Croydon airport

I always thought Croydon airport was just a small, disused airport, and never gave it another thought. I knew they had open days but never bothered to visit, until recently. And I was really pleasantly surprised as it was such an interesting and informative tour. I had no idea it was the UK's only international airport between the wars.

Croydon airport is in south London, although Croydon used to be in Surrey until Greater London swallowed it up. The airport was built in a Neoclassical style and opened in 1920. It became the UK's busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers and also cargo and mail. The terminal is now a Grade II listed building.

The plane above the entrance path is a de Havilland Heron and represents the aircraft that flew the last passenger flight from Croydon on 30 September 1959. The airport closed in 1959.

The tours are run by very enthusiastic and informative volunteers. Due to Covid restrictions, only 4 or 5 visitors are in each tour. We started in the ground floor main booking hall. There were six check-in desks and administration facilities for the international airlines operating at the airport. The hall has a steel framed glass dome. 

The walls are lined with photos and information boards, but we were able to see old photos of how the booking hall looked when in operation. It was designed on a railway station and even the old newspaper kiosk looks just like those that used to be in railway stations. There was a small mailroom set on one side, and the Imperial Restaurant was off another side. 

These panels, from left to right, show the different aspects of the airport over the years as well as the different types of plane that used the airport -

We went outside and walked along the south cargo wing (left side when looking at the main entrance). This was the “Goods in” wing. There were bonded Customs stores and four entrance bays featuring double doors that enabled easy vehicle access, facilitating improved loading and unloading of goods, freight, mail and bullion. Bullion was stored in a large strong room, located off the Booking Hall

The double doors -

The North cargo wing (which we didn't see) handled “Goods out” of the UK. We went round to the back to see the control tower -

The Control Tower was 50 ft tall and 30 ft square, built over four floors, and was the world’s largest and most advanced. With the radio communication masts situated on the top of the tower’s roof, the overall height was 80 ft. The air traffic controllers were in the top of the tower and the meteorological office two floors below. There was a high speed pneumatic vacuum tube communication system connecting the two. On the top of the tower is a viewing gallery, it was so popular that full time tour guides were employed. 

We went back in the terminal building and up to the first floor. An old photo of the airport. The old Croydon lido can clearly be seen in the foreground, it was in use from 1935 to 1979. The iconic multi level diving platform is one of just four inter-war concrete diving platforms known to survive in England and is now in the Wyevale Garden Centre and will hopefully be preserved.

Croydon airport became the world’s first purpose built airport terminal and became the biggest and most advanced airport in the world. It set new standards for air travel and was designed around the two key airport processes- Departure and Arrival.

The first floor is set up as a small museum. Some seats from various aircraft. They weren't fixed to the floor in those days. Note the weighing scales - passengers and their baggage had to be weighed when checking in. 

The seats look quite uncomfortable, but in those days the planes could only fly short distances before refueling, so there were plenty of stops for the passengers. 

Then on up to the control tower. This is the original staircase, not used by visitors -

I was interested to see that Amy Johnson was well featured. Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. In 1930, she left Croydon Airport on 5 May and landed at Darwin, Northern Territory on 24 May 11,000 miles (18,000 km). She went on to set other solo as well as distance records. Whilst flying during the war she supposedly ran out of fuel and crashed into the Thames estuary and her body was never recovered. The actual cause of the crash and her death are unknown. 

Whilst doing her London to Darwin flight, her route took her over SE Asia, from Bangkok she flew over the Malaya Peninsula (17 and 18 May) to Singapore , where she landed safely.  

Passenger planes regularly flew between Croydon and Brisbane, this is an Imperial Airway's empire service timetable. This route involved about 22 stops!

Imperial Airways was Britain’s international airline, and went on to become British Airways. 

Croydon control tower has other claims to fame. The international distress call “Mayday” was created by London Croydon Airport Radio Officer F.S. “Stanley” Mockford in 1923. Other famous aviators flew out of Croydon. Many famous celebrities were passengers. 

From Historic Croydon Airport Trust -

For two decades, Croydon was Britain’s primary Customs airport for virtually all of the UK's international departures and arrivals. In addition, from 1937, Imperial Airways operated flying boat services from Southampton. The small Lympne in Kent was available in case of aircraft en-route emergency or diversion.

Sadly the runway area is now all built on, this view is from the control tower -

After the Second World War, Croydon Airport returned to civilian use, but Heathrow had become London's main international airport. 

Christmas Eve 1924 saw the world’s first major commercial aviation accident. An Imperial Airways de Havilland en-route from Croydon to Paris, crashed a few minutes after departure with the pilot and seven passengers all perishing in the crash. The aircraft crashed 2.5 km away from the airport.

