Steven Downes
@sdownes.bsky.social
Father, husband, journalist and author. Winner of Royal Television Society award. Founder InsideCroydon.com. Former Editor of Athletics Weekly. Secretary SJA for 12 years.
Want some writing or editing done, or have a story tip? stevenwdownes@gmail.com
Want some writing or editing done, or have a story tip? stevenwdownes@gmail.com
Reposted by Steven Downes
This week's top posts: Croydon spaghetti restaurant named UK's best at trade awards insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/c... #Croydon #Spaghetti #Awards
Croydon spaghetti restaurant named UK’s best at trade awards
Literally rising from the ashes of a malicious arson attack two years ago, the Spaghetti Tree, with branches in Warlingham and Shirley, has been rated the country’s best independent Italian r…
insidecroydon.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:55 PM
This week's top posts: Croydon spaghetti restaurant named UK's best at trade awards insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/c... #Croydon #Spaghetti #Awards
Reposted by Steven Downes
This week's top posts: Saga of Croydon's vanished bins and the audit that never was insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/s... #Croydon #CroydonInCrisis @itvnews.bsky.social @privateeyenews.bsky.social
Saga of Croydon’s vanished bins and the audit that never was
#BINMAGEDDON: After five years of community campaigning, and following repeated broken promises from Fisher’s Folly, now the council says it has no idea where around 1,000 street bins have go…
insidecroydon.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:54 PM
This week's top posts: Saga of Croydon's vanished bins and the audit that never was insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/s... #Croydon #CroydonInCrisis @itvnews.bsky.social @privateeyenews.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
This week's top posts: Police seize counterfeit goods and cash from Croydon shops insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/p... #Croydon #Crime #BlackFriday @brixtonbuzz.bsky.social @greenwichwire.bsky.social
Police seize counterfeit goods and cash from Croydon shops
Shops in Croydon and in Brixton have been among 30 sites raided by the Metropolitan Police, seizing hundreds of thousands of pounds-worth of counterfeit goods and suspected illegal cash as part of …
insidecroydon.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:53 PM
This week's top posts: Police seize counterfeit goods and cash from Croydon shops insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/p... #Croydon #Crime #BlackFriday @brixtonbuzz.bsky.social @greenwichwire.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
This week's top posts: Keeping in the LOOP can get us from Coulsdon to Banstead insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/k... #Croydon #Walks @ramblers.org.uk @kentowl.bsky.social
Keeping in the LOOP can get us from Coulsdon to Banstead
WANDLE WANDERER: Crunching through the dried leaves of autumn makes this one of the better times of year to go off on a ramble. But avoiding the worst of the weather is something KEN TOWL discovere…
insidecroydon.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:52 PM
This week's top posts: Keeping in the LOOP can get us from Coulsdon to Banstead insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/k... #Croydon #Walks @ramblers.org.uk @kentowl.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
This week's top posts: Millionaire developer Ansari loses appeal on guard dog charges insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/m... #Croydon @rosslydall.bsky.social @thevicsoc.bsky.social
Millionaire developer Ansari loses appeal on guard dog charges
After having convictions upheld relating to his giant Kangals, controversial Croydon figure now focuses on his planning appeals over the Leslie Arms pub in Addiscombe, a listed building on the R…
insidecroydon.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
This week's top posts: Millionaire developer Ansari loses appeal on guard dog charges insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/m... #Croydon @rosslydall.bsky.social @thevicsoc.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
This week's top posts: More churn at the top as interim directors leave the council insidecroydon.com/2025/11/08/m... #Croydon #CroydonInCrisis
More churn at the top as interim directors leave the council
The rapid turnover among senior staff at Fisher’s Folly suggests that the ‘leadership issues’ which were in-part responsible for Commissioners being sent in to run Croydon Council…
insidecroydon.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:48 PM
This week's top posts: More churn at the top as interim directors leave the council insidecroydon.com/2025/11/08/m... #Croydon #CroydonInCrisis
Reposted by Steven Downes
Support your independent, locally-based news website. Click here to sign-up as a donor: patreon.com/insidecroydon #Croydon #News #Journalism
July 22, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Support your independent, locally-based news website. Click here to sign-up as a donor: patreon.com/insidecroydon #Croydon #News #Journalism
Reposted by Steven Downes
Croydon's 6.6% unemployment rate is among worst in capital insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/c... #Croydon #London #Unemployment #Budget @thelondoneconomic.bsky.social
Croydon’s 6.6% unemployment rate is among worst in capital
Croydon has one of the worst unemployment rates in London, according to the latest figures. There are 1.8million unemployed across the country, which the Office for National Statistics said, outsid…
insidecroydon.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Croydon's 6.6% unemployment rate is among worst in capital insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/c... #Croydon #London #Unemployment #Budget @thelondoneconomic.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Tories ignore bully allegations over 'wicked' Bromley councillor insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/t... #Bromley #Conservatives #Tory @jessphillipsmp.bsky.social @politicsjoe.bsky.social
