@@richardwallace5226 it wasn't really that peaceful we moved out of Croydon in 1986 because of a stabbing near our house the knife was found in our front garden bush I moved backed to Croydon in 2006 and it's still the same shit hole as it was back then only thing is we have internet and we can see anything that happens in Croydon via the world wide web
@@Dirkspage Open eyes Your talking about 1 stabbing that was in your rd. The fact is knife crime back in 80/90s was a rare occurrence compared to the knife crime of today in certain parts of London. Since open borders in early 2000s it became a regular thing. I live just out side of Croydon and there is always some one being stabbed. It's a part of life hearing about it now. LONDON was one of the safest if not the safest cities in the world when i was growing up in London. generally speaking. It's silly to compare it.
@[KD] Skullet - don't think I did. To clarify, the architecture in the 1980s at those points was basically unchanged versus the early naughties. Subsequently there has been a lot of development in the area.
Ahh!!! This is the Croydon of my boyhood growing up in the 80s!! Been living in the U.S. for 27 years now. Didn't get a chance to actually explore Croydon my last trip back in November 2019, but from what I saw when I got off the train at East Croydon Station, so much has changed. I remember both the brick structure of East Croydon Station back in the 80s and was around in the early 90s when they reconstructed the station to what it is today before I immigrated to the States in 1995. The NLA Tower is one of the few iconic landmark buildings that I still recognised on my 2019 visit. Great memories!!!
Hah, I worked on Wellesley Road between 1990 and 1994, just around the corner from the station. What you say is so spot on. Office workers everywhere, guys in suits and ties and women in skirts and freshly pressed blouses. I had to go up to Clapham Junction and back down every morning and night because I was on a different line. What a nightmare. I ended up moving to the US myself in 1994. How fun. Now, after many years back in the UK. I wonder what Croydon looks like these days. I should take a look.
Sadly, it's not really recovered since the 2008 crash. A lot of the offices closed down after the recession and the shops in the Whitgift Centre were closed for the Westfield shopping centre but this got cancelled. Hope it will recover one day.
I lived off West Croydon for 3 months and left in June 2020. West Croydon is not a desirable place to raise a family to be honest. However, this clip is mostly of East Croydon and the town centre which looks the same to me 👀
Croydon was a working town, full of office workers who would frequent pubs, cafes and shops on their lunch break or after work. I always remember it being pretty quite before and after lunch as people were in their offices working away. Now its a complete overcrowded constantly busy mess.
as someone who lives 5 mins from east croydon and been to every single place shown in this video, it’s sad seeing what it’s become especially what happened recently when that guy got stabbed in his neck after fighting with someone on a bus
Wow! I grew up in Croydon in the 80s. I moved out in 89 aged 14 and watching this brings back so many memories. I used to be able to see the Phillips tower from my bedroom window.
@@lluckyb8527 Exactly mate. I will always vote Tory. Not because I particularly want them to govern but it always has been and always will be a 2 horse race and I DO NOT want another Labour government.
Lord, that look so cool. Not so much traffic, you could actually drive peacefully without hitting anyone. Now, it’s filled with wannabe gangsters every corner you go!
@@smashb3766 im too old for this shit now, these kids wouldnt last in my heydays! I was more of fist person rather than your folks who talks with blades and baseball bats...
@@Wild-Storm Blades and baseball bats have been used in London since the 60s it’s nothing new. Age doesn’t matter, you’re simply all talk and can only make empty comments online.
I had many happy lunch breaks walking around the centre of Croydon. People used to think I was a manager in Woolworths because I was wearing a cheap suit!
Used to be a pleasant environment now all that is left of those days is the Left over neo-classical Croydon airport (mentioned in some of the golden age films)
@@unbiasedcritic9714 intelligent feedback. Thanks. If there’s any part of what I said is inaccurate please feel free to correct me. The place is a dump Compared to 20-30 years ago. Gang related crime and incidences of knife crime are up and the place is so far gone a lot of the shops were empty even before lockdown. It’s just become a place for inner London boroughs to ship their crap out to. No one wants to work there and some long-standing businesses have moved out. What has being a man got to do with it? I work hard, have my own house, don’t treat benefits like a guaranteed income and I’ve brought up two very well balanced kids who will be contributors to society and the economy rather than takers. ‘Shut up’ seems to be the most intelligent comment you’ll get out of the mouth of the average Croydon simpleton these days.
@@SP-lw7mr if your not involved in that life at all then you have nothing to worry about. If You’re a civilian then just worry about going to work, school or whatever you do and just get back home safely. The only people that have to worry about that are people already involved in that lifestyle. You’re safe so don’t worry
@@unbiasedcritic9714 ‘civilian’? Grow up. People get stabbed for the their wristwatches and phones in Croydon. I wouldn’t give a toss if the only lives affected were wannabe gangstas but it’s not. It makes an area shit and then people moan the areas that BAME people live in are shit when it’s self inflicted. It’s a shame the indigenous have to relocate whilst the country turns in to one large slum.
@Who wants to be a millionaire? the country has been majority white with Europeans for as long as you care to go back in history. By cringeworthy do you mean uncomfortable truth? If you feel you have some facts to the contrary then just feel free to pass them on. Which blacks have been dominant in the UK? The Romans? The Normans? Do tell?
