The Unexpected Beauty of Croydon

Over in Shirley, in the east of the borough of Croydon, there are some beautiful privately-owned green spaces which the public are sometimes allowed to visit.  MHA The Wilderness Garden rhododendron "Cynthia", April 2026 MHA The Wilderness Garden is a beautiful ornamental garden tucked away behind a nursing home on Shirley Church Road. The site was originally the garden of the Reverend William Wilks, who was vicar of nearby St John's Church and a renowned horticulturist. He was heavily involved with the Royal Horticultural Society, becoming its secretary and journal editor. His interest in hybridising plants produced the Shirley poppy, while his style of gardening was "wild", with a variety of habitats including a bog garden.  Bog garden, April 2024 The garden was sadly left to decline for many years, but the MHA charity have been restoring it and it is looking beautiful. When I visited in late April, a number of different varieties of rhododendron were in full ...

There are easier places to go looking for wildlife, but I like seeing it in unexpected environments. All these photos were taken on the same hot day in July 2026.  Small white butterfly on buddleia outside St George's House The facade of the ends of St George's House will probably be familiar to people who frequent Croydon. The former home of Nestle UK, this 24-storey tower has sadly been empty since 2012. There have been plans to convert it to housing, most recently by using the existing structure as part of three towers of different heights. The interior was gutted and many windows removed, while a number of surrounding buildings were demolished, but the work stalled when the Chinese-owned development company went bust. It is unclear what the future is of this area. There's more detail and photos on this thread on the Skyscraper City forum .  SEGAS House Croydon Neighbouring SEGAS House was originally Croydon's gas showroom, a short distance from the former electricit...

A tram at Waddon Marsh on Purley Way It's not a bus, it's not a train... it's a tram! Since 2000, trams have been a key part of transport in Croydon and along the routes to Beckenham, Elmers End, New Addington and Wimbledon. You can read about the history of the Croydon tram system on Wikipedia . It opened in 2000 after literally decades of planning. Part of it runs on former railway lines, while other parts run on or parallel to roads.  I use trams often, as they're fast and direct. The "hopper" fare means you can combine trams and buses in the same journey. I'm going to write about what there is to see around some of the tram stops, beginning with Addington Village Interchange. Addington Village Interchange doesn't seem particularly remarkable at first glance. It's a tram stop and a small bus station with fields on one side and a busy dual carriageway on the other. Ideal if you want to switch between buses or between bus and tram.  Two male pheas...

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...