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Tag Archives: Ken Towl
No ‘soft focus filter’ applied to latest exhibition at Art Space
KEN TOWL was caught by the Muse at Addiscombe’s art gallery, one of the outstanding works in its summer exhibition Croydon-based artist Tina Crawford counts Sir Paul Smith, Grayson Perry and Jean Paul Gaultier as her champions. They each own … Continue reading
Musical therapy that can leave us all feeling much better
KEN TOWL, pictured left, took a super fast SuperLoop bus a couple of stops from East Croydon to the Bethlem Gallery and encounters a surprisingly engaging new exhibition about music, and the mind The Bethlem Gallery’s latest exhibition is not … Continue reading
Arcadia’s impressive dancers channel growing anger of youth
KEN TOWL went along to South Norwood for an opening night of dance, theatre, film and rap which displayed young talents and an urgency for action to safeguard our environment Arcadia: the name of the classical ideal of unsullied nature, … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Dance, Environment, Ken Towl, Music, South Norwood, Stanley Halls, Theatre
Tagged Arcadia, Ken Towl, South Norwood, Stanley Arts, Stanley Halls
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In Croydon’s numbers game, selectorate is denied a vital detail
SELECTION SKETCH: Finally, Labour members in the new Parliamentary constituency of Croydon East have been allowed to have their say. KEN TOWL, right, went behind the scenes of this secretive process to choose someone who very likely will soon become … Continue reading
Posted in 2024 General Election, Carole Bonner, Croydon Central, Croydon East, Ken Towl, Natasha Irons, Sarah Jones MP
Tagged Anonyvoter, Carole Bonner, Computer Misue Act, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon East, Croydon East CLP, cyber crime, Joel Bodmer, Johnson Situ, Ken Towl, Labour, London, Maddie Henson, Metropolitan Police, Natasha Irons, Olga Fitzroy, Sarah Jones MP
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Fairfield Halls left haunted by acts from its more glorious past
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The music-loving public expect better and the venue deserves better than a stream of tribute acts, says KEN TOWL Clive John is a very good singer and he was an engaging presence on the stage of the Ashcroft … Continue reading
While admiring town centre’s new art, try not to get arrested
The newly installed street art around the town centre has its appeal, the overtly hostile security policy in Centrale less so, says KEN TOWL It was quite a thrill to be described as “the IC1 male taking pictures with a … Continue reading
Turn again to pantomime as Sanderstead takes its annual bow
With our regular reviewer, Bella Bartock… ‘indisposed’ (too much Harvey’s Bristol Cream over Christmas, we’re told), KEN TOWL got all dolled up as a panto dame – oh yes he did! – and tottered along in his high heels to … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Dance, Ken Towl, Music, Sanderstead, Sanderstead Dramatic Club, Theatre
Tagged Aladdin, Croydon, Dick Whittington, Ken Towl, Panto, pantomime, Sanderstead, Sanderstead Dramatic Club
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Croydon 2023: the Penn Report, dog attacks and those giraffes
THE YEAR IN REVIEW Part 2 – May to August If there was one good thing to come out of Croydon Council this year, then it must have been the Penn Report. Katherine Kerswell, the council’s chief executive, had held … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Crime, Croydon Council, Heathfield House, History, Inside Croydon, Knife crime, Mayor Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Borough of Culture, CODA, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association, David Morgan, giraffes, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Ian Hislop, Ken Towl, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Private Eye, Purley Way, Tory, Utah, Wastefield, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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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
Bah! Humbug! Scrooge-like poverty haunts modern Croydon
As the country slides into the kind of social division not seen since Victorian times, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon has a new production of a Dickens classic that shows we really ought to do better. KEN TOWL went along to see … Continue reading
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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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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