Most my time there was before the trams. I watched them remove the old railway lines before they placed the tram along some of the old route. I also walked at night along where the old train lines were after they were removed (under the bridge at Sandilands), and went up under an old station platform and then to one of the tunnels. That was great fun but scary!
It’s either that or being stuck in the nasty tower blocks with damp and mould and risk of electrocution. Why are we paying council tax to this incompetent lot, I do not want to be in a society where our most vulnerable are left to die
People saying they are sad to see how different it looks now, but I have been born and bred here and just walked these streets today and it's practically the same with just new storefronts. Edit: And trams
Maybe you should take off the rose tinted spectacles and look around and see all the closed shops, bars and restaurants that used to exist, The newly built sky scraper social housing developments The non white population that hardly live there any more.
@@richardwallace5226 I'm happy in my rose tinted glasses thanks. I'd rather live happy than die miserably x Thanks for providing age old wisdom that I didn't ask for though.
@@FriendlyNeighborhoodLawyer If you are happy being a deluded slave to a corrupt system that hates you THAT is your choice. If that is your idea of happiness I really do feel sorry for you. Regardless of all the problems going on in the world i would rather face up to the reality of the WORLD we live in rather than be a useful brain washed individual to this system.
Iranian embassy seige... a spate of plane hijackings throughout the 1970s... The Yorkshire ripper... Harold Shipman... The cold war... just to name a few. You people are having your minds twisted and deranged into believing somehow horrific and vile crimes and violence are new and back when we were young was somehow utopia. Utter bollox mate, get your head out of the tabloids. They feed you highly specific, cherry picked stories to wind you up like this.
@@dondraper2488 Yes it did!.. You also missed the Great wall of China, Moon landings and I think if I am correct President Kennedy was shot driving along wellesley road... Tha'ts some borough!!!
Lovely to see the the British population enjoying there capitol with uncrowded roads and pavements and most prevalent was the fact it was safe to walk the streets, we have gone backwards in personal safety on our streets wonder why that this.
Back then Croydon was not part of London, it was part of Surrey, so not in the capital. Some years ago they changed it. It was part of the Greater London Council (GLC) in the 80's and often referred to as Outer London, but it was not officially part of London until the change.
Growing up on the 80s I remember it was alot cleaner in them days people actually sat on there front door with neibours and actually talked with a cup of tea.
I remember that too Peter,. We all 'seemed' to be more appreciative of one another. We loved our neighbours on both side and looked out for one another even financially at times until they could pay back. Built on trust and honesty. Mum still does that with her neighbour. :)
@Bingus Khan that aspect of it doesn't bother me much just the closure of all the grand shops like Allders, C&A, Debenhams and others has now changed the place into a ghost town. The magic there is gone, Bingus khan.
@@whitedovepink Too right. Goodness knows what will be left after the pandemic has run its course. High street shopping used to be pleasant and a day out. Not anymore.
Frustratingly Croydon IS now in London, whereas when I was living there it was officially in Surrey. Why they had to change it, I don't know. Croydon has never been anything like true London though. I think now it's actually a lot worse, from all I've heard.
the layout is exactly the same some buildings are still there even however the differences are: the train station got changed, Sainsbury's, Barclays opposite side, the TRAAAM lines and stations are not there, the bus lane on Wellesley road isn't there, The Quarters apartment and adjacent building, the Pinnacle was not built yet LOL and last but not least the lovely people now it is full of weed smell, beggars, drug dealers. I remember at 11:00 it was so unsafe!
started work 1983 in the Three’penny bit building - English Insurance Co. Old EC Station much nicer and more comfortable than now. you could easily wait to pick up people no problem no one way system no tram tracks no CCTV no road humps. a pleasant town centre. now destroyed. Allders gone the high st lost its vitality when traffic was banned.
Can someone explain in short what happened to croydon? I went to selhurst high for boys 2000-2005 and quite possibly witnessed the beginning of the decline. Croydon was always rough i believed, but i hear it's worse now? Not sure I don't go there any more. Looking at this video and being in Croydon few times back in the day it seemed like croydon was destined to become the Canary wharf of South London. Now its quite the opposite
Reading the comments is depressing but not supprising. Depressing because I'm consistently seeing people in this country vote against their own interests in some misplaced belief as where their nations problems lay, but. Not surprising because this is how oligarchical capitalist governments want their populations to think. It would make far more sense if you blamed the internet or automation for Croydon's demise, rather than the last immigrants. Because although still rather a simplistic analysis of the problem, the internet and automation have far more blame to be shared regarding the deterioration of croydon's high streets than Immigrants do. I grew up in Croydon. Park hill in the 80s went to school in Caterham a little further out. My dad worked as an accountant for Hill Samuel in the famous 50 pence tower. He is one fo the "Foreigners" so many of you in here seem to complain about. I had what could be called an Idyllic childhood. Croydon was back then a clean, safe and enjoyable environment to grow up in. I loved growing up there and as a child of African immigrants we did face isolated incidents of racism but nothing to effected our lives to any large degree. One thing I can agree with people in this thread is that over the recent decades croydon has deteriorated rapidly. What I don't agree with are the causes i'm reading regarding this deterioration. It's common to hear the immigration complaint but I'm not prepared to debate for or against immigration, because it is absolutely a separate issue if you understand the factors of the deterioration of Croydon and towns like it the world over. Also immigration is government policy for nations who have inverse birthrate even if they pay lip service to the voter base by saying they will "Clap down on immigrations" a modern capitalist economy as they are currently set out cannot ruction adequately without a steady stream of immigration. the graphs off GDP and Imigration do have correlation. Anyway I digress. I moved away from croydon to go to university in 2001 and settled in Highbury but every time I went back to croydon to visit my parents I saw more deterioration, more poverty, disappearing jobs.. every time I'd see a new shop closed that had been there for 40 years, only to be replaced by a cash converters, a 1 pound shop or just to become an empty boarded up former store front. This my people, is late stage Oligarchical Capitalism. Blue collar jobs disappearing first, slowly white collar jobs disappearing, automation, call centres and off shore out sourcing to populations eager to do the same jobs at lower wages disenfranchised youth who see dystopian future rather than opportunities and so on and so on. this is happening the world over in towns of heavy immigration and towns of absolute homogeny. I see this in town in Japan where there are no foreigners and in town in America that are fully of European decent where there are generations strung out on meth and no jobs because the factories are shut. Your government want you to blame the wrong factors in order for the big contracts that are being negotiated without your consent to get done in peace. so while you are poor ruing the ruins of your once great town blaming an also poor immigrant population who's come to this once great town to find there is no work and minimal opportunities, spare a thought for Whitehall, Westminster and the multinationals who saw this coming 60 years ago and didn't care. they even knew who you were going to blame. infant they knew if they also blamed them too, they would get away scott free and you would also vote for them.
