Breathtaking hilltop views and a long lost Coaching Inn at Happy Valley

Happy Valley

*Walks* One of the area’s most stunning walking destinations is in Coulsdon in the London Borough of Croydon. It consists of Happy Valley, New Hill and Farthing Downs. It’s an historic area with remnants of an iron-age field system and Saxon burial mounds. It also has an abundance of rare wildlife being on scarce chalk […]

The Museum of The Mind and 200 Acres of Parkland at Bethlem Hospital

Bethlem Museum

*Walks* This is one of the most intriguing museums, and it’s less than 30 minutes drive from Carshalton. The small museum looks back at the treatment of mental health and covers the long history of Bethlem hospital. It’s set in beautiful parkland that you’re free to explore. At the entrance to the museum, shown above, […]

The Hidden Woodland Gardens in South Croydon

Coombe Wood Croydon House

*Walks* Coombe Wood was once the private gardens of Coombe Wood House, which was built in 1898. The land was purchased by Croydon Council in 1948 and now it’s free for the public to visit. We went on a wet January afternoon, and it was just as dramatic as any other time of year. Scroll […]

Wandle Trail: Carshalton to Morden Hall via Ravensbury Park and Watermeads

Wandle Trail Bench

*Weekend walks* Join us on a fascinating short walk from Carshalton to Morden Hall taking in Ravensbury Park and the charming Watermeads Nature Reserve, land saved and protected thanks to National Trust founder Octavia Hill and her sister Miranda.  It takes about an hour and a quarter to reach Morden Hall from Carshalton, and you […]

The 300 year old outbuilding that was an orangery for a palace never built

Orangery Carshalton

*Historical* This wonderful 300 year old orangery in the heart of Carshalton, was an outbuilding for a grand palace that was never built. An orangery was a place to grow exotic fruit trees.     The huge main house was planned for Carshalton Park. Paid for by Sir Thomas Scawen and designed by Venician-born architect […]

The first Coat of Arms to feature a full Aeroplane motif in the UK

Wallington Handley

The country’s first civic Coat of Arms to display a full aeroplane can still be viewed on the front of the old town hall in Woodcote Road, Wallington. But why is there an aeroplane on it? This refers to the presence of Croydon Aerodrome, London’s first major airport, in the east of the Borough. Beddington […]

Sutton’s long-lost 2,390 seat music venue demolished in 1979

Granada Sutton then

*Historical* It’s surprising how many entertainment venues were once in central Sutton, so to start here’s a look at one of the biggest… This venue in Carshalton Road played host in person to Hollywood legends Laurel and Hardy (programme pictured from 1952), comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, Rod Stewart and The Faces (1973), Cliff Richard […]