Tories ignore bully allegations over ‘wicked’ Bromley councillor
A former aide to a Conservative MP has filed a complaint to his own party over serious allegations of a three-year bullying campaign conducted against him by a Westminster colleague who is compared…
insidecroydon.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Tories ignore bully allegations over 'wicked' Bromley councillor insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/t... #Bromley #Conservatives #Tory @jessphillipsmp.bsky.social @politicsjoe.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Works begin on park's dinosaur-themed adventure playground insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/w... #Croydon #Heritage #Christmas @thevicsoc.bsky.social @londoncentric.media
Works begin on park’s dinosaur-themed adventure playground
Amid all the regeneration works taking place within the Grade II*-listed Crystal Palace Park, there’s also a busy schedule of events coming up, including Christmas wreath-making, a charity fu…
insidecroydon.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Works begin on park's dinosaur-themed adventure playground insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/w... #Croydon #Heritage #Christmas @thevicsoc.bsky.social @londoncentric.media
Reposted by Steven Downes
Railway offering teenagers chance to become a real apprentice insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/r... #Croydon #Education #Jobs @christianwolmar.bsky.social
Railway offering teenagers chance to become a real apprentice
There’s no need to face the boardroom and Lord Sugar to really become an apprentice, under an application process just opened for budding engineers by Govia Thameslink Railway. Vacancies for …
insidecroydon.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Railway offering teenagers chance to become a real apprentice insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/r... #Croydon #Education #Jobs @christianwolmar.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
River Revive Saturday at Norbury Brook, Carew Road, Nov 15 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/r... #Croydon #Environment #NorburyBrook #ThorntonHeath @thames21.bsky.social
River Revive Saturday at Norbury Brook, Carew Road, Nov 15
S U B S C R I B E R A D V E R T I S E M E N T
insidecroydon.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:52 AM
River Revive Saturday at Norbury Brook, Carew Road, Nov 15 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/13/r... #Croydon #Environment #NorburyBrook #ThorntonHeath @thames21.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
This is v worthwhile and is the future of local journalism
Support your independent, locally-based news website. Click here to sign-up as a donor: patreon.com/insidecroydon #Croydon #News #Journalism
November 11, 2025 at 9:41 AM
This is v worthwhile and is the future of local journalism
Reposted by Steven Downes
Saga of Croydon's vanished bins and the audit that never was insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/s... #Croydon #CroydonInCrisis #1000Bins @keepbritaintidy.bsky.social @veoliauk.bsky.social @privateeyenews.bsky.social
Saga of Croydon’s vanished bins and the audit that never was
#BINMAGEDDON: After five years of community campaigning, and repeatedly broken promises from Fisher’s Folly, Croydon Council says it has no idea where around 1,000 street bins have gone. By o…
insidecroydon.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Saga of Croydon's vanished bins and the audit that never was insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/s... #Croydon #CroydonInCrisis #1000Bins @keepbritaintidy.bsky.social @veoliauk.bsky.social @privateeyenews.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Terrorism charges for Wallington teen linked to Islamic State insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/t... #Sutton #Terrorism #ISIS
Terrorism charges for Wallington teen linked to Islamic State
A teenager from Wallington has been arrested under the Terrorism Act. Chafik Aziz, 18, was charged on November 11 with, according to the Metropolitan Police, “an offence contrary to section 5…
insidecroydon.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Terrorism charges for Wallington teen linked to Islamic State insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/t... #Sutton #Terrorism #ISIS
Reposted by Steven Downes
St Paul's Charity Christmas Fair, Croham Park Avenue, Nov 15 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/s... #Croydon #Charity #Christmas #Fair
St Paul’s Charity Christmas Fair, Croham Park Avenue, Nov 15
S U B S C R I B E R A D V E R T I S E M E N T
insidecroydon.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:08 AM
St Paul's Charity Christmas Fair, Croham Park Avenue, Nov 15 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/s... #Croydon #Charity #Christmas #Fair
Reposted by Steven Downes
Artisan Craft Market, The Allotments, Glenthorne Ave, Nov 15 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/a... #Croydon #Allotments #Fair
Artisan Craft Market, The Allotments, Glenthorne Ave, Nov 15
S U B S C R I B E R A D V E R T I S E M E N T
insidecroydon.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Artisan Craft Market, The Allotments, Glenthorne Ave, Nov 15 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/12/a... #Croydon #Allotments #Fair
Reposted by Steven Downes
Reposted by Steven Downes
On Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s refusal to review the BBC Board membership of Robbie Gibb, Lib Dem culture spokes Anna Sabine MP said:
"This is the wrong choice...Gibb isn’t fit to serve on the BBC Board, & the BBC Charter gives the Government the power to sack him." PM should step in, she says.
