Outdoors

Four seasons of Parklife

13 December 2017

Every park should have a café – it’s a place to escape the rain, quench your thirst on a hot summer’s day or enjoy a bite to eat and a hot drink to warm...
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In the market for some theatre

27 September 2017

One sunny friday last month I headed down to Surrey Street to look for the theatre tent nestled amongst the stall holders. Yes you read correctly – theatre on the market. The Human Zoo Theatre Company,...
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Pop goes the Warhol

29 August 2017

If you haven’t heard already, September is Warhol month in Croydon. Yes that’s right folks, a whole month of events dedicated to the god of pop art Andy Warhol right here on our doorstep...
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Croydon’s green-fingered matchmaker

22 August 2017

I grew up with both parents being avid gardeners – rather traditionally perhaps, mum did the flowers and dad grew the veg – so I should really have green fingers in my genes. However I...
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Celebrating a golden rainbow

12 July 2017

Croydon Pridefest 2017’s local LGBT+ celebrations are almost upon us and this year marks 50 years of progress on the road towards equality. From the beginnings of decriminalising homosexuality in 1967 to gay marriage...
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A sky of crocuses

28 June 2017

You may have already noticed the crocus installation if you’ve glanced up whilst walking by the entrance to the Whitgift Centre in the last week. What does it mean and why is it there,...
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A postcard to Croydon

14 June 2017

I seem to have spent much of the past month tutting in my impatient Croydon way at Italians taking an age to purchase their train tickets, or struggling to raise my backpack onto a...
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If you go down to the woods today…

18 April 2017

Our recent woodland rediscovery is in Sanderstead. Kings Wood sits between Old Farleigh Road and Limpsfield Road and is a beautiful ancient woodland. It’s relatively flat and criss-crossed by pathways, making it an easy...
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All things bright and beautiful

20 December 2016

It’s time for the announcement of our favourite Croydon Christmas lights folks. We’ve seen some fantastically festive lights the length and the breadth of the borough from Selhurst to Selsdon, Addiscombe to New Addington,...
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The spice of Croydon life

9 November 2016

It’s currently harvest time at Croydon Saffron Central. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, this is the world’s largest urban pop-up saffron farm. And thousands of crocus corms are beginning to...
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The sky’s the limit (60s style)

9 October 2016

The late 1960s are definitely in fashion at the moment, what with the V&A’s current blockbuster exhibition on revolutions of the period, and the Saatchi Gallery’s Rolling Stones exhibition earlier this year. Then there...
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Croydon’s grand designs

4 September 2016

If you’re like me and enjoy a good nose round other people’s pads, or have rolling episodes of Grand Designs on the telly as background noise to relax, you’ll be looking forward to Open...
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A rainbow over Surrey Street

23 August 2016

Last year on August bank holiday weekend Angela and I got hitched at Croydon Town Hall. So what better way to mark our first anniversary than to celebrate at the inaugural Croydon PrideFest? That’s...
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Wandle wonder

25 July 2016

This summer I’ve rediscovered Wandle Park. I have vague memories of being dragged round its rather grotty grassy expanse by my parents in my tweenage years, before hitting the infinitely more exciting Whitgift Centre...
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Park fiction, park fantasy

6 June 2016

If you happen to glance between where the foxgloves sway and the poppies turn towards the sun you may glimpse a fairy hiding amongst the flora… …Alright, I’m not on drugs, but if you...
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Amsterdam, Norfolk, or Croydon?

24 May 2016

When we think of windmills the first places that spring to mind are Amsterdam and Norfolk, followed by the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, oh and a random school trip to somewhere in Essex…...
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I spy Big Ben

8 May 2016

Addington Hills is our dog Lilly’s current favourite woodland walk in Croydon. (OK, we’re just a bit in love with the place too). It all feels rather magical up there, with its unusual undulating...
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