Waddon Ponds And Kennards

A Memory of Croydon.

I remember beautiful Waddon ponds with its ducks, and coots and swans, and cycling around the park. I also remember the trolley buses that went up to Croydon, and going to Kennards, and the ponies and the arcade, I still dream of it even now, and the Walls ice cream factory in Purley Way with the ice cream machine outside, and the sound of the factory hooters and the sound of the aeroplanes. I think they built a big Sainsbury's on top of Purley Way but Sainsbury's used to be in Church Street with the Co-op and lots of other shops. I also remember going up to Crown Hill where there was a big coloured lighting sign in the evenings, I expect a lot of this is gone now, it was all so beautiful. Looking back now, I remember how they tried to demolish the Town Hall and everything, but that it is still there now. Dad had the bike shop in Purley Way, Coopers, when everyone cycled and we sold Trojans mini motors too and motorbikes, a long long time ago. They used to sell evening papers on the corner by the junction and we could actually count the cars in those days and take down their numbers! I hardly ever get back there now and our shop has been combined with two others, the old sweetshop on the corner of Lodge Parade and the Greengrocers and now it is all one big mini-supermarket.

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