I think this was filmed on a Sunday or something. I lived there for a very long time and it was never that empty unless it was very early/late or a Sunday. Croydon, especially the 2 areas shown in this (outside and opposite East Croydon Station and in the middle of the underpass) were always busy during the day. I remember it when it looked even more different to this.
@@7YadddI don't know when it was filmed, looks more like 70s to me than 80s though. I lived there all through the 70s, 80s and 90s. Can't believe it's so long ago!
Croydon before trams were around. Late 80's or early 90's. I use to bank at the old Woolwich building society. Before kids started killing each other and shooting police men
I was brought up in Croydon so knew it very well. Most these shots were from the same 2 places by the way, so I'm not sure why some comments refer to knowing "every single place". Anyway, Croydon was changing while I still lived there, in mostly good ways to be honest, but I haven't seen it since 2005 when I left. I've heard nothing but negative stories though unfortunately. Some day I want to go back and visit old haunts.
They don't spend money on Croydon anymore and you can see it. Sucessive Govenments and Local Authorities have failed to invest in the upkeep of Croydon looks very tired now sadly. Needs some investment thats all.
@@TheMusicalElitist For one you guardian reading, left footing, quiche lorraine and kale eating twat I don't vote tory. Secondly where is it a lie that the Labour Council run Croydon into the ground 🤔 and has been bankrupt. Yea you keep spouting you labour twat.
@@lafluerpeter9 😂😂😂😂😂 Keep living in the past, you complete fool. Oh and what’s it like supporting a party that used racial slurs in its campaigns? Racist much?
@@TheMusicalElitist Are you a crackhead? Let me break it down into a palatable way that you understand. 1)I (me, the one replying to you) don't vote tory. 2) Labour (the elected Council for the Borough of Croydon) had money given to them by central government that they pissed up the wall, leaving the Borough bankrupt and it's inhabitants (which I used to be) without services due to the LABOUR COUNCIL SPENDING ALL THE MONEY. 3) The Conservative Party may have used racial slurs, then again labour are proven anti semits so, you know stones and glasshouses. Mate your a bit of a tool if you think somehow stating the FACT that Labour have run a Borough into the ground is akin to voting the opposition. Fun fact I used to vote Labour until I see what a bunch of divs they have in their fanbase, and you seem to prove it you special case. So as all is said, I guess you don't like them jews much aye.
1:53 - I used to work in that big tall building in the background (just to the left of the street light) 10 years or so ago. I used to go to Croydon to shop back in the 80s and 90s when it was pretty nice, but when I was there back in the late 2000s it had become a total sh1thole. On two occasions I saw somebody walk into the Greggs shop (slightly to the left in the same shot as the building - it obviously didn't exist when this was filmed), pick stuff up and then just walk out without paying. Both times the staff shouted out something like "Hey, you've gotta pay for that!" and both times the thief just turned round, stuck their finger up and told the staff member to F off and kept walking. Never have I seen something so brazen. I asked why weren't they going to do something about it and both times they just said there was no point, it happened a lot and it wasn't worth the risk as they don't know what might happen if they tried to do anything other than shout at them. They had been told that by head office - i.e., don't get involved, just ignore it. I made the point that while I understood that, why were law abiding people, like me and almost everybody else, having to pay more to cover the losses due to thieves?? But I didn't hold a grudge as their sausage rolls were just toooo good! Also on two separate occasions, while standing having a smoke, I had somebody come up to me and demand a cigarette. Both times I said no (out of principle but also I don't like people trying to push me around), and both verbally abused me and one even threatened me with a knife! All for a cigarette! I wouldn't go back there again, and even people I worked with that lived in Croydon were desperate to get out any way they could. I repeat - A TOTAL SH1THOLE!!
Sadly all gets wrong with the new millennials, at time this video was shot a had been 12-13 yers boy living in communist Bulgaria and never cross my mind that some time in distant future would end up at a night out in disco club in Croydon. Watching it now I really do appreciated how calm everything was back then.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
This looks to be around 1985 - 88 period. So much has changed, and yet so much is familiar...
