is forcing the diversion, possibly until 2019. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Coulsdon, History, TfL, Thornton Heath, Transport | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Hodgson tipped for Palace job as de Boer sacked after 77 days

Posted on September 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

The future’s not too bright for Crystal Palace fans, and it is certainly not orange, as the club this morning dismissed manager Frank de Boer after just four league games in charge. It is only 77 days since June 26, when he was appointed.

De Boer’s brief reign at Crystal Palace had created English football records, but of the wrong sort.

The short-term Palace manager accurately predicts how many games he’d be given in charge of the club

Roy Hodgson, the Croydon lad who went on to become England manager, is lined up to replace the Dutchman, according to press reports.

De Boer’s sacking comes less than 24 hours after he’d seen his side squander a multitude of chances to score at Turf Moor, yet give away the ball to concede the only goal of the game to Burnley.

That saw Palace create its first unwelcome record: no top-tier team hast lost their first four games of a season and fail to score in those games since 1924.

Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Frank de Boer, Roy Hodgson, Sport, Steve Parish | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Keston PTA’s Happy Circus, Oasis Coulsdon, Sep 16

Posted on September 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Norbury Brook clean-up, Thornton Heath Rec, Oct 7

Posted on September 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Croydon parks, Environment, Norbury, Thornton Heath, Thornton Heath Community Action Team | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Norbury Green Residents’ Association Quiz Night, Oct 21

Posted on September 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Mortgage, Mortgage, Mortgage: house-buying in 2017

Posted on September 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, on the return to Croydon of a weekly piece of property porn

The Channel 4 property show Location, Location, Location this week comes to Croydon and, in its 23rd series, delivers an episode which sums up the wretched state of today’s unaffordable housing market in south London quite neatly, with the featured house-hunters needing substantial savings and three salaries to be able to afford to buy a home.

Coming to a street near you: Kirstie Allsop and Phil Spencer have been filming in Croydon

The programme, which is transmitted on Wednesday at 8pm, features three former school friends, all now established in good jobs with salaries, but which would never be enough for any one of them singularly to be able to get near even a deposit for one of the rabbit hutches in the sky which profit-hungry developers are putting up around town.

With property prices for flats and houses now north of £350,000 for even the most modest of Victorian terraced houses, the sort of couples or singletons who used to be featured when the show was first aired are today being expected to find upwards of £40,000 just as a deposit on a home. With a standard repayment mortgage, that would mean a crippling monthly bill of more than £1,600 – or total repayments of £19,200 per year. Continue reading →

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Castle’s name looms large in blood cancer art display

Posted on September 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

The story of a Croydon man who was diagnosed with an aggressive type of leukaemia forms part of a large-scale art installation to mark Blood Cancer Awareness Month.

Rich Castle, from Croydon, is one of 104 people featureed in an art installation at St Paul’s this month

Rich Castle, 51, is one of 104 people with blood cancer, chosen from across the country, to have their story told as part of the installation in Paternoster Square, next to St Paul’s Cathedral.

The installation represents the 104 people who are diagnosed with blood cancer every day in this country, making their experiences visible by telling their individual stories to raise public awareness.

Castle underwent chemotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital immediately after his diagnosis with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2008. While it was initially a successful, he relapsed in September 2009 and a stem cell transplant was his only hope of a cure. His brother was a perfect donor match and the procedure in December 2009 was a complete success. He has been in remission ever since.

The installation marks the launch of the “Make Blood Cancer Visible” campaign supported by the blood cancer research charity Bloodwise and eight other blood cancer charities and patient support groups.

Continue reading →

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Kick off a media career as an apprentice with Croydon FC

Posted on September 9, 2017 by insidecroydon

Tony Snow could soon become regarded as Croydon’s answer to Lord Sugar. But in a nice way.

An innovative scheme is offering apprenticeships in the media

Snow, the former communications manager for the FA who has started working with Croydon FC through the club’s tie-up with social media platform Sportswik and the Kinetic Foundation, wants to say “You’re hired!” to eager apprentices looking to start their career working in journalism and the media.

