New Addington: The Tram Stop They Took 50 Years to Build

This is the most surreal journey you'll ever take on the tram. One moment you're in East Croydon, then suddenly it pivots right, and you're in the countryside....it has to be experienced

As a child/teenager growing up in New Addington in the 1960s/70s, we really were out in the sticks. The nearest cinemas were in Croydon and the only way to get home was by bus. Unfortunately the buses stopped quite early so you had a choice of walking home or missing the end of the film. No cab would go to New Addington in those days and night buses only went into London. West Wickham might technically be the nearest rail station but there were no direct buses there. I remember Fieldway being built and the Council did what they often do and moved all the problem families there into small properties with tiny gardens which is what led to the issues in the early years. The older parts of the estate sort of got tarred with the same brush. There were three pubs and there's always been a community centre, which I believe has been recently rebuilt. We also had a library and swimming pool so not completely bereft. The other issue was weather; being in an exposed spot we'd often get snowed in or engulfed in peasouper fogs.

Having grown up in New Addington I am torn, as a kid the open green space was brilliant. Heading off to the woods with your mates, bike rides, a free air show once a year. Having moved away as an adult I now see the lack of investment and social deprivation but as you noted, I would still vociferously defend it from its detractors. Great video 👍

The Croydon Tram system has gone full circle. Croydon to Wimbledon uses the old SR railway trackbed, which was used by the Surrey Iron Railway ,a Very old "Tramway" in the early years of the Nineteenth century. What goes around........ etc !

I grew up in New Addington. Fieldway was dodgy at night then. You did get a shot of where I used to live. No buses to West Wickham then, we did have express buses to Croydon, the C1-C5. You paid into a Johnson Box and no ticket. Many mornings with packed Daimler DMS buses the kids would get chucked out when the bus ground to a halt ascending Gravel Hil. We had to walk up to the top of the hill and the bus would crawl up and we got back on. We had Routemasters on the 130/130B and I know most of the conductors on first name terms. Fun times!

Can remember going to New Addington for swimming lesson when I was younger - there I have managed to say something positive about the place.

I live in New Addington. You were right about how we're quick to leap to defending the area lol

I discovered New Addington some years ago when taking the tram all the way to end to see what was there. On the same branch the woods at Coombe Lane stop are an absolute delight to walk in on a quiet summer afternoon. New Addington itself frankly doesn't deserve its reputation. It's a charming place at the end of the line with lovely green spaces - the Addington Vale is wonderful to see and within easy walking distance of the tram stop.

New Addington, what happens when you plan a little bit to much and a little bit not enough.

Those pre-war semi-detached houses are very common in North East London going into Essex. We used to play a game whilst walking up the road in which I grew up. "Spot the bombed house". All the houses have the same roof and window designs, except the ones which were hit by bombs. After the war, they tried more or less, to rebuild the bombed out houses is a similar style but used cheaper materials and the overall design features and window patterns don't match. Going back there today, it's surprising just how few of the owners have changed the original Window pattern designs. Many, despite having added double glazing, have nevertheless mimicked or recreated the original pattern.

".... And a leisure centre that I forgot to film" That cracked me up for some unknown reason.

There's a bus service from Thornton heath Pond to New Addington which is thoroughly enjoyable. One cannot knock the North Downs.

I ended up in New Addington when I took a bus that I thought was headed into Croydon town centre - passed the nearest stop without even recognising where I was - so stayed on for the ride thinking all the time that I wouldn't want to live out here without a car. When New Addington tram stop hoved into view, I was never so relieved.

During the construction of Tramlink I was lucky enough to be invited to tour the works in progress. When at New Addington, those on the tour were told that the town's original name was the New Croydon Sanitary Housing Estate.

I used to work down the road from there at the Selsdon park hotel.... now im back in Christchurch, New Zealand and work in the suburb of Addington here😲, I rode the trams many times and have wonderful memories! Great videos👍

I love the way you sneak social history discussion and critical analysis of post-war town planning into a video supposedly about trams! Nicely done - more of the same please.

As someone who has literally never heard of New Addington, when you showed the street views I was amazed by the place, such a calm and beautiful place to live in. Hadn't you mentioned the social problems and stigma associated with the town, I'd get the most positive view of it.

Remember how shocked my Mum was when she discovered my first girlfriend lived in New Addington. We lived in a "respectable" part of Croydon. It was a pig getting to her place on public transport though. Only one bus route (130) or a cab if you were flush.

We moved to this area in 2017, having known and been wary of its reputation for some years. We would never have considered it were it not for the tram, whose impact on social mobility cannot be overstated. Our neighbourhood is great, all privately owned, fantastic neighbours, families everywhere. We overlook a wide green and it is like being in the countryside. We can drive out into the country in 10 minutes, and we both commute to Central London which can be done in under an hour if you time it right. We've rarely seen any trouble, certainly no more than any other part of London we've lived in. The only thing that might force us to move is a lack of secondary schools in the immediate area - you'd need to apply further afield, but there are good schools only a tram or bus ride away. In all it's really not bad. As others here have said it's the ineptitude of the now bankrupt Croydon Council that will harm the whole borough more than any other factor.

I remember being taken to New Addington swimming baths 50 odd years ago (we lived in nearby West Wickham). Back then the place had a bit of a reputation and seeing it for the first time was quite daunting, as it was so different to our own very tame version of suburbia. The baths were great, though - clean, new and airy - very different from the Victorian baths at Beckenham that we were used to. I'm glad New Addington is getting some investment again.