Says 1988 in the description
It looks so peaceful and quiet as it used to be.
@@richardwallace5226 it wasn't really that peaceful we moved out of Croydon in 1986 because of a stabbing near our house the knife was found in our front garden bush I moved backed to Croydon in 2006 and it's still the same shit hole as it was back then only thing is we have internet and we can see anything that happens in Croydon via the world wide web
@@Dirkspage Open eyes Your talking about 1 stabbing that was in your rd. The fact is knife crime back in 80/90s was a rare occurrence compared to the knife crime of today in certain parts of London. Since open borders in early 2000s it became a regular thing. I live just out side of Croydon and there is always some one being stabbed. It's a part of life hearing about it now. LONDON was one of the safest if not the safest cities in the world when i was growing up in London. generally speaking. It's silly to compare it.
@@Dirkspage Carn’t believe you moved back to be honest, lived there in 86 also left in 89 to go back home to Liverpool 👍👍
As a Croydoner this was fascinating to see
Croydon has defo changed alot
Had a lot of potential, now it's a mix of ancient worn buildings and completely new unoccupied apartment towers, with a clueless bankrupt council.
Yep, flooded with migrants
Doesn't look any different to Croydon in the 2000s. A lot of new buildings since
*a lot
@[KD] Skullet - don't think I did. To clarify, the architecture in the 1980s at those points was basically unchanged versus the early naughties. Subsequently there has been a lot of development in the area.
I can't believe how quiet the roads are. At the time we thought it was really busy.
Ahh!!! This is the Croydon of my boyhood growing up in the 80s!! Been living in the U.S. for 27 years now. Didn't get a chance to actually explore Croydon my last trip back in November 2019, but from what I saw when I got off the train at East Croydon Station, so much has changed. I remember both the brick structure of East Croydon Station back in the 80s and was around in the early 90s when they reconstructed the station to what it is today before I immigrated to the States in 1995. The NLA Tower is one of the few iconic landmark buildings that I still recognised on my 2019 visit. Great memories!!!
Hah, I worked on Wellesley Road between 1990 and 1994, just around the corner from the station. What you say is so spot on. Office workers everywhere, guys in suits and ties and women in skirts and freshly pressed blouses. I had to go up to Clapham Junction and back down every morning and night because I was on a different line. What a nightmare. I ended up moving to the US myself in 1994. How fun. Now, after many years back in the UK. I wonder what Croydon looks like these days. I should take a look.
My mum worked in the NLA tower so I got to go inside sometimes - the floor layout was a bit mad.
Same story for me bud, been in the U.S now 38 years
Sadly, it's not really recovered since the 2008 crash. A lot of the offices closed down after the recession and the shops in the Whitgift Centre were closed for the Westfield shopping centre but this got cancelled. Hope it will recover one day.
Now, this is the Croydon I loved and is in my heart, now a lost world. Thank you, made my day.
Lost world?
@@ja7419 , lol..
I lived off West Croydon for 3 months and left in June 2020. West Croydon is not a desirable place to raise a family to be honest.
However, this clip is mostly of East Croydon and the town centre which looks the same to me 👀
@@AbdulKareem-uy6hkThe station is now a monstrosity.
This video is so weird. So nostalgic but I wasn’t even born yet. I cant explain it. Alot has changed I guess.
yes and not for the better.
Actual shops selling actual things unlike today where its all chicken shops, charity shops and bet shops.
Same in most places. Nealry every high Street i see is just like you said, takeaway shops and betting shop not much else.
What’s wrong with chicken shops
@@KZenink whats right with them.
@@chucky2316 the chicken.
@@car4367 nasty chicken
Croydon was a working town, full of office workers who would frequent pubs, cafes and shops on their lunch break or after work. I always remember it being pretty quite before and after lunch as people were in their offices working away. Now its a complete overcrowded constantly busy mess.
as someone who lives 5 mins from east croydon and been to every single place shown in this video, it’s sad seeing what it’s become especially what happened recently when that guy got stabbed in his neck after fighting with someone on a bus
This comment has sadly repeated itself
And a 15 year old girl stabbed 2 months ago. Times have changed…
@@angelray688 my missus was robbed and stabbed by 2 nignogs in croydon in 1982 she was 15 then nothing new!
Wow! I grew up in Croydon in the 80s. I moved out in 89 aged 14 and watching this brings back so many memories. I used to be able to see the Phillips tower from my bedroom window.
Going Croydon was a day out back then. How times have changed
Now you wanna get in and out as fast as you can 🤣
Yes it really was !
It's nice to see the old cars
Does look a lot more chilled those times , a lot nicer .
Same as most of the UK
I remember Croydon in 1980s, it WAS chilled out
Ah, the Croydon I knew. Even the traffic sounds nicer.
It’s heartbreaking when you compare this video to today’s Croydon what on earth happened
Tony Blair and consecutive Labour and Tory governments having an open border policy and allowimg any one to come and live here. Not rocket science.
@@richardwallace5226 Labour Party are traitors. Never to be trusted again.
@@lluckyb8527 Exactly mate. I will always vote Tory. Not because I particularly want them to govern but it always has been and always will be a 2 horse race and I DO NOT want another Labour government.
@@ukdrillmusic7734 Hey Drill music speak to me in English l.
