Adam W.
A Major Clanger
What is Croydon?
A London Thread?
- Thread starter Stanleymonkey
- Start date
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Terry - Somerset
Established Member
Quite simply there is not enough demand to keep lots of "hobby" woodworking shops in business.
The internet has made it possible to buy online, generally cheaper than a bricks and mortar supplier -with lower staff and building overheads. By voting with our wallets we have ensured that many traditional shops have closed.
I personally regret the opportunity to see, try, discuss before buying. Honesty needs to prevail - I (a) buy new kit infrequently, and (b) have to question what price premium I would be prepared to pay.
That I may have to drive an hour or more is no surprise. In London area with very high rent and other costs the nearest may be an hour or more outside the M25.
The internet has made it possible to buy online, generally cheaper than a bricks and mortar supplier -with lower staff and building overheads. By voting with our wallets we have ensured that many traditional shops have closed.
I personally regret the opportunity to see, try, discuss before buying. Honesty needs to prevail - I (a) buy new kit infrequently, and (b) have to question what price premium I would be prepared to pay.
That I may have to drive an hour or more is no surprise. In London area with very high rent and other costs the nearest may be an hour or more outside the M25.
Many of those small businesses have also moved with the times and have an online presence. The likes of Proops who used to be in Tottenham Court Road, now seem to be exclusively on- line, as are Stobarts ( the woodworking book publisher) who now are based somewhere in Wales.
I purchased something on ebay the other day without looking at the suppliers name, only to realise when it came , that it was a shop I used to deal with on a regular basis in Bromley called "Hinges and Brackets" They are in the stretch of road by the Courthouse and used to have a really good range of better class hardware.
I purchased something on ebay the other day without looking at the suppliers name, only to realise when it came , that it was a shop I used to deal with on a regular basis in Bromley called "Hinges and Brackets" They are in the stretch of road by the Courthouse and used to have a really good range of better class hardware.
Stanleymonkey
Established Member
Lots of the tool shops in London do seem to have closed ditto the dedicated wood yards. I note that some of the big players are still around - Buck and Ryan, Tysack' etc. There used to be a good tool shop in Croydon - though for the life of me I can no longer recall the name
There was also a great one in Tooting Broadway down a side street that might well still be there. As for the woodyards - the likes of Catford Timber ( an amazing little place ) sold up when the property values rose as did the one in Peckham ( another one whose name now escapes me)
I used to use Bollom's for spray finish stuff though they closed down their place in Beckenham. Myland's are still around though I'm not sure they still do anything much other than paint now.
Was the Croydon Shop Turtles?
From what I have heard it is a sespit in south London that has high rates of gang crime, drugs and stabbings.
Is it too much to hope that people don't contribute to this thread just to denigrate "that London" for sport?
Yes, it was, I was trying to remember the name without any success.
https://www.itv.com/news/london/202...bbed-in-chest-in-south-london-named-by-police
https://www.mylondon.news/all-about/knife-crime
https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/23824170.11-stabbed-horror-month-across-south-london/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66935446
Unfortunately the ostrich pose or wearing tinted specs does not make south london anymore appealing or less dangerous, it may well have been a middle class leafy suburb once upon a time but no longer.
Blackswanwood
Still Learning
Why disparage a part of the country that other members on this forum live? It serves no purpose other than being contentious and insulting. Similar headlInes can be found for most if not all major cities in the UK.
What is contentious about highlighting facts, maybe if more people acknowledged issues rather than just accept them as the new normal something would be done to resolve. There is nothing socially acceptable about knife crime anywhere, it does happen across the country but the epicentre just happens to be parts of London and maybe people outside of london find it harder to comprehend.
Adam W.
A Major Clanger
I'm from London and I was the first in many generations of my family to ever venture south of the river.
We have always regarded the other bank with our North of the river superior 16th century attitude, as a cholera infested swamp.
Blackswanwood
Still Learning
None of which justifies describing where other forum members live as a “sespit”.
I (mistakenly) thought the role of the moderator was to keep things civil on the forum.
Hey ho!
