Its changed a lot its got busier and noisier but I still feel there is feeling of community.  I enjoy living in an ethnically diverse area I believe it so much more interesting. 

Transport links are great, close to central London and convenient for the getting to Brighton (one of my other favourite places)

Shopping ......local shopping for everyday needs in a vibrant busy high street ie large Tesco then Lidl near the pond.  Dont forget there is Croydon Town Centre on the doorstep, West end shopping 20 mins on train from East Croydon.  Now there is the Overground which is part of the underground network. 

Property prices still good why not give it a go.

Sheryl. 

BCTV volunteers restored the nature area's footpath. The restoration project was funded by grants from the National Lottery's Awards for All and the Living Spaces scheme.

Croydon shopping centre is now my West End. I wish I had moved here years ago.

Plus, you can be a tourist from a Gatwick runway in 20 minutes if you feel like it. I must say that I have fond childhood memories of Thornton Heath so it still feels like home, even though I have travelled the world.

I remember fishing for tadpoles in The Pond, school swimming lessons at the old Baths & getting the tram into Croydon for a ride on the donkeys at Kennard's arcade.

I can hear the birds from my bedroom and the view is just beautiful, covered in all shades of green at the moment, you can really experience the seasons from my bedroom window.

I've lived in Thornton Heath for 18 years and I've never regretted it. Less than 30 mins to London, one hour from the sea, 45 mins from the country side... what more could you ask for.

Very easy access to town - close enough to enjoy the chi chi eateries in Crystal Palace. If you are in town, you don't think twice of spending £20 on a taxi home, because your mortgage would be three times as expensive in zone 1 or 2! So you get more house for your money - my friend is paying £375k for a mini-shoebox in Clapham just so she can get a £10 cab ride home at night from central London. Makes no sense!

Easy to get to Brighton or Croydon. Easy to get to the megalopolis superstore village where you will find a huge Ikea, M&S, electrical superstores etc. Although not too obtrusive, my neighbours are friendly - I actually know their names! How rare is that for London?

I can hear the birds in the morning. It's diverse enough - large ethnic community, gay community - everybody seems to get on well enough.

Cons - not the most glamourous high street; lots of young people "wiv attitude" milling about; in no way, shape or form could you ever call Thornton Heath cool. But if you want a nice house, good size, reasonable mortgage, good transport links, and money in your pocket to enjoy life as opposed to sinking it in your mortgage - come to Thornton Heath.

24 hour Tesco and convenience shops usually open really good hours.

Oh, and the new luxury leisure complex with gym, swimming pool and everything and it's only £30 a month as well, so good value there too!

The Tesco is open 24 hours so it dominates the High Street with Superdrug and Iceland trailing. The independent stores have a tough time competing, however they do provide a more individual service.

I can pop into IKEA, Habitat, MFI, B&Q, Homebase, Courts, Mothercare, Cecil Gee, Toys 'R' Us, Comet, Argos or PC World in minutes on Purley Way or Valley Park.

Allders in Croydon is the UK's 3rd largest department store after Harrods and Harvey Nichols in the West End. Allders will be the flagship store opening onto a new £500-million town square called Park Place, which will be one million square foot development including 103 shops, 13 large stores, 17 restaurants. The scheme will also include an overhaul of the Queen's Gardens, revised traffic layout at Fairfield and a bus interchange as part of a unique £6-million public transport initiative known as "intoCroydon".

I'm easily connected with bars, restaurants, clubs, theatres, cinemas, ice-skating and sports clubs in all directions. Night buses N68, N109, N159 and now N250 leave your options open. Plus I'm 19 minutes from Victoria and all that central London offers.

This combination of nature and urban conveniences makes Thornton Heath the ideal retreat after a busy day or night.

The landmark site's original large open pond, at the junction of the A23 and London Road by the Wheatsheaf public house, gave the area its name. In the 18th century, it was an important watering place for cattle and horses along the busy London to Brighton Road.

In 1897, railings were put up around the edge of the pond to put a stop to numerous traffic accidents. This included the Brighton mail coach ploughing straight into the water in heavy fog in 1891. At the same time, an ornamental fountain was placed in the centre of the pond to mark Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, replacing the original fountain.

However, in 1953 the pond was filled in and turned into an ornamental garden with a small pool, following consultation with local residents. But due to sporadic incidents of vandalism, the decision was eventually made in 1975 to fill in the pool as well and it has remained so until today.

Thornton Heath Pond has long been a famous landmark within Croydon.

The site was also known as the location of the gallows during the 18th century where numerous convicted highwaymen were hanged for their crimes. For many of the borough's older residents, the area holds less dramatic, happier memories as a place where they would gather to paddle and fish as youngsters.

Bus routes serving the grounds are the 50 on Melfort Road joining Streatham to South Croydon. On London Road the 60 covering Streatham to Old Coulsdon, the 109 linking Brixton to Croydon and the N159 traversing Marble Arch to New Addington at night.

Its 14 acres consist of football pitches and changing rooms with shower facilities, bowling green and pavilion, children's playground, two floodlit multi-games courts, ornamental garden and mature trees.

Thornton Heath Recreation Ground was one of the earlier open spaces to be acquired by the Council. The first part of the ground was acquired in 1884 to serve the built-up area of Thornton Heath; however, by 1891 one of the clubs using the ground was complaining that it was 'miserably small' for cricket and it was argued that the Council as a safety measure should forbid half the games played there on Saturdays.