It’s kind of amazing because I recognise all the buildings
It looks pretty good
Vs today so shabby. Bit crazy
The world looks more developed in the past.
Low resolution makes everything look better.
Don’t be silly
No so much migrants, clean and calm city
No?
It was more developed, we were in a better place mentally. New technology has ruined the planet and benefitted a few.
Used to run the Oval Tavern, in Oval Road back in 82-85.......I recognise the three penny bit office on the roundabout by East Croydon Station.
Haha! We used to call it The 50p Tower! Was it not actually the NLA Tower? 🤔
It was some kind of insurance company as many of the staff used my pub...was it Sun Alliance ?
It's great seeing how a place you've went to since you were born before you were born
Thank you for this of course. As someone whose family came from Croydon, well done too!
Lord, that look so cool. Not so much traffic, you could actually drive peacefully without hitting anyone. Now, it’s filled with wannabe gangsters every corner you go!
If theyre wanabees then go say that in their face
@@smashb3766 im too old for this shit now, these kids wouldnt last in my heydays! I was more of fist person rather than your folks who talks with blades and baseball bats...
@@Wild-Storm Blades and baseball bats have been used in London since the 60s it’s nothing new. Age doesn’t matter, you’re simply all talk and can only make empty comments online.
@@smashb3766 i’ll leave it at that. Youre right im all talk and youre the big bollocks! 👍👍👍
@Doris Johnson your not funny lol
I had many happy lunch breaks walking around the centre of Croydon. People used to think I was a manager in Woolworths because I was wearing a cheap suit!
this is where i spent my money and my youth.My records my clothes my clubs ,pubs ,and parties.My jobs,my dole,my loves,my soul.my rock and roll.
Looked like a town then.
Oh ffs. It looked like sh*t then and it looks like slightly different sh*t now, grandad...
@@DM-kv9kj so... u just wanna argue for arguing sake. Who said anything about it looking sh*t ?
smfh. clown troll
It does really feel like you're in a big town outside of London when you go to Croydon.
Used to be a pleasant environment now all that is left of those days is the
Left over neo-classical Croydon airport (mentioned in some of the golden age films)
I'm Croydon born and bred, back in the 70's and 80's it was a nice place to live. Now it's a skuzzy Ghetto and that's the truth.
Skuzzy🤣
@@user-xo5lc1iv1p I know hilarious isn't it...boom boom!!!!
Agree
I remember going upstairs on the bus through the high street, where you could see the cricket pitch that is now the whitgift shopping centre.
not forgetting the old school as well. I saw that being pulled down when I was waiting for the bus to go home from school
Wow. Time time time time. Changes everything.
I was there just yesterday, it's really changed.....thx for the clip..
Lovely. Not like that now. Is like being in a different country! 😳
It’s a dump now. Wear a stab vest if you visit. I moved out to Caterham nearly 20 years ago. It’s already proving to have been not far enough.
Shut up and man up
@@unbiasedcritic9714 intelligent feedback. Thanks. If there’s any part of what I said is inaccurate please feel free to correct me. The place is a dump
Compared to 20-30 years ago. Gang related crime and incidences of knife crime are up and the place is so far gone a lot of the shops were empty even before lockdown. It’s just become a place for inner London boroughs to ship their crap out to. No one wants to work there and some long-standing businesses have moved out. What has being a man got to do with it? I work hard, have my own house, don’t treat benefits like a guaranteed income and I’ve brought up two very well balanced kids who will be contributors to society and the economy rather than takers. ‘Shut up’ seems to be the most intelligent comment you’ll get out of the mouth of the average Croydon simpleton these days.
@@SP-lw7mr if your not involved in that life at all then you have nothing to worry about. If You’re a civilian then just worry about going to work, school or whatever you do and just get back home safely. The only people that have to worry about that are people already involved in that lifestyle. You’re safe so don’t worry
@@unbiasedcritic9714 ‘civilian’? Grow up. People get stabbed for the their wristwatches and phones in Croydon. I wouldn’t give a toss if the only lives affected were wannabe gangstas but it’s not. It makes an area shit and then people moan the areas that BAME people live in are shit when it’s self inflicted. It’s a shame the indigenous have to relocate whilst the country turns in to one large slum.
@Who wants to be a millionaire? the country has been majority white with Europeans for as long as you care to go back in history. By cringeworthy do you mean uncomfortable truth? If you feel you have some facts to the contrary then just feel free to pass them on. Which blacks have been dominant in the UK? The Romans? The Normans? Do tell?
I went to Croydon Tech college in the late '50s early 60s or whenever they were building that ruddy underpass. I was studying for my BSc degree.
First time I've seen Croydon without the tramlines. I was only 6 when they were installed.
Most my time there was before the trams. I watched them remove the old railway lines before they placed the tram along some of the old route. I also walked at night along where the old train lines were after they were removed (under the bridge at Sandilands), and went up under an old station platform and then to one of the tunnels. That was great fun but scary!
Bloody nora, you should see it now!
When it was good to live in Croydon.
There were far less homeless people in Croydon back then. Now there are lots of homeless beggars in the town sitting in doorways wrapped in blankets.
It’s either that or being stuck in the nasty tower blocks with damp and mould and risk of electrocution. Why are we paying council tax to this incompetent lot, I do not want to be in a society where our most vulnerable are left to die
It because of crack addiction through the 80s and 90s
@@Natttttttttt agreed
Angus Meigh
Not just in Croydon. It is every where in London
@@Natttttttttt well said. I agree.
