please empty your brain below
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I sincerely hope that the remainder of 2023 is less hellish than that particular part of the A23.
Frank F | 05.01.23 - 6:46 a.m. | #
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Often walked down Purley Way to Powerleague at Waddon. Definitely a pedestrian vs vehicle scenario, invariably with the pedestrian losing out.
Jack31439 | 05.01.23 - 7:07 a.m. | #
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During my London years I covered the A23 on foot between Kennington and Croydon (some sections multiple times) but no further south. So it's very interesting to read this...
cau1khead | 05.01.23 - 7:12 a.m. | #
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True commitment shown by walking one of the nastiest Stroads in London.
Robert Butlin | 05.01.23 - 7:34 a.m. | #
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A truly excellent description of a truly awful road that out of necessity I know all too well.
In a sad reflection of me, I have often wondered about that surviving piece of concrete you refer to as a 'concrete apron'. It seems from reputable sources that Croydon Airport only ever had grass runways and many have erroneously described the concrete as remnants of the runway. But I have also read that it was added after the airport closed. Or maybe really was hardstanding for parked planes.
Pedantic of Purley | 05.01.23 - 8:45 a.m. | #
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Other trivia of the Purley Way...
Near Wandle Park tram stop is an enormous residential development which also fronts Purley Way. When being marketed, the convenience of trams was not mentioned and, when challenged, the response was that the sort of people who would buy the properties (cynically described as elevated rabbit hutches) would have their own car and wouldn't use the tram. The reality is somewhat different. This just emphasises the general attitude of pedestrians and public transport users being very much an afterthought when it comes to the Purley Way and surrounding area.
TfL had major plans to sort out Fiveways involving a short section of elevated road to enable one major traffic flow to bypass the junction. It would have involved the demolition of MacDonalds which was an added bonus. It would probably have actually improved the area overall. I suspect there is now next to zero chance of seeing that in my lifetime.
The Airport Hotel is currently closed and no explanation has been offered as to what is going on. Apparently, some Christmas bookings were cancelled at short notice with no reason given.
Pedantic of Purley | 05.01.23 - 8:59 a.m. | #
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I know it eventually gets to green fields, but I couldn't help but think "poor bastard" when I read the third sentence. I've spent far too much of my life inside that Costco, and indeed inside the Kidspace across the A23 from it when The Boy was younger.
Chz | 05.01.23 - 9:12 a.m. | #
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There's scope for a survey of major supermarket sites looking at ease of access/egress for non-car users. (And the winner is....")
Ian | 05.01.23 - 9:20 a.m. | #
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DG - what you call Fourways road junction is known as Fiveways. A very small point. John.
Johnny | 05.01.23 - 9:42 a.m. | #
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John - a sign beside the junction clearly says 'Fourways'. Fiveways Corner is signed on the other side of the railway.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 05.01.23 - 9:48 a.m. | #
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I had to break-off reading this, to look up the word "urbex". Thank you for adding to my vocabulary.
Hmmmm. Tomorrow, I shall use "urbex" as my first line in Wordle!
Jambo | 05.01.23 - 10:09 a.m. | #
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Living just on the Kent side of the border from Croydon as I did for 30 years I regarded the Purley Way then as not a place to go. My first trip there was a school expedition led by an enthusiastic chemistry teacher, Mr Cridland, to the Croydon Gasworks on the Croydon side of the road near Waddon Marsh Halt. That did not encourage me to revisit.
There were some notable industrial and leisure sites which have now gone such as the van and bubblecar manufacturer Trojan, the London Transport food preparation works from the time when every food need including for Christmas puddings was supplied in house for canteens and the Lido opposite the airport which became a garden centre with a sunken bed and is now a shopping centre, Colonnades.
In the late eighties I had to work in Croydon and lived in Wimbledon so what better way to commute than the runty 2-car shuttle between the two towns? It ran every 45 minutes so that 1 unit would do, and passed close by the Purley Way at the end of its run, with the tiny Waddon Marsh Halt sitting forlorn in the mostly post-industrial wilderness and construction sites, rarely used by any passengers. The line became the Wimbledon branch of the tram.
The idea of walking its length filled me with horror then and after reading this still does.
