Croydon - nightlife, accommodation, things to do and general chat

[wildeye]

Croydon
I lived and worked here for years mainly 80s then 90s and a stint from 2002 - 2006.
It changed, some things are better. Still miss the old Underground Club, I saw Balaam and Into A Circle there. Plus that great old pub The Ship, those were the days of good music and a few doors down HR Cloakes record shop. I bought so much vinyl here, the other good one was Bonaparte records by the station.
Had some good times. In some ways it looks better, but there does seem to be many many bars..

 

[hash tag]

From anotherthreadaboutrecord shops

Croydon had some greats in the 80s

Cloakes

Bonaparte

Our Price

Virgin

Then basically none!!!

Good Waterstones though

BTW. Is the pub at the top of Surrey St still going, the Green Dragon? Good beer and good music?

 

[wildeye]

From anotherthreadaboutrecord shops

BTW. Is the pub at the top of Surrey St still going, the Green Dragon? Good beer and good music?

I don't know. left Croydon in 2006 and not been back - except once. my brother lives there.

 

[Callie]

some great music shops: our price and virgin joker

 

[wildeye]

some great music shops: our price and virgin joker

I was not joking..but can see the humour. are there any vinyl shops in croydon now?

 

[Guineveretoo]

From anotherthreadaboutrecord shops

BTW. Is the pub at the top of Surrey St still going, the Green Dragon? Good beer and good music?

I drove past it the other day and it looked like it was still going.

HTH

 

[Guineveretoo]

I was not joking..but can see the humour. are there any vinyl shops in croydon now?

There is a new one opened round the corner from where I live - DnR Vinyl - UK Garage Vinyl Record Specialists - Buy Rare & Deleted Oldskool UKG, 2-step, Dubstep, Grime

I think there is still one in central Croydon as well - 101 Records? Can't find a website to check, and don't drive past that bit

 

[wildeye]

The Green Dragon - how long has it been there? I don't recall it from the 80s, or 90s...

 

[wildeye]

There is a new one opened round the corner from where I live - DnR Vinyl - UK Garage Vinyl Record Specialists - Buy Rare & Deleted Oldskool UKG, 2-step, Dubstep, Grime

I recently went to Amoeba records in Berkeley and another Amoeba in Haight. Both incredible and so much vinyl. Good reasonable prices. Although the posters were interesting e.g. a picture of the Specials with the title Coventry - i'm not sure if that was linked to a significant event and another of Joy Division stating Stockport....

 

[Guineveretoo]

The Green Dragon - how long has it been there? I don't recall it from the 80s, or 90s...

Ages. Probably. It is on the corner opposite Surrey Street. Don't know what it used to be. Looks like it might have been a bank or something.

It used to be the Hogshead. I only found that out by googling, but, now that I have been reminded, I do recall it

 

[wildeye]

Thanks. Do not think I will be in Croydon soon.

 

[Maggot]

some great music shops: our price and virgin joker

Believe or not, Virgin Records was a very cool shop. It was staffed by punks and sold stuff you couldn't buy in mainstream stores, like Crass.

 

[wildeye]

Indeed it did. It was originally up at East Croydon and was different. But for alternative you could not beat HR Cloakes

 

[wildeye]

And I forgot the original Beano's in the market. Always good bargains. I got October here for £2 and Three Imaginary Boys

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

From anotherthreadaboutrecord shops

BTW. Is the pub at the top of Surrey St still going, the Green Dragon? Good beer and good music?

Still there, not so much music. They did keep giving it a stab at putting on decent bands, but turnout in Croydon has not been great for a long time.

 

[Hoss]

Still there, not so much music. They did keep giving it a stab at putting on decent bands, but turnout in Croydon has not been great for a long time.

It was run for several years by Esther (formerly of The Ship and now of The Oval). Used to be a very good bustling place and the venue of choice before heading to Black Sheep Bar. Haven't been for years so no idea what goes on there now.


.

 

[Hoss]

The Norman Jay thing was decent, the cocktails were strong. My head was unhappy with me this morning.

Good little shindig!

Worth a look if they do any similar freebies up there

Aye, was a really good night! Cracking venue and a great vibe from everyone there.
The crowd was a real old school Croydon mix. I'm guessing everyone there was 30+

Someone said to me that there's a generation of Croydon youth who missed out on really decent nightlife.
From late 80's through to mid 2000's there was Rawnsleys/Alleycats?, Priddys Yard, Rue St George, David Lean cinema, Black Sheep, Cartoon/Cool Rooms, PoNaNa.

I may be biased because I've done nights at all of these venues [emoji2] but probably not, they were just really venues and nights.

The next Car Park session is on 16th June and DJ Format is spinning tunes.



.

 

[Guineveretoo]

It was run for several years by Esther (formerly of The Ship and now of The Oval). Used to be a very good bustling place and the venue of choice before heading to Black Sheep Bar. Haven't been for years so no idea what goes on there now.


.

I didn't know that about Esther. Interesting

There is live music at the Oval - just in case anyone is interested.

 

[Dan U]

Esther runs the cafe at that Tmrw tech hub place as well iirc

And yes Hoss my mate said to me there was actually no one there under 30 and not many under 35 either

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Esther runs the cafe at that Tmrw tech hub place as well iirc

And yes Hoss my mate said to me there was actually no one there under 30 and not many under 35 either

What is TMRW and IIRC?

 

[Dan U]

What is TMRW and IIRC?

TMRW | The No1 coworking and shared office space for tech companies | Croydon, south London

if I recall correctly

 

[Shechemite]

Anyone know any cafes/coffee shops etc in the town centre that are nice and quiet (have rather long piece of work to do, but need to be in town centre for rest of the week)?

 

[Callie]

Matthews yard off if Surrey at market,
maybe tmrw hub cafe place near the bus stop towards south Croydon, before the fly over
Errrm those are probably your best bets. You can sit out the front of Matthews yard if the weather is nice

 

[Callie]

There is a new one opened round the corner from where I live - DnR Vinyl - UK Garage Vinyl Record Specialists - Buy Rare & Deleted Oldskool UKG, 2-step, Dubstep, Grime

They're not very new actually: They were operating on lower addiscombe rd/windmill bridge 5 years ago!

 

[Callie]

Aye, was a really good night! Cracking venue and a great vibe from everyone there.
The crowd was a real old school Croydon mix. I'm guessing everyone there was 30+

Someone said to me that there's a generation of Croydon youth who missed out on really decent nightlife.
From late 80's through to mid 2000's there was Rawnsleys/Alleycats?, Priddys Yard, Rue St George, David Lean cinema, Black Sheep, Cartoon/Cool Rooms, PoNaNa.

I may be biased because I've done nights at all of these venues [emoji2] but probably not, they were just really venues and nights.

The next Car Park session is on 16th June and DJ Format is spinning tunes.



.

PoNaNa! bloody hell I'd forgotten about that place

Good to hear you and Dan U had a good time (ha! see what I did there...? ). Not sure id be able to make the next one either. bums.

 

[wildeye]

Went to the Cartoon in the 1980s a few times. It was ok. I knew many who went to Cinderella's and The Water Town and the bar called Goodys. I preferred the ship and the underground. Unfortunately the underground crashed and became a terrible crap hole called Joe Banana's...

 

[wildeye]

I remember seeing some really rubbish bands there and some good ones. Alien Sex Fiend and Flesh for Lulu were the bad - the good was Gene Syndrome, Balaam and the Angel, Into a Circle, sadly missed the only Nephilim gig. I saw Bad News Men in Crawley but it was not at the Rocket. I even saw Balaam at the old Zap Club in Brighton - great night.
Live gigs were plentiful in the 80's and cheap.

 

[wildeye]

I don't think Alien Sex Fiend or Flesh for Lulu were bad, just live at that venue it was not good. I think mainly due to the sound systems.

Further north in early 80's I went to the old Marquee club in Wardour street. Saw Marillion, Y&T, Anvil and a few I cannot even recall...that was a great venue.

 

[Guineveretoo]

They're not very new actually: They were operating on lower addiscombe rd/windmill bridge 5 years ago!

That's new!

 

[Maggot]

I found this bizarre film on the BFI site. It says it's in Croydon, but I think it's New Addington. Anyone recognise it?

Watch Inter-action in Croydon online

They're coming for your children! Three moon men, a cosmonaut and a mysterious professor march through the sparse streets of a new Croydon housing estate. But don't panic, this is a friendly invasion. The performance was designed to parachute a taste of participatory theatre into areas of new-build housing that were often sorely lacking in their own neighbourhood cultural facilities.