People saying they are sad to see how different it looks now, but I have been born and bred here and just walked these streets today and it's practically the same with just new storefronts.
Edit: And trams
Until you wander into the west side, like a cross between Africa and calcutta
@uni verse Totally agree with you. People in the comments are acting like it’s a whole new world. It looks pretty much the same 😂😂😂
Maybe you should take off the rose tinted spectacles and look around and see all the closed shops, bars and restaurants that used to exist, The newly built sky scraper social housing developments The non white population that hardly live there any more.
@@richardwallace5226 I'm happy in my rose tinted glasses thanks. I'd rather live happy than die miserably x Thanks for providing age old wisdom that I didn't ask for though.
@@FriendlyNeighborhoodLawyer If you are happy being a deluded slave to a corrupt system that hates you THAT is your choice. If that is your idea of happiness I really do feel sorry for you. Regardless of all the problems going on in the world i would rather face up to the reality of the WORLD we live in rather than be a useful brain washed individual to this system.
Holy shit!! I forgot all about the taxis outside East Croydon Station until I saw this. It looked so peaceful and quiet back then.
I miss lovely Croydon. Used to be my local shopping centre. Used to take 64 bus from selsdon to Croydon. Upstairs u can smoke them days
64? Do you not mean 54? I don't remember a 64. Yea you could smoke, which was terrible and I'm so glad that finally banned it.
Wow this is awesome from Croydon
Aah,the good old days....Two whole minutes gone by without a stabbing or acid attack.
Iranian embassy seige... a spate of plane hijackings throughout the 1970s... The Yorkshire ripper... Harold Shipman... The cold war... just to name a few.
You people are having your minds twisted and deranged into believing somehow horrific and vile crimes and violence are new and back when we were young was somehow utopia. Utter bollox mate, get your head out of the tabloids. They feed you highly specific, cherry picked stories to wind you up like this.
And all that happened in Croydon did it...?
@@dondraper2488 Yes it did!.. You also missed the Great wall of China, Moon landings and I think if I am correct President Kennedy was shot driving along wellesley road... Tha'ts some borough!!!
It must be nice to be able to remember stuff from the 20th century😔my 2007 ass cant relate
Don't worry better days are ahead ☺️
Same here (2006) 🥲
@@fightermma worst days if you ask me now a lot of croyden folk Cant even feed themselves
Were there many stabbings in the 1980’s in Croydon? Seems like one a week there now...
Why is this being recommended to me 6 years later lol
Cause you came to see me baby
It's such a shame 😢
Lovely to see the the British population enjoying there capitol with uncrowded roads and pavements and most prevalent was the fact it was safe to walk the streets, we have gone backwards in personal safety on our streets wonder why that this.
Their.
Capital.
Presuming English isn't your first language, so errors are understandable. 👍🏾
@@jackiedelvalle Correct I'm Greek Cypriot been here 9 years.
@mbigham10 I think you have an idea of "why this is". Please enlighten us to your theory.
@@lenniet Poor education and immigration also lack of respect for others and poor parenting the list is endless in this crazy mixed up world
Back then Croydon was not part of London, it was part of Surrey, so not in the capital. Some years ago they changed it. It was part of the Greater London Council (GLC) in the 80's and often referred to as Outer London, but it was not officially part of London until the change.
I remember this Croydon.....now unfortunately it's unrecognisable.
Very Terry and June
Was a nice place back then, look at it now ??? has this country improved or gone backwards
I don't know about backwards or forwards but it's definately got worse.
@@andypeterson3070 agree. Way too many white racists these days
But I'll still be dreaming of you Croydon even in the cold and rain,,, ahh captain sensible croydons favourite son
Growing up on the 80s I remember it was alot cleaner in them days people actually sat on there front door with neibours and actually talked with a cup of tea.
I remember that too Peter,. We all 'seemed' to be more appreciative of one another. We loved our neighbours on both side and looked out for one another even financially at times until they could pay back. Built on trust and honesty. Mum still does that with her neighbour. :)
@Bingus Khan that aspect of it doesn't bother me much just the closure of all the grand shops like Allders, C&A, Debenhams and others has now changed the place into a ghost town. The magic there is gone, Bingus khan.
They still do in the Black Country, think we’re the only old schoolers left 😂👍🏻
@@whitedovepink Too right. Goodness knows what will be left after the pandemic has run its course. High street shopping used to be pleasant and a day out. Not anymore.
well instead of drinking tea we now have starbucks and Iphones to hold so times have changed
Before Croydon council destroyed it and ran up debts
When Croydon used to be Croydon
I'd be interested to see the area around West Croydon station from back then. An utter dump today.
yea same this is how I remember good old croydon and now today damn I just don't no it no more so much change all this new stuff now
Aww, I don't half miss my Saturday afternoons over Croydon. I wish I still lived in London. 🙁
Frustratingly Croydon IS now in London, whereas when I was living there it was officially in Surrey. Why they had to change it, I don't know. Croydon has never been anything like true London though. I think now it's actually a lot worse, from all I've heard.
