Purley Way
Encyclopedia
A23 road
The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...
trunk road
Trunk road
A trunk road, trunk highway, or strategic road is a major road—usually connecting two or more cities, ports, airports, and other things.—which is the recommended route for long-distance and freight traffic...
in the London Borough of Croydon
London Borough of Croydon
The London Borough of Croydon is a London borough in South London, England and is part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the largest London borough by population. It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name...
, in the areas of Purley
Purley, London
Purley is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, England. It is a suburban development situated 11.7 miles south of Charing Cross.The name derives from "pirlea", which means 'Peartree lea'. Purley has a population of about 72,000....
, Waddon
Waddon
Waddon is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, to the south west of central Croydon on the borders of the London Borough of Sutton. Waddon has an older area with 19th century properties, some even older, close to central Croydon. Further south is a large estate of Council-owned homes and a...
and West Croydon
West Croydon station
West Croydon station is a transport interchange for National Rail and Tramlink services, as well as London Buses. It is in the London Borough of Croydon and Travelcard Zone 5...
, and has given its name to the out-of-town shopping area alongside it with a catchment area
Catchment area (human geography)
In human geography, a catchment area is the area and population from which a city or individual service attracts visitors or customers. For example, a school catchment area is the geographic area from which students are eligible to attend a local school...
covering most of South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. It was designed as a bypass
Bypass (road)
A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety....
for Croydon and was opened in April 1925. In 1932 Purley Way became the first road in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to be lit with sodium light
Sodium vapor lamp
A sodium vapor lamp is a gas discharge lamp that uses sodium in an excited state to produce light. There are two varieties of such lamps: low pressure and high pressure...
s.
Industrial history
Trojan (automobile)
Trojan was a British automobile manufacturer. Cars with the Trojan marque were made from 1914 and 1974.-Early history:The company was founded by Leslie Hayward Hounsfield who went into business as a general engineer in a small workshop called the Polygon Engineering Works in Clapham, South London...
(car manufacturers) and Tizer
Tizer
Tizer is a red-coloured soft drink sold in the United Kingdom. The name originally comes from the phrase 'Tizer the Appetizer'. It was launched in 1924 by Fred Pickup of Manchester when it was known as 'Pickup's Appetizer'. After the death of Pickup it was owned by the Armour Trust before being...
Ltd. There were also several metal companies including Standard Steel Co, Croydon Foundry Ltd, Metal Propellers Ltd and Southern Foundries Ltd.
Croydon 'B' Power Station
Croydon Power Station
The Croydon power stations refers to a pair of demolished coal-fired power stations and to a gas-fired power station in the Purley Way area of Croydon, London. The coal-fired stations operated from 1896 until 1984, and the gas-fired station opened in 1999...
, with architecture designed by Robert Atkinson
Robert Atkinson (architect)
Robert Atkinson, OBE was an English architect primarily working in the Art Deco style.Atkinson was born in Wigton, Cumberland and studied at University College, Nottingham before studying abroad in Paris, Italy and America. He was a talented draughtsman and worked for C.E. Mallows from 1905...
, was built in the late 1940s and opened in 1950. It shut down in 1984, was demolished in 1991 and an IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
store was opened on its site. Its immediate surroundings were developed as the Valley Park Retail and Leisure Complex
Valley Park Retail Area
Valley Park Retail and Leisure Complex is a retail park in the Purley Way retail and industrial area of the London Borough of Croydon. Valley Park was opened in 1992 on the site of the former Croydon 'B' Power Station which was built in the late 1940s and opened in 1950. The power plant shut down...
. The large chimneys of the power station were retained as a local landmark, which can be seen from Central Croydon's Centrale Shopping Centre.
Croydon 'A' power station and the Croydon Gas Works were also on the Purley way. The cooling tower
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
s of the gas works were huge, and have featured in films including Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
's Brazil
Brazil (film)
Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...
(1985).
Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport was an airport in South London which straddled the boundary between what are now the London boroughs of Croydon and Sutton. It was the main airport for London before it was replaced by Northolt Aerodrome, London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport...
(operational 1928–1959) was also located on Purley Way.
Retail history
In the early 1980s, retail warehousesWarehouse store
A warehouse store, as opposed to a warehouse club, is a retail location with a limited variety of merchandise sold in bulk at a discount to customers...
began to appear on the Purley Way. The first opened on the Thornton Road Industrial Estate: the Queensway
Queensway (retailer)
Queensway was a retailer in the United Kingdom that specialised in the sale of carpets and furniture. It was a pioneer of out of town shopping and one of the first retailers in the U.K. to sell directly to customers from a warehouse....
furniture store in 1980, MFI furniture in 1981, Payless DIY
Payless DIY
Payless DIY was a chain of Do it yourself stores in the Republic of Ireland. The name was later changed to Woodie's DIY. Before it was a Payless DIY store, the site on the greenhills road was an outlet of the Chadwick’s company, also a DIY chain...
in 1983 and Do It All
Do It All
- History :Do It All was originally created by WH Smith in 1979 when the company acquired a DIY chain.Fierce competition in the 1980s saw the chain struggle, and in 1990 it was merged with the rival Payless DIY chain, owned by the Boots Group. The combined group - in which WH Smith and Boots both...
in 1986.
