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Borderlands: Surrey/Kent vs. Croydon/Bromley

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One question I've never quite been able to answer definitively is whether Croydon is in South East or South West London. It's just South, like the old South Central rail franchise. Perhaps postcodes will give me a clue? Some parts of South Norwood have SE postcodes, while parts of Norbury have SW postcodes. The CR postcode also covers Mitcham, which is in Merton, and Caterham and Warlingham, which are outside of London. Sign showing the boundary of London and Surrey in Caterham on the Hill According to the NHS, Croydon is part of South West London, being in South West London ICB. Our waste management contract is part of the South London Waste Partnership.  To the east of Croydon is the historic boundary between Surrey and Kent. This would suggest that we're in South West London.  This site has an interactive map showing the former boundary . 20mph speed limit is standard for most roads in Croydon You're probably wondering why this matters. Sometimes it's necessary t...
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Crystal Palace Park: Dinosaurs and birds

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For a child who's seen Jurassic Park, the dinosaurs at Crystal Palace Park must seem a bit of a let down, since they are made of concrete and can't move. Personally, I'd rather live near them than the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar.  Iguanadons and Hylaeosaurus (on right), April 2023 Birds are now considered to be dinosaurs , so I suppose it's appropriate that they live among the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park. I am an avid birder and many of my photos of the dinosaurs include birds on or around them. The theme of this blog post will be the way the dinosaurs blend into their environment and are integrated into the habitat by local wildlife.  Some facts about the dinosaurs: Most of them are not strictly dinosaurs, but they're all based on real prehistoric creatures They were created on site by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, with scientific advice from Sir Richard Owen They were based on the best knowledge available at the time, but in some cases there was quite a lot of ar...
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Crystal Palace Park: Victorian Subway

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Crystal Palace Park is a fascinating place with over 170 years of history, since it was selected as the new home for the building that housed the Great Exhibition of 1851. I have plans for a series of blog posts about this site because there's so much to cover and I have a huge number of photos. While the park sits in the London Borough of Bromley, it's right on the boundary of Croydon, Lambeth, Bromley, Southwark and Lewisham.  To cut a long story very short, Crystal Palace Park opened in 1854, and the Crystal Palace itself sadly burned down in 1936. The park still has a variety of attractions, including lifesize models of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, an outdoor concert venue, several lakes, a maze and a large sports centre. Last year park management was handed over to the Crystal Palace Park Trust , a charity with big ambitions for the site. They are securing funding to restore parts of the park, including the dinosaurs. Current Crystal Palace train station Curr...
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