Big change from shopping centre was a school with its adjoining sports ground.I played rugby there against Mid-Witgift
Looks like a Metrocab at 0:40 and they came out in '87 I believe so from that period onwards :)
The amount of flats there are building now is unbelievable and shops close down and big business moving away
Oh this was Croydon in that time wow it looks different
I can easy imagine myself being somewhere in this video, I used to work in allders
That’s where I bought my first expensive winter coat for £76 . 1984. Big money then for a coat . Love Alders
Oh yes remember Alders and Debenhams
Not a mobile phone in sight,, . People looking where they are going. Damn, I can't believe how silly we looked in those styles. 🤪😂
The first 20 seconds of the clip of East Croydon bus station is now a tram stop/route....
Where’s the tram link?
tramlink was introduced in 2000
Before the good Days, before the Empire!!
WOAHHHH- ITS SO DIFFERENT HERE NOW
Once it was tolerably crappy; now its an utter dump full of criminality.
was hoping to see the High street when you could drive down it
What was the name of the pub used to be opposite East Croydon station. was a dump made up in a prefab iirc
Why do I feel so nostalgic yet I’m only 20 years old who’s lived here all my life lol
the layout is exactly the same some buildings are still there even however the differences are: the train station got changed, Sainsbury's, Barclays opposite side, the TRAAAM lines and stations are not there, the bus lane on Wellesley road isn't there, The Quarters apartment and adjacent building, the Pinnacle was not built yet LOL and last but not least the lovely people now it is full of weed smell, beggars, drug dealers. I remember at 11:00 it was so unsafe!
People looked more elegantly dressed.
started work 1983 in the Three’penny bit building - English Insurance Co.
Old EC Station much nicer and more comfortable than now.
you could easily wait to pick up people no problem no one way system no tram tracks no CCTV no road humps. a pleasant town centre.
now destroyed. Allders gone the high st lost its vitality when traffic was banned.
Had more going on then. Less closed shops!
Can someone explain in short what happened to croydon? I went to selhurst high for boys 2000-2005 and quite possibly witnessed the beginning of the decline. Croydon was always rough i believed, but i hear it's worse now? Not sure I don't go there any more. Looking at this video and being in Croydon few times back in the day it seemed like croydon was destined to become the Canary wharf of South London. Now its quite the opposite
Omg I love this!! 🎉
Reading the comments is depressing but not supprising. Depressing because I'm consistently seeing people in this country vote against their own interests in some misplaced belief as where their nations problems lay, but. Not surprising because this is how oligarchical capitalist governments want their populations to think. It would make far more sense if you blamed the internet or automation for Croydon's demise, rather than the last immigrants. Because although still rather a simplistic analysis of the problem, the internet and automation have far more blame to be shared regarding the deterioration of croydon's high streets than Immigrants do.
I grew up in Croydon. Park hill in the 80s went to school in Caterham a little further out. My dad worked as an accountant for Hill Samuel in the famous 50 pence tower. He is one fo the "Foreigners" so many of you in here seem to complain about. I had what could be called an Idyllic childhood.
Croydon was back then a clean, safe and enjoyable environment to grow up in. I loved growing up there and as a child of African immigrants we did face isolated incidents of racism but nothing to effected our lives to any large degree.
One thing I can agree with people in this thread is that over the recent decades croydon has deteriorated rapidly. What I don't agree with are the causes i'm reading regarding this deterioration.
It's common to hear the immigration complaint but I'm not prepared to debate for or against immigration, because it is absolutely a separate issue if you understand the factors of the deterioration of Croydon and towns like it the world over. Also immigration is government policy for nations who have inverse birthrate even if they pay lip service to the voter base by saying they will "Clap down on immigrations" a modern capitalist economy as they are currently set out cannot ruction adequately without a steady stream of immigration. the graphs off GDP and Imigration do have correlation. Anyway I digress.
I moved away from croydon to go to university in 2001 and settled in Highbury but every time I went back to croydon to visit my parents I saw more deterioration, more poverty, disappearing jobs.. every time I'd see a new shop closed that had been there for 40 years, only to be replaced by a cash converters, a 1 pound shop or just to become an empty boarded up former store front.
This my people, is late stage Oligarchical Capitalism. Blue collar jobs disappearing first, slowly white collar jobs disappearing, automation, call centres and off shore out sourcing to populations eager to do the same jobs at lower wages disenfranchised youth who see dystopian future rather than opportunities and so on and so on. this is happening the world over in towns of heavy immigration and towns of absolute homogeny. I see this in town in Japan where there are no foreigners and in town in America that are fully of European decent where there are generations strung out on meth and no jobs because the factories are shut. Your government want you to blame the wrong factors in order for the big contracts that are being negotiated without your consent to get done in peace.
so while you are poor ruing the ruins of your once great town blaming an also poor immigrant population who's come to this once great town to find there is no work and minimal opportunities, spare a thought for Whitehall, Westminster and the multinationals who saw this coming 60 years ago and didn't care. they even knew who you were going to blame. infant they knew if they also blamed them too, they would get away scott free and you would also vote for them.
TLDR
@@bongobob7079 sorry I can’t cater to your concentration span
The good ol' days
Cooollll, and those cars though
Croydon was the countryside to us inner city Londoners back then it wasn't even classed as part of London
It was literally Surrey.
@@jackiedelvalle not in 1980
@@jackiedelvalle it was Surrey in 1965
Even more London now these days, it's Dangerous now Croydon
@@acceptableandbornind80s32 it’s been London since 1965
Ahhh the days of no smartphones when people actually used to live.
