At the age of eight I was dragged from the Sussex coast to live in Croydon, I loathed the place and at the age of eighteen I shook the dust of the place from my boots and have rarely returned since. Today though curiosity got the better of me, not to see Croydon but to ride the new tram that connects Wimbledon to Croydon and various places east. It runs along the line of the old railway that was known as either the ghost train or The Wimbledon Flyer and I'd never seen it so it was off to Morden Road.
Exciting isn't it.
Nice colour. Bit confusing, it says Wimbledon on the front when it was coming from there.
We've arrived at Croydon and guess what?
It's as depressingly grotty as it ever was.
So I took a canal related photo.'
Under this lot is West Croydon Station and under that was the terminal basin of the Croydon Canal.
It opened in 1809 and ran for just over nine miles from the Grand Surrey Canal through twenty eight locks to here. By 1836 it was closed, the first canal in Britain to be closed by Act of Parliament, and sold to the London and Croydon Railway. Virtually nothing remains today. For a bit of excitement the police with their sniffer dogs were checking the passengers, presumably for drugs.
Outside the Town Hall the Old Queen gloomily surveys the passing scene.
I will admit that the Town Hall still retains a degree of dignity.
The best sight of the day was the tram coming to whisk us out of the place.
I hope I haven't offended any of the good people of Croydon but if I still think it's a dump.
Mind you the tram was brilliant and you can use your bus pass.
Watch this space.................
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