Richard Thomas | 05.01.23 - 11:24 a.m. | #
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To make it worse, Purley Way (a homonym of Pearly Way) conjures up a delightful image of a track leading to the Pearly Gates. I guess it joins other London places such as Swiss Cottage and Belvedere that definitely do not live up to their name.
Pedantic of Purley | 05.01.23 - 11:55 a.m. | #
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If you’ve only ever driven along Purley Way I can assure you it’s not that bad to walk along - I’ve walked far grimmer.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 05.01.23 - 12:06 p.m. | #
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There was (briefly) a retirement home built in Purley called Purley Gates at first. It was understandably not a popular name with retirees and they changed it. :)
Chz | 05.01.23 - 12:06 p.m. | #
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A few years ago, just before I had satnav, I somehow missed the turnoff from the M1 to the M25, ended up on the North Circular, and had to navigate my way through central London to the A23 using a tiny map on a phone with no geolocation. Once I found the A23 though all was well and childhood memories of pre-M25 travel saw me home from there.
Sarah | Homepage | 05.01.23 - 12:21 p.m. | #
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This brings back memories. Many a weekend in my youth spent travelling along Purley Way in the back of my parents car, usually en route to a DIY store, but with requests from me and my brother to visit Children’s World toy superstore that was on one of the retail parks. There was also a large indoor water park near here at some point too.
Was expecting to see a mention of the old Purley Lido. Too young to have ever visited it myself, but I did visit the garden centre where its Grade II-listed diving board sat. Facing redevelopment, the diving board will soon be surrounded by flats.
Paul | Homepage | 05.01.23 - 12:32 p.m. | #
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Purley Way may be a candidate for the UK's first Stroad, unless that’s sections of the A1, A40, or North Circular, or somewhere else.
Certainly not a great outcome for liveability as we now understand it. By all means have bypasses, but don't put residential and retail development onto it.
MilesT | 05.01.23 - 1:06 p.m. | #
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This is my local area - during lockdown it did feel odd only seeing a car every minute - by the RAF memorial.
Mark | 05.01.23 - 1:40 p.m. | #
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My georeferenced version of the 1800 Croydon enclosure map might be of interest in this context.
If you use the slider in the top left-hand corner to fade the old map in and out, you can see that the route of Purley Way tracks the old roads pretty closely.
(background here)
Kake | 05.01.23 - 2:35 p.m. | #
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Four and Fiveways feature the strange arrangement whereby the east and west bound A232 traffic cross each other at either end of Epsom Road.
Peter | 05.01.23 - 2:51 p.m. | #
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I remember using the A232 to get to the A23 and then going south to get to Fiveways to pick up the road to South Croydon to arrive at the Fairfield Halls. But what I'm blathering about is that the Paynes Poppets factory (remember them?) was on the stretch that lead to to the A23. Gone now.
Marmaduke Jinks | 05.01.23 - 6:02 p.m. | #
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The Airport Hotel has closed to the public as the owners accepted a government contract to house refugees. This tomorrow's (SUN 08 JAN) 'Croydon Air Fair' among other events had to be cancelled.
Joel | 06.01.23 - 9:31 a.m. | #
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I salute that this is the home turf of the well-known commenter Pedantic of Purley, and that he has (so far) contributed three comments.
Charles | Homepage | 06.01.23 - 11:17 a.m. | #
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Really enjoying these New Year posts!
~12 years ago I was living in Gipsy Hill and would often visit SE23 with my toddler to visit the Horniman and/or the surrounding greenery.
Later I moved to Thornton Heath, and inevitably spent a lot of time on Purley Way, in a car, bus, tram and on foot. I agree that, whilst obviously unpleasant on foot, it's not *that* bad. Except Lombard roundabout, yes. That's just unforgivable.
Also, if you go off-piste just before Fourways, you'll discover Waddon Ponds, a lovely little oasis among the megasheds.
David F | 06.01.23 - 2:18 p.m. | #
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Kake: That's fascinating, thanks for posting! I remember coming across your London Road history pages when I lived nearby, and really admired your dedication. Good to see you're still at it :)
David F | Homepage | 06.01.23 - 2:25 p.m. | #
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Just to confirm, URBEX was not the Wordle word-of-the-day yesterday.
Thanks, as always, for keeping me amused and informed every morning.
Jambo | 07.01.23 - 10:50 a.m. | #
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