So different and I saw my house location it wasn’t built yet
I love that circular building 👍🏻 flats ? or offices ? If it is flats I’d live in there , it’s really cool .
It's offices. Still there today and an amazing building
It was called the NLA Tower, which were offices. Not sure if it's still called that or not. Right near East Croydon Station.
nicknamed the 'thruppenny bit' tower after the old coin
This is not the Croydon I live in it’s so calm and peaceful before wow
I think this was filmed on a Sunday or something. I lived there for a very long time and it was never that empty unless it was very early/late or a Sunday. Croydon, especially the 2 areas shown in this (outside and opposite East Croydon Station and in the middle of the underpass) were always busy during the day. I remember it when it looked even more different to this.
@@explorewithgeoff crazy what years was this?
@@7YadddI don't know when it was filmed, looks more like 70s to me than 80s though. I lived there all through the 70s, 80s and 90s. Can't believe it's so long ago!
@@explorewithgeoff that’s a very long time ago
It’s weird seeing no tram tracks
Croydon before trams were around. Late 80's or early 90's. I use to bank at the old Woolwich building society. Before kids started killing each other and shooting police men
Before it became over run by foreigners
I was brought up in Croydon so knew it very well. Most these shots were from the same 2 places by the way, so I'm not sure why some comments refer to knowing "every single place". Anyway, Croydon was changing while I still lived there, in mostly good ways to be honest, but I haven't seen it since 2005 when I left. I've heard nothing but negative stories though unfortunately. Some day I want to go back and visit old haunts.
They don't spend money on Croydon anymore and you can see it. Sucessive Govenments and Local Authorities have failed to invest in the upkeep of Croydon looks very tired now sadly. Needs some investment thats all.
That would be because the labour run council has made Croydon bankrupt.
@@lafluerpeter9 Shut up, you Tory idiot.
@@TheMusicalElitist For one you guardian reading, left footing, quiche lorraine and kale eating twat I don't vote tory.
Secondly where is it a lie that the Labour Council run Croydon into the ground 🤔
and has been bankrupt.
Yea you keep spouting you labour twat.
@@lafluerpeter9 😂😂😂😂😂 Keep living in the past, you complete fool.
Oh and what’s it like supporting a party that used racial slurs in its campaigns? Racist much?
@@TheMusicalElitist Are you a crackhead?
Let me break it down into a palatable way that you understand.
1)I (me, the one replying to you) don't vote tory.
2) Labour (the elected Council for the Borough of Croydon) had money given to them by central government that they pissed up the wall, leaving the Borough bankrupt and it's inhabitants (which I used to be) without services due to the LABOUR COUNCIL SPENDING ALL THE MONEY.
3) The Conservative Party may have used racial slurs, then again labour are proven anti semits so, you know stones and glasshouses.
Mate your a bit of a tool if you think somehow stating the FACT that Labour have run a Borough into the ground is akin to voting the opposition.
Fun fact I used to vote Labour until I see what a bunch of divs they have in their fanbase, and you seem to prove it you special case.
So as all is said, I guess you don't like them jews much aye.
1:53 - I used to work in that big tall building in the background (just to the left of the street light) 10 years or so ago. I used to go to Croydon to shop back in the 80s and 90s when it was pretty nice, but when I was there back in the late 2000s it had become a total sh1thole. On two occasions I saw somebody walk into the Greggs shop (slightly to the left in the same shot as the building - it obviously didn't exist when this was filmed), pick stuff up and then just walk out without paying. Both times the staff shouted out something like "Hey, you've gotta pay for that!" and both times the thief just turned round, stuck their finger up and told the staff member to F off and kept walking. Never have I seen something so brazen. I asked why weren't they going to do something about it and both times they just said there was no point, it happened a lot and it wasn't worth the risk as they don't know what might happen if they tried to do anything other than shout at them. They had been told that by head office - i.e., don't get involved, just ignore it. I made the point that while I understood that, why were law abiding people, like me and almost everybody else, having to pay more to cover the losses due to thieves?? But I didn't hold a grudge as their sausage rolls were just toooo good! Also on two separate occasions, while standing having a smoke, I had somebody come up to me and demand a cigarette. Both times I said no (out of principle but also I don't like people trying to push me around), and both verbally abused me and one even threatened me with a knife! All for a cigarette! I wouldn't go back there again, and even people I worked with that lived in Croydon were desperate to get out any way they could. I repeat - A TOTAL SH1THOLE!!
Stealing from Greggs was a thing for teenagers in the 2000's.
Never understood it.
Sadly all gets wrong with the new millennials, at time this video was shot a had been 12-13 yers boy living in communist Bulgaria and never cross my mind that some time in distant future would end up at a night out in disco club in Croydon. Watching it now I really do appreciated how calm everything was back then.
If you'd told people then that in 30 years the council would be bankrupt and 1 and a half billion pounds in debt they'd have thought you were mad.
Why does it look so much better than it does now?
Wow, Croydon's gone down hill
I wish Croydon High Street was like this now if it was I'd definitely go there and shop, bank, eat and drink alot more often
Tell me who goes to this place now
All the macho shaped cars! 💥💨
Nice and civilised
Good video thanks
I am waiting for Terry and June trying to locate one another lol
I grew up in Croydon and lived on Northcote Rd