Sainsbury's opened its first Homebase
Homebase
Homebase is a British home improvement store and garden centre, with 350 stores across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is well known by its green and orange colour scheme. Together with its sister company Argos , it forms part of Home Retail Group. Homebase recorded sales figures...
store on Purley Way in 1981. The first PC World
PC World (retailer)
PC World is OWNED BY THE GOVERNMENT one of the WHER MA MEMORY STICK ?!?!??! United Kingdom's largest chains of mass-market computer superstores. It is part of Dixons Retail plc. PC World operates under the brand name PC City in Spain, Italy and Sweden....
opened on Purley Way in 1991.
Several distinct retail park
Retail park
In the United Kingdom, a retail park is a grouping of many retail warehouses and superstores with associated car parking. Its North American equivalent is a power centre. Retail parks are found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in highly accessible locations and are aimed at households...
s are now found along the length of the Purley Way, including Valley Park Retail and Leisure Complex
Valley Park Retail Area
Valley Park Retail and Leisure Complex is a retail park in the Purley Way retail and industrial area of the London Borough of Croydon. Valley Park was opened in 1992 on the site of the former Croydon 'B' Power Station which was built in the late 1940s and opened in 1950. The power plant shut down...
, Croydon Fiveways
Croydon Fiveways
Croydon Fiveways is a small out-of-town retail park and road junction in the industrial and large retail area of Purley Way inside the London Borough of Croydon, South London. The retail park was opened to accommodate Ladbrokes Texas Homecare store in Purley Way...
and Colonnades Leisure Park
Colonnades Leisure Park
The Colonnades Leisure Park is an out-of-town leisure park located in the Purley Way retail and industrial district of the London Borough of Croydon, South London which opened in the late 1990s...
.
The development of the area for retail purposes was not the result of local planning guidance, but occurred as part of a national trend towards out of town shopping. The retail parks were not formally recognised by Croydon Council
London Borough of Croydon
The London Borough of Croydon is a London borough in South London, England and is part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the largest London borough by population. It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name...
until the publication of its 1997 Unitary Development Plan
Unitary Development Plan
In United Kingdom planning law, a unitary development plan is an old-style development plan prepared by a metropolitan district and some unitary local authorities that contains policies equivalent to those in both a structure plan and a local plan...
.
IKEA Croydon
The IKEAIKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
in Croydon is a 23,000 m² furniture store which opened in 1992 on the site of Croydon 'B' Power Station
Croydon Power Station
The Croydon power stations refers to a pair of demolished coal-fired power stations and to a gas-fired power station in the Purley Way area of Croydon, London. The coal-fired stations operated from 1896 until 1984, and the gas-fired station opened in 1999...
. The old power station chimneys, with the addition of illuminated bands in the store's blue-and-yellow colours, were retained as a prominent advertisement. The store was revamped in 2006 to make it the largest IKEA in Britain: it was re-launched at a ceremony attended by Mayor Maggie Mansell and the Swedish ambassador Stefan Carlsson. IKEA is now the fifth biggest single employer in Croydon.
The landmark chimneys have been a continuing point of contention with local residents. In 2003, IKEA briefly considered demolishing them, saying that they cost over £70,000 a year to maintain. Ideas that have been aired for their use have included incorporating a museum of the site's history, and constructing a revolving restaurant
Revolving restaurant
A revolving restaurant is a usually tower restaurant eating space designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on the revolving floor. The revolving rate varies between one and three times...
at the top.
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
visited IKEA on Monday 5 May 2005 during the General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
campaign.
Other information
Purley Way Lido operated from 1935 to 1980; the diving board remains in the middle of a garden centre. The Croydon Water PalaceCroydon Water Palace
The Croydon Water Palace was an indoor water park complex that opened in 1990 on Purley Way in Waddon in the London Borough of Croydon, opposite Croydon Airport...
, an indoor water park complex, operated nearby from 1990 to 1996. The site of the Water Palace is now occupied by Colonnades Leisure Park
Colonnades Leisure Park
The Colonnades Leisure Park is an out-of-town leisure park located in the Purley Way retail and industrial district of the London Borough of Croydon, South London which opened in the late 1990s...
.
In the past there has been a depository for the Science Museum
Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is one of the three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....
in the Retail Park area, and Tramlink
Tramlink
Tramlink is a tramway system in south London in the United Kingdom which began operation in May 2000...
passes below the Purley Way.