Puggers
Established Member
I was born and brought up in Croydon, leaving in my mid-20s (used to love going to Turtles!).
I still go back for the football so know what my home town was and has become - reputationally accurate 100% in every way all of the time or otherwise.
I’m proud of my roots and like other large towns or cities, there are great people there doing their best, often in difficult circumstances.
Over the years I’ve grown to accept with boredom that some people have a one dimensional view of Croydon because they have no genuine, personal or deeper knowledge of the place. Other places suffer from similar perceptions, good and bad.
When it comes to Croydon, I just smile to myself as others shoot their keyboard arrows from their ivory towers over their fields of perfection, imagining that those towers probably have crumbling foundations and the crops in the fields are diseased in some way too.
I still go back for the football so know what my home town was and has become - reputationally accurate 100% in every way all of the time or otherwise.
I’m proud of my roots and like other large towns or cities, there are great people there doing their best, often in difficult circumstances.
Over the years I’ve grown to accept with boredom that some people have a one dimensional view of Croydon because they have no genuine, personal or deeper knowledge of the place. Other places suffer from similar perceptions, good and bad.
When it comes to Croydon, I just smile to myself as others shoot their keyboard arrows from their ivory towers over their fields of perfection, imagining that those towers probably have crumbling foundations and the crops in the fields are diseased in some way too.
clogs
just can't decide
as for tool shops....forget it here.......
nothing decent at all......
if u want decent u have to go north, Germany, Poland.....I'd say UK but due to import duties u have lost a lot of trade..,...
most items bought here are of Chinese origin, almost use once and throw away......
Why do u think Lidil's sell's out of their Parkside tools.....so much better and cheaper plus the 3 year warranty.....
No idea where u could buy a Hitli drill lets say.....come to that a decent plane or a spokshave.....
Pretty well supplied on spanners and screwdriver's tho.....quite a lot made from cheese Gromit......
generally anything like Hitachi, Makita, Millwaukee, Bosch etc are 3 time the price of the rest of Europe......
As for on-line there's really only one site and thats useless for anything other than household and then forget yellow pages...u remember them....?
mind I did save €300's on a big washing machine...
If I want anything it's easyier to go to Ebay "D" and buy there...as for being green it's nearly 800kms of a truck ride.....ask me if I care...not anymore....
2,1/2 hours at the other end of the island is the capitol and I just dont fancy driving there for a day out....
we stayed there once and it's a bit like Beirut but without the bullet holes......
Used equipment here is roughly the same price as new in the UK.......
My big metal lathe in the UK would sell around £2,000, here when/if they come up for sale it would be nearer 4-5000euros.....
normally that kinda kit is passed on, father too son.......
in fact if I could sort out decent transport and duties I would import selected equip from the UK.......
As said above now almost everything is online, almost everywhere is a tool shop wasteland.....
mostly I feel due to low wages, little left after living expences and the high cost for decent kit......
There was a terrific used tool shop in N Manchester, they cleared out sheds and small workshops....
the owner said as time goes by less and less people have hands on hobbies so less and less sheds to clear.....
They started selling modern tooling etc but finally went bump due to on-line sales.....
and who can blame those that do shop on line....
when u go anywhere ur greeted by a no nothing fuzzy faced kid who really doesn't care........
Besides with the cost of decent kit and when times are hard the luxury's have to go......along with the suppliers.....
I'm really not moaning at all just stating fact and if u ever asked would I go back to the UK, NEVER.....
Here u can leave the keys in ur car and it will still be there when u return.....ask the wife who actually left the keys for the car and the house hanging in the door at the supermarket....
Traveling broadens the mind, so u guys dont know how lucky u are......
keep safe out there......n wear a stab vest....hahaha.......
PS, a cloudless sky, it's almost 10am and nearly 20ºC......
as for the above......luckily I dont buy tools that much anymore......tara.......
nothing decent at all......
if u want decent u have to go north, Germany, Poland.....I'd say UK but due to import duties u have lost a lot of trade..,...
most items bought here are of Chinese origin, almost use once and throw away......
Why do u think Lidil's sell's out of their Parkside tools.....so much better and cheaper plus the 3 year warranty.....
