SOUTH NORWOOD

'South Norwood' is a place in the London Borough of Croydon. It is a suburban development 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-south-east of Charing Cross. In common with West Norwood and Upper Norwood it is named after a contraction of Great North Wood. It has a population of around 14,590^[1] and is covered by the London postcode of SE25.

Contents

History

Geography

Administration

Present day

Education

Sports and recreation

Croydon Sports Arena

Transport

References

External links

History

Handley's Brickworks' seven chimneys once dominated the landscape of the area. It has been demolished and the site changed into a park and lake, called Brickfields Meadow. Over 20 pubs were to be found in a 1.5 mile radius, but many of these have closed. Some of South Norwood's famous pubs, such as the Jolly Sailor and The Albert, are still busy.
Arthur Conan Doyle lived in 'Tennison Road', South Norwood, from 1891 to 1894, and used the area as the setting for a Sherlock Holmes story ''The Adventure of the Norwood Builder''. D.H. Lawrence taught at Davidson School before the First World War. In 1966, a dog called Pickles discovered the recently stolen World Cup Jules Rimet Trophy under a bush in Beulah Hill.

Geography

South Norwood is bordered by Anerley to the north east, Selhurst to the south west, Woodside due south, Thornton Heath to the west and Upper Norwood to the north. The northernmost point of South Norwood is Beaulieu Heights (alternatively spelt Beulah Heights, Beaulah Heights and Beulieu Heights) which contains Beulah Heights Park, overlapping with Upper Norwood. The northern part of the district is situated on the lower parts of the hill that forms Upper Norwood.

Administration

South Norwood was part of the county of Surrey and the County Borough of Croydon until 1965, when following the enactment of the London Government Act 1963 it became part of Greater London. Today it is administerd by as part of the London Borough of Croydon, with the council ward of South Norwood is represented by one Labour and two Conservative Councillors. Susan Bennett and Luke Clancy - both Conservative - got the majority of the vote with Labour's Jane Avis, Kathy Bee, Andy Bagnall behind. Others who stood included Conservative Mohammed Quadir, the Green Party's Tim Fernandes-Bonnar, Liberal Democrats Julie Hardy-McBride and Jan Perry, followed by Brian Hutchings of the UK Independence Party.

Present day

South Norwood is unofficially divided into the slightly wealthier area on the northwest side of the railway (the location of a private estate) and the less wealthy area on the southeast, where workers for a former brick factory lived. Although, South Norwood is classed as one of the most deprived areas in Croydon^[2]. The entrance to the estate was between a pair of pillars, though they have long since been demolished. However the capitals were preserved and now sit on the two brick pillars at the Selhurst Road entrance to the South Norwood recreation ground. The area regarded by locals as the nicest area of South Norwood is known unofficially as South Norwood Lakes after the lake in South Norwood Lake and Grounds, a former reservoir of the Croydon Canal. In 2006, it was the scene of a fatal stabbing.^[3] The canal ran from New Cross to the site of West Croydon Station. As it passed through South Norwood, pubs sprung up near its course. The Jolly Sailor still stands at the intersection of South Norwood Hill and High Street. The Ship, a few yards to the east, was beside the loading point for bricks from a nearby brickfield across what is now the High Street. The passageway through which bricks passed to the canal is still there. The Goat House pub (which has since been demolished) is said to be named after an island in the canal on which goats were kept.

Education

There are many schools in the South Norwood area including Priory Special School,^[4] Heavers Farm Primary School,^[5] Harris City Technology College (to be renamed Harris City Academy Crystal Palace),^[6] South Norwood Primary School,^[7] Cypress Junior School^[8] & Cypress Infant School^[9], St. Chads Roman Catholic Primary School^[10] and St. Marks Primary School
The former Stanley Technical High School is currently being refurbished and is now called the Harris Academy South Norwood^[11] to avoid confusion with the Harris school in nearby Crystal Palace. Many local residents are upset^[12] that the name Stanley was removed from the school, as William Stanley, who had the school built in 1907, is a famous and well regarded figure in South Norwood.^[13]
South Norwood Library is located on Selhurst Road.^[14]

Sports and recreation

Crystal Palace F.C. play at Selhurst Park located on the South Norwood / Selhurst borders. South Norwood contains many leisure facilities owned by Sport Croydon.^[15] South Norwood Leisure Centre on Portland Road is the local leisure centre which after refurbishment will include a 25m swimming pool, a gym, a crèche, a café and more.
South Norwood is home to South Norwood Country Park, a former sewage farm and site of a fireworks factory now converted into a nature reserve. Also available locally are South Norwood Recreation Ground, Heavers Meadow, Brickfields Meadow, Beaulieu Heights, South Norwood Lake and Grounds, Woodside Green and Ashburton Park.