Snow’s company, Croydon-based Snowmedia, has begun an innovative apprenticeship programme which will provide The Trams with a dedicated press and media officer as part of The Apprentice Project.

Continue reading →

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Alzheimer’s Society appeals for volunteers for its Memory Walk

Posted on September 9, 2017 by insidecroydon

Participants gather at the start of one of the Alzheimer Society’s fund-raising Memory Walks

The Alzheimer’s Society is calling on families, friends, colleagues, and four-legged friends in Croydon to unite against dementia by taking part in London Memory Walk.

For the first time, there are two walks taking place in London this year. There is a day walk this tomorrow at the Honourable Artillery Company Grounds at 11am. And there will be a night walk at the Olympic Park from 8pm on Saturday October 14. Continue reading →

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Croydon Ecology Centre Green Heritage Fair, Sep 16-17

Posted on September 9, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Palace for Life Foundation indoor football, Monks Hill, Mondays

Posted on September 9, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Cyclists call on Mayor to apply his own policies at Purley Way

Posted on September 8, 2017 by insidecroydon

TfL wants to spend the thick-end of £100m on making one of Croydon’s busiest road junctions even more hostile for pedestrians and cyclists, all to satisfy developers Westfield. AUSTEN COOPER says the road plans are ‘a patchwork of good, poor and downright dangerous’

Transport for London is consulting on their plans for Fiveways junction, the part of Croydon where the Purley Way and the A232 intersect.

Fiveways on the Purley Way: £87m of new roads will not solve the traffic problems

TfL says it aims to:

  • Improve road safety
  • Create better conditions for pedestrians and cyclists
  • Support growth in Croydon
  • Improve journey times
  • Create new public spaces to develop Waddon as a local centre

Specifically, TfL says that the proposals would make, “Fiveways junction simpler and increase capacity to accommodate expected traffic growth arising from population and economic growth in the area.”

These claims don’t stand up to scrutiny. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Croydon Cycling Campaign, Cycling, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Purley Way, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Transport, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Poundland removes knives from Thornton Heath shop window

Posted on September 8, 2017 by insidecroydon

Poundland in Thornton Heath has removed its display of large-bladed knives from its High Street shop window.

Poundland: they have a strict policy on knives point of sale. Though clearly not strict enough

The store’s management removed the deadly weapons from display within hours of Inside Croydon bringing the matter to the attention of one of Croydon’s Labour MPs, Sarah Jones.

Jones, the MP for Croydon Central, had delivered a hard-hitting speech to Parliament on Wednesday night in a debate on rising levels of knife crime across the country, with particular reference to Croydon.

There have been two knife attacks, one fatal for a 15-year-old boy, in Thornton Heath just in the past four weeks.

Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Croydon Central, Knife crime, Sarah Jones MP, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Cummings wins by-election as Labour increase vote share

Posted on September 8, 2017 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE on the very predictable outcome of yesterday’s council vote

Elected: Jeremy Corbyn supporter Patsy Cummings

And so, as no one ever doubted, it is now Councillor Patsy Cummings, following the by-election in the safe Labour ward of South Norwood yesterday.

That restores Labour’s tally at Croydon Town Hall to 39 councillors (with one banished permanently on the naughty step), to the Tories’ 30, though that will surely change next May, when the local elections determine the composition of the council for the next four years.

For the record (and hey, we’re not complaining, but why is Croydon Council under returning officer Jo Negrini incapable of posting a proper, verified election result on its website once it has the figures? It’s not much to ask, but democracy demands no less), Cummings polled 1,671 votes, or 59 per cent of the vote on a day of modest turn-out. Labour’s share of the vote was up 7.9 per cent on equivalent polling in the same ward in 2014.

Continue reading →

Posted in Clive Fraser, Patsy Cummings, South Norwood, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Time to take a container for those brambles on your rambles

Posted on September 7, 2017 by insidecroydon

We’re in the midst of the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, and as MOIRA O’DONNELL suggests, it’s the perfect time to discover the pleasures of  foraging for free food

It has been a good summer for blackberries on brambles in open spaces right across Croydon

As a child, one of my greatest joys was a walk in the Scottish hills scouring the wayside eagerly for anything edible.