No idea where u could buy a Hitli drill lets say.....come to that a decent plane or a spokshave.....
Pretty well supplied on spanners and screwdriver's tho.....quite a lot made from cheese Gromit......
generally anything like Hitachi, Makita, Millwaukee, Bosch etc are 3 time the price of the rest of Europe......
As for on-line there's really only one site and thats useless for anything other than household and then forget yellow pages...u remember them....?
mind I did save €300's on a big washing machine...
If I want anything it's easyier to go to Ebay "D" and buy there...as for being green it's nearly 800kms of a truck ride.....ask me if I care...not anymore....
2,1/2 hours at the other end of the island is the capitol and I just dont fancy driving there for a day out....
we stayed there once and it's a bit like Beirut but without the bullet holes......
Used equipment here is roughly the same price as new in the UK.......
My big metal lathe in the UK would sell around £2,000, here when/if they come up for sale it would be nearer 4-5000euros.....
normally that kinda kit is passed on, father too son.......
in fact if I could sort out decent transport and duties I would import selected equip from the UK.......
As said above now almost everything is online, almost everywhere is a tool shop wasteland.....
mostly I feel due to low wages, little left after living expences and the high cost for decent kit......
There was a terrific used tool shop in N Manchester, they cleared out sheds and small workshops....
the owner said as time goes by less and less people have hands on hobbies so less and less sheds to clear.....
They started selling modern tooling etc but finally went bump due to on-line sales.....
and who can blame those that do shop on line....
when u go anywhere ur greeted by a no nothing fuzzy faced kid who really doesn't care........
Besides with the cost of decent kit and when times are hard the luxury's have to go......along with the suppliers.....
I'm really not moaning at all just stating fact and if u ever asked would I go back to the UK, NEVER.....
Here u can leave the keys in ur car and it will still be there when u return.....ask the wife who actually left the keys for the car and the house hanging in the door at the supermarket....
Traveling broadens the mind, so u guys dont know how lucky u are......
keep safe out there......n wear a stab vest....hahaha.......
PS, a cloudless sky, it's almost 10am and nearly 20ºC......
as for the above......luckily I dont buy tools that much anymore......tara.......
It is tiresome when individuals wander off point and decend into mud slinging. I was born in Forest Hill South London in the 1940s and went to school yards from where Stephen Lawrence was murdered, so crime is nothing new. It is policing (or lack of it) that has multiplied knife crime. Remember Stop & Search anyone? I as a callow (white) youth was stopped on my way to a milk round by a policeman early one morning on my bike. In those days policemen on foot were a regular sight.
When a poster asks a very reasonable question why not answer if you can or shut up if you can't?
When a poster asks a very reasonable question why not answer if you can or shut up if you can't?
You are so lucky to be able to drive for 2 1/2 hours to the end of the Island, if I drive for an hour in any direction, I have to sticks oars out of the window to get any further. Oh the loss of so many decent tool and hardware shops, only one left, W Hurst & Son, who also sell on-line.
Timber stores, we only have the big boys, Jewson, Travis Perkins and Sydenham, plus B&Q.
Stuart Moffat
Established Member
When I worked in London in the last century, I was a very frequent visitor to Buck and Ryan on Tottenham Court Road. A brilliant tool shop in its time. Also lots of top end hifi shops. Nothing there to tempt me into London now though.
Buck & Ryan used to do wholesale too, dealt with them for a while, bought Diston saws from them amongst other things.
Adam W.
A Major Clanger
But driving for 2 1/2 hours in London only gets you 5 miles.
For wood slhardwoods stock a number of different boards both par and sawn also some exotic sheets goods and is just off taite road they also have website and wood club offering discounts. Selhurst timber have good range of soft woods and building materials and deliver locally. Tools wise shaws over valley park is excellent for power tools esp the black and yellow ones but also has some of the green an beige ones too they also stock wide selection of trend router bits and has repair options for many power tools. Losing turtles was hard used to love speaking to the old wise ones in there who seamed to always have what you wanted no matter how obscure usually in a drawer behind the counter.
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