West Croydon, Broad Green Area, is a locality to the north west of central Croydon inside the London Borough of Croydon West Croydon is a largely residential district, with little by way of open spaces.

The key roads of Purley Way (A23) and London Road pass across the area. Purley Way is known for it’s monstrosity of superstores, particularly IKEA built on the site of a former power plant. The remaining towers of the power plant, topped with IKEA colours, are a localised landmark. London Road is an important shopping area, particularly for the South Asian and Turkish communities. I grew up in West Croydon and one of my persistent childhood memories, is one of tress in cages. The small number of tress in the area, were surrounded by caging to protect them from damage. I had never seen this before in any other area that I had visited!

West Croydon station, on the north side of central Croydon, and serves as an important transport hub for Croydon and surrounding areas, with a train station, bus terminal and Tramlink stop; there are plans for it to form part of the extension of the East London Line. Since I was a child, extending the London Tube to West Croydon has been talked about but never acted upon.

Croydon General Hospital was located in West Croydon, on London Road. With the building of Mayday Hospital, Croydon General services were reduced and it eventually closed except for administrative offices in its grounds. It’s recently been demolished for housing. Croydon Crematorium and Cemetery are at the northern edge of West Croydon, bordering Mitcham Common.

Broad Green is a smallish community at the centre of the West Croydon area. Broad Green describes a triangular green surrounded by shops and large houses. The green was built upon by the end of the 19th century, so there is nothing green about it anymore! Most of West Croydon is in an electoral ward known as “Broad Green”, The old ABC then Safari Cinema is located in West Croydon.

The entrance to West Croydon railway station is on London Road, a short distance from the town’s main shopping area. Trains run to London Victoria, London Bridge and Sutton, and from there to west Surrey and parts of West Sussex such as Brighton.

A short distance from the railroad station entrance is Station Road, where West Croydon bus depot and tram stop are located. The tram stop is next to but inaccessible from the rail platforms and there are long-term plans as part of an overall development to have better connections between the two. All three Tramlink routes use West Croydon, which is on the unidirectional loop around central Croydon. As the council were busy digging up Croydon to lay tram routes and lines, I became aware of many elderly Croydon resident standing around watching and laughing about the whole affair. Many remember the old original  tram lines being dug up and concreted over and find it quite amusing to see the hassle and expense it’s caused the council having to replace them again years later.

From 1809 to 1836 the site of the station was the terminal basin of the Croydon Canal. The canal was drained and became part of the route of the London & Croydon Railway, opening on 5 June 1839. In 1845 the L&C inaugurated down the atmospheric system of propulsion; it worked for about a year but wasn’t successful. The canal basin was served by a short private branch from the terminus of the Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) at Pitlake. From 1855 the station was the terminus of the West Croydon-Wimbledon line, which followed much of the route of the SIR. This line closed in 1997, to be replaced by Tramlink. Platform 2, the terminal bay for the Wimbledon line, is now trackless.A sad event occurred here in 1912 when the brilliant black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), resident of Croydon, collapsed from overwork and pneumonia, dying a couple of days later.

West Croydon’s best point I feel is the quality and diverseness of ethnic food to enjoy. I’ve had some of the best Indian food anywhere, from West Croydon. I also love the fact that you can purchase some very exotic food/cooking items there with ease. It must be admitted however, that West Croydon  isn’t the greenest region of Croydon to inhabit.