Croydon Sports Arena

Croydon Sports Arena is a multiple use sports arena in South Norwood^[16]. The arena is located on the edge of South Norwood Country Park. Facilities include an eight lane 400m running track, with a centre field and training area for throwing events. The stadium is floodlit. During the winter the inner field becomes a football pitch, home to Croydon F.C
¹⁶. In the summer the stadium is mostly used for athletic events, hosting several large meetings such as the Surrey Athletic Championships and the occasional international event. The arena is used for special events as well as serious sports and training. The stands in the sports arena can hold up to 388 people.
Other clubs who use the stadium are athletics club Striders of London ^[17] and Croydon Harriers
^[18] an athletics club for all ages, all levels in track & field and road & country.^[19]

Transport

Two A roads, the A215 and the A213 are in the South Norwood area. The A213 is the High Street, Penge Road and Selhurst Road. The A215 is Portland Road and South Norwood Hill.

Norwood Junction railway station is situated in the centre of South Norwood just off the High Street. It has 7 platforms but only 5 are in use at the present time. Southern and Southeastern trains run to London Bridge, East and West Croydon stations and urban and rural stations thereafter. The other nearest stations include Selhurst, Anerley and Thornton Heath railway stations.
The Thameslink Programme (formerly known as Thameslink 2000), is a £3.5 billion major project to expand the Thameslink network from 51 to 172 stations^[20]
spreading northwards to Bedford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King's Lynn and southwards to Guildford, Eastbourne, Horsham, Hove to Littlehampton, East Grinstead, Ashford and Dartford. The project includes the lengthening of platforms, station remodelling, new railway infrastructure (e.g. viaduct) and additional rolling stock. If implemented, First Capital Connect services would call at the station.
Transport for London has begun work on the southern extension of the East London Line as part of the London Overground. On completion, proposed services would run between West Croydon and Dalston Junction via London Docklands.
Trams do not run through South Norwood, however the nearest tram stop is Woodside. The route does not pass through South Norwood, though there were initial proposals for a stop. If current proposals for an extension to Crystal Palace^[21] are approved, then a second stop at Penge Road will be opened.
South Norwood is served by many London bus routes. For buses to central London,^[22] daytime routes 196 and 468 run to Elephant and Castle,^[23] while night time route N68 will get you to Tottenham Court Road.^[24] Route 75 is a 24-hour route. There are also two bus stands in South Norwood both at Norwood Junction railway station, one on the west side of the rail lines (for the 197 and the 312 bus routes) and the east side of the lines (for the 130 and 196 bus routes). Other routes include the London Buses route 157 and 410. All of these services are operated by either Selkent, Travel London, Arriva London, Metrobus, London Central and London General.

References

1. Key Figures for 2001 Census: Key Statistics
2. http://www.croydon.nhs.uk/reports/publichealthinf/aphr/2004part4.pdf
3. Girl, 16, charged with stab death
4. School Overview
5. School Overview
6. Parent Teacher Association Conversion meeting
7. School Overview
8. Welcome to Cypress Junior High School
9. Homepage
10. School Overview
11. Harris Academy South Norwood
12. South Norwood residents demand Stanley's name is retained at new Harris Academy
13. Harris Academy, South Norwood
14. South Norwood Library
15. http://www.croydon.gov.uk/leisure/sports/
16. Croydon Sports Arena
17. Club Information
18. Croydon Harriers
19. Croydon Harriers
20.
21. Croydon Tramlink Crystal Palace extension - Public consultation on route options in Anerley and Crystal Palace
22. Central London Bus Map
23. Bus Services from Norwood Junction
24. Bus Route N68

External links

★ History of South Norwood - Metropolitan Police history of the South Norwood area

★ Arthur Conan Doyle's house in South Norwood

★ Virtual Norwood