Croydon Airport Visitor Centre

Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport

When you think of airports in London, you probably think of Heathrow or Gatwick, but before these airports, there was… Croydon. Based in South London, it was the main airport for London before it was replaced by Northolt Aerodrome, London Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport. Croydon Airport was Britain’s first major international airport, coming into being during World War I and closing in 1959.

Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport

The Historic Croydon Airport Trust, also known as the Croydon Airport Society, was founded in 1978 and became a registered charity in 1983. It aims to conserve the history and heritage of London Croydon Airport for the community. The Croydon Airport Visitor Centre is a ‘micro museum’ run by the charity, and is open to the public once a month. I headed down one Sunday to find out more.

Model of the airport
Model of the airport (plane is not to scale…)

History

London Croydon Airport was once Britain’s major and only international gateway airport. It played a significant part in early twentieth century British history and helping to shape global air travel. The airport was the birthplace of Air Traffic Control – the control tower here was the world’s first. It also played an important part as the site of many world record-breaking flights, including those undertaken by Amy Johnson. The international distress call ‘Mayday’ was coined here.

Inside the airport
Inside the airport

Airport House, as the terminal building and control tower are now known, are Grade 2* listed.

Control tower
Control tower

My Visit

I joined a tour pretty much as soon as I arrived. My guide was very informative and took us around the building, showing us where visitors used to arrive and depart, taking us to the control tower at the back before heading up the stairs to view the displays. He regaled us with interesting historical info that complemented the exhibition.

In the control tower
In the control tower

There are some flight simulator games at the top of the control tower to keep kids happy, but the whole site should be interesting for adults. There are some original aeroplane seats which seemed much more comfortable and luxurious than the ones we get nowadays, and displays about the history of the site. It made me think of Agatha Christie for some reason, and made me feel nostalgic for the good old days when you could turn up at the airport with a bag and hop on a plane without all the queuing and security checks we have to go through now.

A visit to Croydon Airport is definitely worth it. Keep an eye on the website for details of open days.

FACTS

Address: Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon, CR0 0XZ

Website: croydonairport.org.uk

Opening Hours: First Sunday of the month, 11am-4pm.

Price: Free

Museum of Croydon

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Croydon Town Hall

The Museum of Croydon is located in the former town hall, next to the library and other civic offices. There are two galleries on the ground floor. The Exhibition Gallery showcases temporary exhibitions of works from the Borough’s art collection; the current exhibition is Croydon Recreated, a collection of paintings by a local artist, E.A. Phipson. These pictures of Croydon from the turn of the 20th century are displayed alongside photographs and historic maps to explore how Croydon has changed. The gallery is situated alongside the Research Room, where genealogical researchers and others with cause to use Croydon’s local archives can work.

The other gallery is the Riesco Gallery, which showcases some of the original exhibits in the museum from the Riesco Collection. I thought that these exhibits were a cut above most similar displays in local museums, with some extremely impressive Chinese grave goods, beautiful small statues, fascinating Anglo-Saxon finds and others.

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Riesco Gallery and Research Room

The main part of the museum is upstairs, and the entrance is designed so that you can start at either end: “Croydon Then” and “Croydon Now”, or vice versa. I chose to start “then” and work my way up to the present day.

The space is a bit dark, but generally well laid out. Rather than a junkyard of random exhibits, a selection of items has been carefully chosen to be on show in individual square cases. Judging by their names: “Mary’s doll”, “Ted’s train”, I would guess that they have been donated by Croydon residents. The items range from the personally significant – toys, sewing kits, tools – to those with wider significance, including a relic of the borough’s first mayor, who was initially respected but who was later found to be a fraudster, conning people out of their life savings with his insurance company.

Moving forward through history, the museum has the usual section on World War II, explaining that Croydon was a major target for German bombers. During the second half of the twentieth century, Croydon welcomed many immigrants and also became an important centre for art and design.

There is a section on current Croydon residents who have been invited to contribute something of their own to the exhibition. This was an interesting chance to see what different people hold significant and explores the culture of the town.

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Moving to London

There is a small temporary exhibition called Moving to London, marking the 50th anniversary of the borough becoming a part of London. This also had items in various cases telling the story of this change.

Overall, the Museum of Croydon is a well put together exploration of the borough’s past. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.

FACTS

Address: Croydon Clocktower, Katharine Street, Croydon, CR9 1ET

Website: museumofcroydon.com

Opening Hours: 10.30-5 Tues-Sat

Prices: Free