Five things you possibly didn't know about Croydon
Welcome back to Londonist: Croydon Edit. Piloted by Londonist editor and Croydonian Will Noble, it's about all things in the borough of Croydon. This edition is exclusively for paid subscribers. (By the way, there won’t be a free newsletter on 28 November — I’ll be back with another paid-for newsletter on Thurs 5 December.)
It’s home to a super realistic tram simulator
In the corner of a room at the tram depot in Therapia Lane is a simulator, which reproduces the entire tram network—including the streets of central Croydon—in highly realistic detail. I was fortunate enough to be given a go on the simulator when I visited in 2023. It allows for all manner of training scenarios. If you want to throw heavy traffic or unpredictable drivers into the algorithm, you can. But even when conditions are good, driving a tram isn't as easy as you might think. I was told by tram driver Richard Perry that Tube and train drivers have used this simulator, shaken their heads and muttered: "'Not a chance. No way would I ever do that". Rail transport tends to be heavily automated nowadays, but piloting a tram is still very much manual. "You drive that tram as if somebody's going to walk out in front of you all the time," says Richard.
It’s linked to some of the most famous caped figures from history
Sherlock Holmes. Darth Vader. Batman. Three very well-known caped figures from fiction. What links them all? Why, Croydon, of course! Stick with me on this one:
Sherlock Holmes: Arthur Conan-Doyle lived in Norwood for a while, and set some of his short stories, here, including The Adventure of the Cardboard Box. Said ‘adventure’ begins after, Holmes says to Watson: “Have you observed in the paper a short paragraph referring to the remarkable contents of a packet sent through the post to Miss Susan Cushing, of Cross Street, Croydon?' (Read the whole story here.) As a sidebar, one of the many TV incarnations of Holmes was played by Peter Cushing, who had a beautiful art deco place in Kenley (recently part of the Open House festival). Cushing also played a bunch of Van Helsings in Hammer Horror’s various Dracula films—Dracula, of course, well known for his cape-swishing ways.
Darth Vader: