The Past and Present of Croydon's London Road

The long, low block of shop units at 171–183 London Road is currently rather sparsely occupied; at the time of writing, fewer than half of the units are in use. Moreover, the block itself has only been in existence since the 1960s. I’m therefore going to cover all seven shop units in one article; first, I’ll discuss numbers 171–175, then number 177, and finally numbers 179–183.

Early 1960s: Construction

The grey, utilitarian appearance of this block presents quite a contrast to the ornately moulded and balconied façade of Royal Parade across the road, and offers a strong clue to its era of construction. It was built in the 1960s, as part of a mixed-use development that saw the final sweeping-away of all traces of the land’s original occupant: a grand house with extensive grounds that at their peak stretched from the modern-day Chatfield Road all the way up to Sumner Road.

While a substantial proportion of the grounds were built on during the 1890s, the house itself survived until the early 1960s, when it was demolished to make way for the new development. This consisted of 64 flats (Zodiac Court), office accommodation (Zodiac House), a petrol garage and car showroom, a large ballroom, a small shop tucked underneath the offices, and seven more shops, running along London Road in front of the ballroom space.[1]

Part 1: 171–175 London Road

Midland Bank logo, as photographed by Roy Hughes in the window of an ex-Midland Bank branch at 350 Wheeler Street, Birmingham. This is a modification of Roy’s photo under Creative Commons; original under cc-by-sa and this modification released as cc-by-nc-sa.

1960s–2000s at 171–175: Midland Bank and Forward Trust

Although the seven units were intended as shops, one of the earliest occupants was in fact a bank. Midland Bank was in place by the end of 1966, occupying the two southernmost units: numbers 171 and 173.[2]

This was not the first Midland branch on London Road; there was another of over fifty years’ standing just up the road at number 238, and yet another further up, well beyond Thornton Heath Pond, at number 1050. By August 1967, however, the branch at number 238 had closed; presumably it had been the company’s intention all along to transfer its West Croydon operations from the small corner unit at 238 to the rather larger and newer premises at 171–173.[3]

In May 1968, the Croydon branch of the Forward Trust Finance Company moved its offices from Wellesley Road to 175 London Road, next to the Midland Bank’s double unit. This was no coincidence; although formed as an independent hire purchase company in Birmingham in 1928, Forward Trust was acquired by Midland in 1958, a decade before its arrival on London Road. As a subsidiary of Midland, it offered “credit facilities for motor trade customers, marine dealers and contractors’ plant clients”. Croydon Council granted planning consent only on the condition that “A shopfront [...] shall be provided and maintained” in order “to protect the visual amenities of the area”.[4]

Around 1976, Forward Trust moved to the High Street, and Midland expanded into the now-vacant space.[5] The bank now occupied nearly half the block (and, as described below, it was shortly joined by the United Bank Ltd next door, meaning that during the late 1970s four of the seven units were used for banking). Midland remained here until around 2003, with a rebranding to HSBC along the way, but then departed.[6]

2000s–2010s at 171–175: Anadolu Kıraathanesi, Pêri Community & Social Centre, and Hard Jazz Café

On 17 August 2004, Croydon Council granted planning permission for a “community & social centre for the Kurdish community with advisory & internet cafe facility” at 171–175 London Road. By July 2008, numbers 171–173 were occupied by this centre — Anadolu Kıraathanesi — while number 175 had become an “Anatolian hair salon”.[7]

By November 2011, the hair salon was no more, and number 175 was in the hands of local businessman Ajazz Mir. Having previously run a shisha cafe on Derby Road which closed down after the introduction of the indoor smoking ban, when Ajazz noticed number 175 up to let he immediately saw “the potential [...] for the open space in front [...] to do the shisha, which has become quite popular with people who want a different kind of entertainment or evening out”.[8]

Hard Jazz Café opened in November 2011, offering hot drinks, juices, smoothies, milkshakes, cakes, waffles, soup, and panini with fillings such as chicken seekh kebab, roast beef, and sweet & sour vegetables. However, it closed again less than a year later.[9]

By March 2012, Anadolu Kıraathanesi had been renamed to Pêri Community & Social Centre. At some point it also gave up the right-hand unit, retrenching to number 171 alone. It continued to operate until at least June 2014, but closed down by early 2015.[10]

2010s at 173: Cut & Stitch and Saira Boutique

Meanwhile, number 173 had been taken over by Cut & Stitch/Saira Boutique, a clothes shop and tailors which had previously been housed at the back of Al-Waqt Electrical at number 177. This was in place by August 2012, but closed down again some time between May 2014 and March 2015.[11]

2010s at 171–173: Cash & Carry Beds, Needlez, Anatolia, and Eastern European Food Store

In early 2015, numbers 171 and 173 reopened as a branch of Cash & Carry Beds, which had been operating on Derby Road since at least November 2010 (and which still operates there today). This proved less successful than the original location, however. The company soon reduced its operations to just the single unit at number 171, and departed London Road completely by mid-2016; it never even got around to installing a proper sign.[12]

The halving in size of Cash & Carry Beds left number 173 vacant, but by the end of 2015 it had been reoccupied by Anatolia, a small Turkish coffee shop which at the time of writing sells coffee but no food, and operates more as a private club than as an actual cafe. The black-boarded and almost windowless frontage gives almost no clues as to what lies within, and a stern sign warns that entrance is restricted to “Members Only”.[13]

Following the departure of Cash & Carry Beds, number 171 briefly saw service as a mobile phone and computer repair shop, internet cafe, and dressmaker/tailor called Croydon Mobiles And Computer Repairs. This opened around June 2016, but by October of that year had been replaced by Needlez, a tailors offering “stitching & alterations”. Needlez in turn closed down some time between March and July 2017, and was replaced in October of that year by a grocery shop known simply as Eastern European Food Store.[14]

2010s at 175: Clearance Outlet and Adom

Number 175, previously home to Hard Jazz Café, had also moved into the clothing business. By May 2014, it was a “clearance outlet” offering “exciting prices” on “clothing & accessories”; however, by July 2014 it too was gone, and had been replaced by Adom hairdressers. Adom remains there today, offering services including hair extensions, cornrows, Ghana braid, ear piercing, and eyelash extensions.[15]

Part 2: 177 London Road

1960s–1970s at 177: Interstate Personnel Bureau and Protim Services Ltd

While numbers 171–175 had seen a stable start to their life, with very little change before the start of the 21st century, number 177 had rather more turnover in its early years. In the late 1960s it was occupied by an employment agency known as Interstate Personnel Bureau, which remained here until the early 1970s.

The replacement for Interstate Personnel Bureau was Protim Services Ltd, offering “timber preserving products” and damp proofing. Although the company’s initial planning application claimed that it wanted to use the unit as both offices and showroom, the 50 square feet allotted to the latter use amounted, in the words of a Croydon Council officer, to “little more than a window display, as it would only be 3–4 ft in depth”. However, this was no impediment, as the Council determined that this was not in fact a change of use, and Protim was in place by March 1973. It lasted only a handful of years, and was gone by 1977.

1970s–1980s at 177: United Bank Ltd

Next to arrive at number 177 was United Bank Ltd, an international commercial bank. Originally founded in Pakistan in 1959, it opened a London office at 19 Curzon Street in 1963 and a Croydon office here on London Road around 1977. Having been nationalised in 1972, it would remain in the hands of the Pakistani government for the next 40 years. It remained on London Road for a rather shorter period, however, and by May 1983 had departed Croydon for good.[16]

1980s at 177: Metyclean Ltd

United Bank was replaced by Metyclean Ltd, dealing in typewriters and other office equipment including “hand held computers”. These “computers”, made by Hewlett Packard, were not the more general, multi-purpose sort of computers like today’s tablets or smartphones, but rather programmable calculators which came with accessories such as thermal printers and magnetic card readers. Even this was perhaps too futuristic for the people of West Croydon, as Metyclean remained here only a couple of years and had moved to George Street by mid-1985.[17]

Europcar, 177 London Road, c.1993–1994. Cropped from an image © Brian Mortimer, used under Creative Commons cc-by.[18]

1990s–2000s at 177: Europcar

It’s unclear what number 177 was used for during the second half of the 1980s. A planning application to turn it into “‘The Real McCoy’ fast food take away/burger restaurant” appears to have come to nothing. Another planning application suggests the presence of an estate agent around 1988, but doesn’t give its name.[19]

By early 1992, however, the car hire firm which had previously been in the small shop unit directly underneath Zodiac House had moved to this rather more prominent location.

Originally known as Godfrey Davis, this firm became Godfrey Davis Europcar after a 1981 takeover by the French firm Europcar, and finally dropped the “Godfrey Davis” part altogether. It remained at 177 London Road for at least a decade, but was gone by mid-2009.[20]

c.2010–2017 at 177: Al-Waqt Electrical and Broadway 4

By November 2010, Europcar had been replaced by Al-Waqt Electrical, a small business dealing in “electronics, computers, mobiles, watches & accessories”. Like many other small businesses of its type, it also offered Western Union money transfer and Lycamobile calling cards.[21]

Al-Waqt Electrical rebranded to Broadway 4 around the beginning of 2014, but closed down for good in 2017.[22]

Part 3: 179–183 London Road

1960s–1970s at 179–183: Croydon Grill, Larissa, Moss Bros, Ming’s Chinese Restaurant, Curry Garden, and Croydon Tandoori

We now turn to the three units at the north end of the block: numbers 179–183. As described above, their neighbours at numbers 171–177 were all either banks or offices for the first 15 or so years of their lives, but this end of the block was rather more diverse. By April 1968, all three units were occupied: number 179 by the Croydon Grill, 181 by Larissa Boutique, and 183 by Moss Bros menswear.[23]

According to Ron, who worked at the Top Rank Suite from 1967 to 1969, the Croydon Grill was “a sit down and eat” restaurant with “a very modern clean interior”, that was “used often by all [the] Top Rank team”. It served meals such as burger and chips, among other things. Ron’s favourite meal there was tinned ravioli and chips, followed by “a slice of their delicious (a large) apple pie which was delivered fresh every day”. It was open by August 1967, and remained until around 1972.[24]

Meanwhile, all was change at number 181. Larissa was very swiftly replaced by Ming’s Chinese Restaurant, which in turn became an Indian restaurant called Curry Garden — all of this by mid-1971. Curry Garden became Croydon Tandoori around 1973 (possibly a change of management, possibly just a rebrand); this remained until around 1977.[25]

Moss Bros was the most persistent of the three original inhabitants, remaining at number 183 until the late 1970s before moving to Norfolk House, Wellesley Road. It was similarly persistent in its new home; in fact, it’s still there today.[26]

1976: Arrival of The Cartoon

Probably the most memorable occupant of the entire block — and, among a certain segment of the population, the most well-loved — was The Cartoon. This pub and live music venue was opened in 1976 by Stuart Wilder, who had previously been landlord at the Rising Sun a little further up the road. Stuart was a customer at the previous rather short-lived occupant of number 179 — the Old Vine wine bar, run by Arthur Schlereth — and seems to have considered it just the right place to buy when he “fancied running a place of his own”.[27]

According to Dave Holman, who later became the manager of The Cartoon, it “was really known in those days as a wine bar and probably one of the first of its kind in the area” as well as being “among the first places to serve ‘real ale’” with “barrels of Royal Oak on the bar”. Indeed, it was included in a guide published by the Campaign for Real Ale in the early 1980s, Real Ale in South London, with the listed ales including Dorchester Bitter, Dorset Original IPA, and Royal Oak from the Eldridge Pope brewery, as well as Tiger and Old Original from Everards.[28]

The Cartoon originally occupied just the single unit at number 179, but a year or so later it expanded into the next-door unit at number 181 that had been left vacant by the departure of Croydon Tandoori. The division between the two units was “knocked through”, ensuring that customers “could still see the stage from almost anywhere along the bar”.[29]

According to Chris Groom, whose book Rockin’ and Around Croydon documents the history of rock, folk, blues, and jazz in the local area between 1960 and 1980, the live music side of things was almost accidental:[30]

It was originally a pub/wine bar catering for the working population of Broad Green and West Croydon and the live music only started to appear when a few occasional singers performed on a Friday and Saturday night.

As these impromptu sessions became popular, Dave Holman was employed as bar manager with a particular mission to increase and improve the live music side of the business. With a new venue for groups to play, word quickly spread amongst local musicians and bands who emerged to fill every available slot and pretty soon The Cartoon began their seven nights-a-week music policy, making it a haven for live music fans right across South East London.

1979: Audition night at The Cartoon

Paul Wright, whose band The Transistors played at one of The Cartoon’s audition nights in 1979, remembers the venue well:[31]

Punk Rock exploded during 1977 and broke down a number of social barriers. Groups like the Sex Pistols and The Clash showed that you no longer had to be a great musician to play in a band, anyone could do it. Kids began to pick-up guitars, learn a few chords and write their own songs. [...]

I joined local punk band Sid & The Suspects in 1978 as the lead singer. We played a gig at a youth club in Beckenham but the band didn’t last very long, and I joined The Transistors in 1979. We were four teenagers who wrote our own songs and practiced regularly. We played a few gigs at youth clubs and school discos and gradually built-up a small local following. Around this time someone suggested to us that The Transistors should play a gig at The Cartoon pub in Croydon.

The Cartoon had been at 179–183 London Road since 1976 and had a good reputation as a live music venue. After making some enquiries we were told to give the manager a demo tape of our songs. He would listen to our music and if he liked it we would be invited to play at The Cartoon on audition night. We handed the manager a cassette of our songs and we were invited to play on an audition night in 1979. Bands didn’t get paid for audition nights but there was always the chance of being asked back to play on a regular basis, and be paid for it.

We enjoyed the thrill of playing at The Cartoon, our first gig at a proper music venue. The Transistors were a New Wave band belting out angry songs, but by 1979 the music scene was changing. There was a Ska revival led by The Specials and Madness, and the emergence of synthesiser bands who went on to dominate the pop charts in the early 1980s. We were already looking dated, and perhaps not surprisingly we weren’t asked back.

1980s: Further expansion despite objections from local residents

The Cartoon expanded further in the late 1980s, taking over number 183 for a total of three of the seven shop units. This move was somewhat unpopular with certain of the local residents, one of whom wrote to Croydon Council pleading with them to “For god’s sake think of the residents and say NO!”:[32]

Since buying property in this area in 1980 I have had to put up with Motor Bikes being parked all over the pavement while the said establishment is open [...] these premises have a license until 12.00 Midnight whereupon I then have to listen to all of these Bikes being revved up until they finally vacate the area.

For the last few years the said premises have had a live Band playing so-called ‘Rock’ music every night, plus Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes [...] I am fed up living opposite a bloody open air festival of pure noise.

Despite this passionate objection, Croydon Council granted permission for the expansion on 22 September 1988.

Early 1990s: Three bands for £2

The Cartoon continued to have a reputation for live music throughout the 1990s. Simon Landmine, who lived in Purley from the age of 13 to 18, spent “pretty much every Wednesday evening there for a year or more at the turn of the 90s”:[34]

Wednesday nights were “three bands for £2” nights [£4.17 in 2016 prices] put on by Phil and Ian (who later put on the Raw Rock rock night on Saturdays at The Stairway, above the Blue Anchor). Usually at least one local band (to guarantee a crowd of local punters). I started going because I knew people in some of the bands (via school and youth club — Croydon had a thriving local rock scene in the late 80s), and stopped when I left Croydon to go to university. Local scene bands included Hazard, 17 Crash, The Sluts, A&D (Armed & Dangerous), Leviathan, and Flight 16 (who actually managed to score a record deal with Sony and a couple of US and European tours before self-combusting as one might expect [...]).

There were bands on other nights too, but they tended to cost more, so [our visits on those nights] weren't such a regular thing, unless it was a band we actually wanted to see.

Door staff were drawn from a cast of famously intimidating bikers — I have vague memories of the names Big Mick, and possibly Bill, although that might have been the guy who lived at one end of the bar — so there was often a custom Harley or two pulled up next to the wall outside the door. In the summer there were somewhat hopeful picnic tables outside. Oh, and obviously it smelt of cigarette smoke, as did any clothes you wore there.

Drummer Robert Lowe, whose band Abbfinoosty made regular appearances at The Cartoon around the same time, also has “many happy memories” from “the late 80’s/early 90’s”:[35]

It was always packed, always loud, always hot [...] As a small venue it was one of those places you were up close and personal with the crowd. [...] We played there as support to a few semi famous bands and soon became the headline Saturday night act. We built up a good local following there, we got paid well and it became a regular thing for us.

I always remember the sound on stage being pretty good for a small venue, although some of the people who watched us play there told me we made the building shake. We worked with a couple of resident sound engineers, one of whom in particular loved us and worked a light show around our music.

Chris White, who “ran the music side of the venue for about two years” around 1991–1993, recalled “an eclectic mix of people” as well as varied styles of music:[36]

We averaged three sell out nights a week, and had a very vibrant scene going on. Monday nights were an open night and audition night, and was free to get in. Tuesday was Indie night. Wednesday was the famous Raw Rock, and this was the rock night run by two other promoters, Ian Askew and Phill Kingdon. Thursday was soul night, and then Friday and Saturday were a mixture of the various headline bands that we would slowly rotate on a three of [sic] four month basis. And then Sunday lunch would be Blues bands! [...]

I think the one constant set of memories that I fondly return to would be working the lights for the bands, and between me and the musicians we would hypnotize the audience into complete silence, and when the song finished, the explosion of applause. That's when you know you've done a good job.

Late 1990s: A brief diversion into chrome and cocktails

A brief experiment around the end of the 1990s saw The Cartoon become The Cool Room, with a “new look” including “neon, chrome, cocktails and bottled lager”. However, according to Chris Groom:[37]

[...] the booking policy tried too hard to cater for every taste; comedy nights & club nights equalled less live music and consequently fewer punters. [...] the new system failed to work and it was a huge relief when Noel [Nevin] arrived on the scene; the old name reappeared over the door, along with the original cartoon back on the wall and the seven nights-a-week hard rock, rhythm and blues policy was reinstated.”

The Fall, The Cartoon, March 2006. Image © clayts450, used under Creative Commons cc-by-nc-nd.

2006: The Fall and the end

The Cartoon scored something of a coup in 2006 — the year of its 30th anniversary — as it booked The Fall for a four-night run from 12–15 March.[39]

The national newspapers were somewhat dismissive of the venue, describing it as being “in a grim Seventies municipal block on the London Road”, with the band being “obscured (depending where you are) by pillars or speaker cabinets”.[40]

Fan reactions were more enthusiastic. One described the third night as “A storming set” in which “Mark stayed on stage for the entire time” (not always a given with The Fall) and the “band were as tight as I've ever seen them.” Another, who was there on the fourth and final night, described it as “the best Fall gig I have seen. They were so together and focussed [...] Everything was played fairly straight and with amost [sic] no mucking about but at a real intensity”.[41]

This appears to have been part of something of a relaunch of the venue; according to a post on the Urban75 forums, around the start of the year a new owner had “bought The cartoon, [...] tried to revamp it up a bit, and [...] booked The Fall for 4 nights in March (as well as Chas n Dave and Chumbawamba).”[42]

However, the final end for The Cartoon was already in sight. Towards the end of the year, “news filtered through” that it “was to close its doors for the last time”, and by early December, its website bore the mournful message that “The Cartoon has unfortunately had to close.” As Robert Lowe told me a decade later, “It was a tragic shame [...] as the local crowd fragmented and there are not many unique and dedicated music venues around like this.”[43]

The interior of the Cartoon after it closed. Images © lesbub, used by permission.

2009–2010: The Club

The premises remained vacant for three years after The Cartoon closed, but in November 2009 the façade was “painted over” in preparation to become a “dance club”.[44] The new owner, former Radio 1 DJ Chris Goldfinger, told the Croydon Advertiser that the new venue would be named simply “The Club”, because it was “going to be the club in Croydon to go to”. A diverse range of music was planned: pop on Wednesdays; R & B, jazz, and soul on Thursdays; 70s and 80s disco on Fridays; and reggae on Saturdays. The original stage from the Cartoon days would be left intact, offering the possibility that live music could be reintroduced in the future.[45]

Despite the intention for “Security [...] to be paramount”, with “a metal detector arch at the entrance doorway and [...] a team of security staff operating on the doors and inside the club itself”, The Club was forced to close just a year after opening, as Croydon Council suspended its licence “following a request from the police Licensing Unit”. Police told the Croydon Advertiser that there had been “a number of incidents of violent disorder”, and although owner Chris claimed that there had only been “some small incidents like people being bottled”, on 29 December 2010 the council’s licensing committee agreed to revoke The Club’s licence permanently.[46]

2012–c.2014: Tabú Lounge

Over the next couple of years, The Club remained in Chris’s hands but also remained closed to the general public, though several one-off events were hosted there. These included a “Nut & Bolt” Valentine’s party on Saturday 13 February 2012, with advertisements specifying a “red & white” dress code and promising that “Every king will recieve [sic] a bolt, every queen will recieve a nut and the right connection will recieve a cash price [sic] on the night”.[47] The fact that all these events passed “without incident” may have been a factor in Croydon Council’s decision in September 2012 to allow another attempt at operating a club on the premises.[48]

“What’s on” board at Tabú Lounge, May 2013. Photo: author’s own.

Curry goat from Sharon’s Cuisine, a Caribbean takeaway operating from the basement of Tabú Lounge, July 2014. Photo (and kitchen counter): author’s own.

Tabú Lounge, an “over-25s venue” aiming to attract “respectable and law-abiding clientele” was granted permission to open on the conditions that its membership scheme was up and running within 12 months, ID scanners were used at all times, and all drinks were served in plastic containers.[49]

The new club opened in November 2012, and was initially overseen by a manager, Everton Daniels. In March 2014, however, Chris was “pleasantly surprised” to find that Croydon Council were willing to transfer day-to-day running to him, despite a police submission claiming that this would “significantly increase the risk of crime and disorder” and describing Tabú Lounge as a “dying business with outstanding rent arrears”.[50]

By mid-2015, clubbers were warning that “We’re about to lose another club [...] the Tabu Lounge is going shame!!! Another black venue as gone…” It’s not clear exactly when it closed, but by Spring 2016 the entrance doors were blocked off and the forecourt covered with construction materials for the conversion of Vistec House next door. It remains to be seen whether the premises will ever host live music again.[51]