Wild raspberries, strawberries and blaeberries (bilberries) would all be pounced upon and devoured on the spot. In the case of blackberries, some would be eaten and then the rest gathered and taken home to be turned by my mum into apple and blackberry crumble or pie.

A special treat were the fresh young leaves of wood sorrel, the oxalic acid making my taste buds pop. As an adult now living in Croydon, I still get a sense of enjoyment from finding something edible while on a walk, either to eat there and then, or take home with me.

You might think that living in Croydon the opportunities for foraging are few and far between. Not so. Throughout the year there is always something to be found.

Continue reading →

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Thornton Heath Poundland’s deadly shop window display

Posted on September 7, 2017 by insidecroydon

Croydon MP Sarah Jones made an important speech in parliament last night to call for a 10-year strategy to stem the rise of knife crime. And this morning, in the borough Jones represents, a retail store is flogging weapons in its shop window. KEN LEE reports

A Croydon MP has described as “shocking” the use of large-bladed hunting knives in a shop window display in the Thornton Heath branch of Poundland.

A still taken from the video of the Thornton Heath Poundland window display. These don’t look like kitchen tools

Sarah Jones, Labour’s new MP for Croydon Central, reacted to a video circulating on social media this morning which clearly shows a display of the weapons for sale in the store.

The Thornton Heath Poundland is just a short walk from Green Lane, where last month 15-year-old Jermaine Goupall died after being attacked by youths armed with a knife.

Four people, including two minors, were arrested and face a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey in November with a murder trial scheduled for January.

And only last week, there was another stabbing on Thornton Heath High Street. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Croydon Central, Jeff Boothe, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Coulsdon councillor Bains gets bumped in Tory selections

Posted on September 7, 2017 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE, our political editor, reports that in the latest Croydon game of musical chairs, the music hasn’t stopped yet

Bumped: Jeet Bains

Jeet Bains, the subterraneanly low-profile Conservative councillor for Coulsdon West, looks to be the first casualty of the enforced re-selections and reshuffle forced on the local political parties by the ward boundary review ahead of next May’s Town Hall elections.

Croydon Conservatives will next Wednesday announce their full roster of 70 candidates – some A listers, but many more on their own B list – to contest the borough elections in nine months’ time. This puts the local Tories at least a month ahead of Tony Newman’s Croydon Labour Party, who are already well behind their own selection schedule, and have yet to begin the game of musical chairs between councillors scrabbling to get selected for safe wards. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe West, Ashburton, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, Donald Speakman, Dudley Mead, Fairfield, Heathfield, Helen Pollard, James Thompson, Jeet Bains, Luke Clancy, Margaret Mead, Mario Creatura, Purley, Selsdon & Ballards, Sue Winborn, Tony Newman, Vidhi Mohan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dombey and Daughter: council questions over charity fraud

Posted on September 7, 2017 by insidecroydon

BELLE MONT, our Sutton correspondent, on the pressure mounting on another south London council leader

Under fire: Sutton council leader Ruth Dombey

It’s not just in Croydon where there have been calls for the council leader to resign.

In Sutton, Ruth Dombey, who rules over that borough’s FibDems with a fist of iron, is coming under increasing pressure following the convictions for fraud and theft of a one-time trusted councillor colleague and his connections with council-funded charities and her own mother. Continue reading →

Posted in Nick Mattey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rotary Club charity quiz night, Shirley High, Oct 13

Posted on September 7, 2017 by insidecroydon

 

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Festival helps puts cheer and colour into Thornton Heath

Posted on September 6, 2017 by insidecroydon

The 2017 Thornton Heath Festival was bigger and better than ever before. Here’s LEE TOWNSEND’s photo-essay from the event

The Thornton Heath Festival always brings together the community.
Photo: ©www.leetownsend.co.uk

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Posted in Dance, Music, Thornton Heath | Tagged , | Leave a comment