A 50 room hotel was built next to the terminal and opened in 1928. Amy Johnson stayed in the hotel on the night of 4th May 1930, ready for her record-breaking Australia flight the next morning. London Croydon Aerodrome Hotel -

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Before Croydon airport -

After WWI, there was a ban on civil aviation in Britain until on 25th August 1919. Hounslow Heath acted as London’s “airport” for the first months of commercial international air services. The world’s first scheduled flight, from Hounslow Heath to Paris- Le Bourget, took place on the day the civil aviation ban was lifted. Flights between London and Paris became a major international route. Hounslow Heath wasn't used for very long before operations were moved to Croydon. 

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See Historic Croydon Airport which has pages and pages packed with information, 

11 Amazing Facts About Croydon Airport on The Londonist.

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Elephants in London parks

The CoExistence elephants have moved from Chelsea, where I saw them recently, to parks around Buckingham Palace in London. They are now in St James Park and Green Park and also Berkeley Square.

They will be here from 14 June until 23 July. As a reminder, the elephants were made in the Nilgiri Hills of southern India where the real elephants coexist with humans. They are made of an invasive plant. The elephants will be sent around the globe, to remind humans that we can coexist with animals.

The 100 elephants are split into several herds, each is a particular group and has an information board about them. I started in St James Park.

The first group is called Natural World Heroes. Members of this herd take their names from real human heroes.

This one is named after David Attenborough -

The second herd in St James Park is named The Crop Raiders. The story tells again how elephants and humans can coexist.

One lone elephant off for a drink!! -

I then went across The Mall to Green Park. Here, most of the elephants are in a long line but separated into different herds.

The Tea Timers represent elephants that coexist with the tea plantations in southern India -

The Batchelor Boys story is written in an informative way -

There are other groups with information boards that I didn't take photos of. I then went onto Berkeley Square. This is in Mayfair, a very upmarket area. The plane trees are some of the oldest in Central London. The square has had some famous residents in the past, such as Winston Churchill, Charles Rolls (Rolls Royce), Harry Selfridge and George Canning to name just a few - read more on Wikipedia. Around the square are luxury car show rooms and exclusive clubs.

The herd with the Bentley showroom behind -

I just hope this parade of elephants gets the message across around the world and that elephants will always coexist with humans. 

Plumsted Common windmill

 I've been visiting various windmills in the Greater London area, the last one being Wandsworth Common. This time I went to Plumsted Common to see the remains of a mill. Plumsted Common is located east of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. 

The mill was a tower mill and was used for grinding corn, but stopped use sometime in the early part of the 1800s. All that remains today is the tower, which is part of the Old Mill pub. It seems to have been converted to accommodation. 

The mill is located at the top of a hill so would have been in a good spot to catch the winds. As can be seen on the map, the common slopes down to the Slade Ravine, which is an ancient valley carved out in the Ice Age. At the bottom of the ravine are the Slade Ponds.

See more on Wikipedia . And Windmill world, which shows some historic photos. The Old Mill pub.

Elephants in Spitalfields, London

I recently saw the herd of elephants around the King's Road in Chelsea, London. I then went to see another herd that are situated at Spitalfields. Whereas the Chelsea elephants are made of an invasive plant, the Spitalfields are bronze. And they have a different significance. They represent real orphaned baby elephants that have beaten the odds to survive.

The elephants are located around Spitalfields Market. The market started in 1682 and lasted until the early 1990s. It is now a market with lots of individual arty/crafty type stalls, as well as many food and beverage outlets. Outside the market is used for outdoor artworks.

The Herd of Hope arrived in 2020. 

The herd of 21 elephants were previously located at Marble Arch. They were there from Dec 2019. A mother elephant sat in the middle surrounded by 20 elephant calf sculptures. These were modeled from real orphaned baby elephants currently in the care of Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This is a project in Kenya that protects elephants. Each sculpture includes the name of the orphaned calf they represent and their sad backstory. 

Now the 21 elephants are scattered around Spitalfields market. I guess this separation is applicable considering the elephants are orphans, but it would be nice to see them in small groups.

This is the matriarch, she represents the mother and family each of the infant elephants lost when they became orphaned. 

And some of the babies -

The elephant herd were created by Gillie and Marc. These artists have two other sculptures at the market. "Dogman and Rabbitgirl with coffee" (2017) represent unity and acceptance. "Gillie and Marc’s autobiographical characters, Rabbitwoman and Dogman, have a dream that open hearts and open minds can come together over a warm cup of coffee to promote diversity, love, and acceptance." -

Together Forever on Wheels, (2020). "Dogman and Rabbitwoman are back, but this time they’re on Vespas! The inspiration behind our latest addition was to try and encourage the public to step out of their front doors and fall in love with the world, people and animals in it." (Spitalfields public art)

Soon the Chelsea herd of elephants will be migrating to a new area, so I will have to go and find them in due course.