Cronxicles: December 2024
Croydon news and things to do
Welcome back to Londonist: Croydon Edit. Piloted by Londonist editor and Croydonian Will Noble, it's about all things in the borough of Croydon. Cronxicles is my monthly round up for paid subscribers: Croydon news (largely the positive kind), and what to look forward to in the month ahead.
📢 Shameless plug alert 📢 My book, Croydonopolis: A Journey to the Greatest City That Never Was, is now available to buy from various places online as well as Waterstones Croydon (where I’ve just signed a bunch of copies). Will make an excellent Christmas present for Croydon lovers and the Croydon curious. 😉
What’s new in Croydon
WESTFIELD: Uh oh, it’s the ‘W’ word again! The latest news on the will-they-won’t-they Westfield development is that it’s ‘definitely happening’, but with a notably less retail-heavy bent. The site of the current Whitgift Centre will, we are told, be divvied into Whitgift North (featuring residential and community spaces) and Whitgift South (retail, car parking, more housing, and a new public space called Anchor Square). Construction work could begin in 2028 (over a decade after the initial Westfield Croydon was supposed to be finished!), but by now we all know to take such scheduling with a fistful of salt.
PADEL: From the multitude of press releases I get at Londonist, the two trendy sports of the moment seem to be boules (mais oui) and padel. The latter is a kind of tennis/squash hybrid—and next year, it’ll make its mark on the Cronx, when a new Rocket Padel club—featuring nine courts—opens up near East Croydon station. Better get practising…