Much-loved coffee shop in Sutton to close
*NEWS* Secret Carshalton is saddened to learn that a popular independent cafe towards the bottom of Sutton High Street is to close. The team at TazZa announced on their social media: “It is with great sadness we announce that TazZa Coffee will be soon closing her doors for one final time after almost 15 years […]
An afternoon walk in Battersea Park and remnants of the Festival of Britain exhibition
*Walks* We’ve gone a little bit Wes Anderson in the style of our photos for this stroll in Battersea. This is a wonderfully varied place that was created in 1854 and officially opened by Queen Victoria in 1858. This South London park is about 40 minutes by car from Carshalton, but it’s much more efficient […]
The White Cliffs of Carshalton
*Historical* This incredible chalk cliff can be discovered within a short walk up Park Hill from Carshalton’s Windsor Castle pub – and it’s totally unique! Possibly the only survivor of its kind in the whole borough, perhaps in all of London. Because, not only will you find the well-defined remains of a small chalk pit […]
Local walks video is a hit with over 600,000 plays, 25,000 likes and more than 400 comments in just one week!
Last week we posted a short video about one our favourite local walks at Happy Valley in Coulsdon. It featured the hugely atmospheric Chaldon Church. [As of April 2025, views are 1,028,000] The video racked up these incredible stats as of today – and helped increase our social media following by several thousand. Sorry to […]
A refurbished Oaks Park Bakehouse and new visitor centre – winners of the Neighbourhood Fund
Sutton Council have just announced the winners of the 2024 Neighbourhood Fund consultation, and it’s fantastic to see budgets allocated to local improvements. In total 41 projects are being funded, with 11 that local community groups will take the lead on. Scroll down to hear some highlights… Refurbish the Oaks Park Bakehouse With a funding […]
Butter Hill estate and the long-lost country house
If you know of Butter Hill in Wallington you may have often wondered what was there before the 1930s estate was built. Let’s find out more… Butter Hill estate was constructed on the grounds of a large house called Elm Grove. It’s not clear when the lovely old home was built, but it was here […]
Tom Scott on the groundbreaking bed-cycle built in Pound Street
*Historical* Famous YouTube star Tom Scott, talks about an amazing invention built in Carshalton and designed by Dr Ludwig Guttmann at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. The Hospital is famous for creating the Paralympics, and this 1945 bed-cycle helped people train. It’s currently on display at the Science Museum in London. Here’s a 2-minute […]
Discovering Croydon’s surprisingly nice architecture
Neighbouring Sutton, Croydon was recently listed in the top 10 of the UK’s worst towns. In the authors opinion this is very unfair. Croydon appears to have a relatively small amount of people that continually manage to tar its reputation. But it has a surprisingly expansive shopping district with, for example, one of the largest […]
The 100 Shackleton Huskies that sadly never made it home
*Historical* Sir Ernest Shackleton is famous for being the captain of Endurance, the ship that took him and his crew on a doomed voyage to Antarctica in 1914. Their exploits have been covered in numerous films and tv programs. To pull the expedition through treacherous snow, dogs such as Samson pictured above, were needed. So […]