"This is the wrong choice...Gibb isn’t fit to serve on the BBC Board, & the BBC Charter gives the Government the power to sack him." PM should step in, she says.
November 11, 2025 at 6:02 PM
On Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s refusal to review the BBC Board membership of Robbie Gibb, Lib Dem culture spokes Anna Sabine MP said:
"This is the wrong choice...Gibb isn’t fit to serve on the BBC Board, & the BBC Charter gives the Government the power to sack him." PM should step in, she says.
"This is the wrong choice...Gibb isn’t fit to serve on the BBC Board, & the BBC Charter gives the Government the power to sack him." PM should step in, she says.
Reposted by Steven Downes
Really clear analysis of the current political situation by @johnmcdonnellmp.bsky.social in the current issue of @tribunemagazine.bsky.social
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/11/why-...
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/11/why-...
The Left Needs to Get Its Act Together Urgently to Beat Reform
As Reform surges and we enter a ‘proto-fascist’ moment, it is vital that we reject both complacency and factionalism, and work out how to build a powerful leftist counter-movement — in parliament and ...
tribunemag.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Really clear analysis of the current political situation by @johnmcdonnellmp.bsky.social in the current issue of @tribunemagazine.bsky.social
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/11/why-...
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/11/why-...
Reposted by Steven Downes
Be fun if the BBC chose to counter sue Trump for £1bn also for defrauding the public
November 12, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Be fun if the BBC chose to counter sue Trump for £1bn also for defrauding the public
Reposted by Steven Downes
Reposted by Steven Downes
Millionaire developer Ansari loses appeal on guard dog charges insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/m... #Croydon #Crime #Heritage @thevicsoc.bsky.social @englishheritage.bsky.social @camraofficial.bsky.social @rspcaoffficial.bsky.social
Millionaire developer Ansari loses appeal on guard dog charges
After having his conviction related to his giant guard dogs upheld, controversial Croydon figure now focuses on his planning appeals over the Leslie Arms pub in Addiscombe, a listed building on the…
insidecroydon.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Millionaire developer Ansari loses appeal on guard dog charges insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/m... #Croydon #Crime #Heritage @thevicsoc.bsky.social @englishheritage.bsky.social @camraofficial.bsky.social @rspcaoffficial.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Police seize counterfeit goods and cash from Croydon shops insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/p... #Croydon #Brixton #PoliceRaids @brixtonbuzz.bsky.social @greenwichwire.bsky.social
Police seize counterfeit goods and cash from Croydon shops
Shops in Croydon and in Brixton have been among 30 sites raided by the Metropolitan Police, seizing hundreds of thousands of pounds-worth of counterfeit goods and suspected illegal cash as part of …
insidecroydon.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Police seize counterfeit goods and cash from Croydon shops insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/p... #Croydon #Brixton #PoliceRaids @brixtonbuzz.bsky.social @greenwichwire.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Rookie firefighter steps up to rescue 3 kids in Norbury blaze insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/r... #Croydon #Norbury #Hero @london-fire.bsky.social @london.gov.uk
Rookie firefighter steps up to rescue 3 kids in Norbury blaze
A firefighter in his first week on the job played a vital part in rescuing a family, including three children, when they were trapped in a second-floor flat in Norbury after an e-bike battery explo…
insidecroydon.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Rookie firefighter steps up to rescue 3 kids in Norbury blaze insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/r... #Croydon #Norbury #Hero @london-fire.bsky.social @london.gov.uk