IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Jean Batten Close, WALLINGTON, SM6 9GQ

A housing development built on part of the old Croydon Airport.

This is a new part of the Roundshaw Estate, Wallington , Surrey, which has recently undergone a massive Regeneration. This Estate first built in the 1960s, was built on the site of Londons first Airport, near Croydon. All the streets on the Estate have been named after aircraft or have connotations with the industry.

A view from Foresters Drive across the disused airfield. The cranes are at work building the Roundshaw estate, in Image Beyond, very hazy in cloud, is Croydon. Left of the cranes can be seen the coal-fired Croydon B power station near Waddon.

Overlapping with Image on the left, and with a clearer view towards the tower blocks of Croydon. Left of centre on the horizon can faintly be seen the Crystal Palace TV transmitter. The area in the foreground later became allotments.

An Elizabeth II-reign postbox near the corner of Spitfire Road. Paralympic gold medallist David Weir had four postboxes officially painted gold by Royal Mail, but only one at the nearby post office (see Image) and the one in Wallington town centre (see Image) appear on the gold postboxes website http://www.goldpostboxes.com/ .

Nineteenth century Ordnance Survey maps show that most of what now comprise Roundshaw Downs was occupied by a number of farmsteads and was mostly fields. It subsequently became Croydon Airport which was described as the cradle of British aviation. In 1915 the Royal Flying Corps took over the airfield but it was from 1928 that it became the most modern airport in the world. That was when new buildings and aerodrome were opened and it became known as ‘The Airport of London’. It was London’s only international airport and Imperial Airways ran regular routes to India and South Africa. The 1920s and 1930s were the pinnacle of its career. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh touched down from Brussels to be greeted by a crowd of 150,000 and in 1930 Amy Johnson left from here for her historic flight to Australia. During the Second World War, the RAF operated from Croydon but after the War, although civil flying resumed, the coming of jet airliners sealed Croydon Airport’s fate. Airliners needed longer runways and Croydon which was surrounded by built-up areas could not be extended. Croydon Airport closed at the end of 1959. The original Roundshaw Park was purchased in 1928. Early maps show a tiny copse called Round Shaw in this area but in recent years the name has been used to refer to the whole area of open land in Sutton Borough. The gate is to enclose an area where Sussex cattle graze to keep the grass short and encourage the wild flowers.

The Roundshaw estate was developed in the 1970s on land previously occupied by Croydon Airport. The bridge over the road here was later demolished owing to hooliganism.

Nineteenth century Ordnance Survey maps show that most of what now comprise Roundshaw Downs was occupied by a number of farmsteads and was mostly fields. It subsequently became Croydon Airport which was described as the cradle of British aviation. In 1915 the Royal Flying Corps took over the airfield but it was from 1928 that it became the most modern airport in the world. That was when new buildings and aerodrome were opened and it became known as ‘The Airport of London’. It was London’s only international airport and Imperial Airways ran regular routes to India and South Africa. The 1920s and 1930s were the pinnacle of its career. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh touched down from Brussels to be greeted by a crowd of 150,000 and in 1930 Amy Johnson left from here for her historic flight to Australia. During the Second World War, the RAF operated from Croydon but after the War, although civil flying resumed, the coming of jet airliners sealed Croydon Airport’s fate. Airliners needed longer runways and Croydon which was surrounded by built-up areas could not be extended. Croydon Airport closed at the end of 1959. The original Roundshaw Park was purchased in 1928. Early maps show a tiny copse called Round Shaw in this area but in recent years the name has been used to refer to the whole area of open land in Sutton Borough. In this photograph the woodland on the far horizon is at Croham Hurst on the other side of the Brighton Road.