In 1894 a further 6 acres of ground were acquired and laid out. The footpath that runs through the park from Melfort Avenue to Bridport Road provides the divide between the two land acquisitions and is a right of way which is open all the time unlike the park either side of it which is locked at night.

Beside the footpath, on the site of the children's playground, there used to be a bandstand were visitors to the park would gather in the summer to listen to visiting bands. The park was so well used that it was reported in 1948 that 'the ground has been used to such an extent that it is now bare of grass and in order to reinstate it to its former condition it must be closed for at least 9 months'.

Running along the western boundary of the park in a deep concrete channel is Norbury Brook, a tributary of the River Wandle. Most of the time the brook is fairly shallow but during heavy rainfall water quickly drains from the adjacent built up areas and the water level rapidly rises. In July 1987, the Mayor of Croydon opened a new ornamental garden. While constructing the garden, builders located a number of underground tunnels that had been built during the last World War to serve as air raid shelters.

Balham's Northern line tube is 9 minutes away, which can drop you in the bars, nightclubs and restaurants of Leicester Square in another 20 minutes or so.

Victoria mainline, coach and tube stations are 20 minutes away, you could just have a night out there in places such as the Apollo Victoria and Victoria Palace theatres.

Getting back home south of the river after midnight can be expensive (taxis) or awkward (walking) to certain parts. Luckily, the N159 Night bus runs every 20 minutes from Marble Arch to Thornton Heath taking about 35 minutes, plus the Travelcard is valid up until 4.30am so it's almost a free ride if you brought a previous day's ticket.

Or you could head in a southern direction where East Croydon and the Tramlink are 4 minutes' away. The nightlife of central Croydon is changing with the UK's breweries competing for the custom of revellers. Interestingly, Tiger Tiger from the SW1 Kings Road have set up camp here; this is a part of a movement of vendors towards West Croydon's East London Line extension such as the arrival of the House of Fraser which will have a Tramlink stop on its front door.

Looking ahead, London's Mayor described Tramlink extensions to Thornton Heath as "possible". It has been proposed during the Tramlink Bill's passage through Parliament. If this is approved, Streatham Station will be the northern terminus of the Tramlink extension. This would provide Thornton Heath with another interchange with the East London Line extension.

The scheme includes a 25-metre swimming pool, learner pool, health and fitness suite, dance studio, creche and café.

The facilities are being built on the site of the old Thornton Heath pool, which was demolished earlier this year, and form part of a multi-million-pound programme of investment being channelled by the council into transforming existing sports and leisure facilities in the borough.

Having seen the plans this superbly equipped new facility will be a great health asset to those living in this near area, helping to boost the quality of life and well-being. This is an exciting development for the Thornton Heath area creating a facility which will be highly valued by the local community, schools and clubs.

Sport Englands award will help finance the multi-purpose sports hall which will be able to provide for sports like badminton, basketball, volleyball and five-a-side football in the new complex.

Also, a new sports pavillion and community hall worth £5 million is about to start at Green Lane sports ground.

More and more foxes are heading for city centres with sightings at places like Buckingham Palace Gardens and the House of Lords. It seems that 14% of Britain's crafty foxes like the cosiness of not having to hunt too hard for their utilities. The other 86% are considering their options in the surrounding woodlands.

The Mammal Society argues foxes do little real damage and don't need culling because they control their own numbers naturally.

Telewest ploughed up the roads years ago so cable net/iTV is here too, though only 40% of homes in the UK currently have iTV.

The mobile phone masts seem to be positioned with consideration for residents, as they are located in commercial areas.

Broadband Wireless networks will be here later but I don't fancy guessing what happens to your inners judging from what my mobile phone does to things!

It's the future but a wired infrastructure bias in Thornton Heath may be safer than a wireless infrastructure elsewhere in the long term due to the currently unknown effects of fast and high web traffic emissions going through the air.

Guests are within walking distance of many local restaurants, shopping, parks, pubs and sports centres.

The transportation is minutes away from the West End, East Croydon and Gatwick International Airport, the 2nd largest airport in the UK and one of the world's busiest, making Thornton Heath hotels accessible to all major regional entertainment venues, museums and art galleries.

Moreover, award-winning hotels such as the Hilton, Holiday Inn, Quality Hotel and Forte Posthouse have also set up camp near this area. Jury's Inn is building a £15 million 240-bedroom hotel for Autumn 2001; it's a few minutes down the road next to the Tram Link.

Hoteliers only set up in prime locations adjacent to major corporate, commercial, retail and transport facilities.

The older Thornton Heath, part of the Manor of Norbury, had been open heath common land for centuries. Its main claim to fame was the useful pond, for horses and cattle, and the gallows, which stood on the site. The Enclosure Act of 1799 turned it into privately-owned farmland. The Enclosure also enabled owners to sell their land for development, and within a few years there was a fair cluster of buildings around the pond area and development (mostly quite substantial houses) was spreading up the eastern side of the London Road on the way to Croydon.

As already mentioned, 'New Thornton Heath' was created by the railway. Before 1862, the area had a few farmhouses, one or two villas and, an important local industry, market-gardening. These were soon engulfed by new streets. By 1900 there was very little open land left in Thornton Heath, new or old.

Croydon Workhouse was situated in Queen's Road, after it moved there from Duppas Hill in 1865. In 1930 the Workhouse became Queen's Road Hospital, and the remaining section is now a Grade II Listed Building. Opposite is Queen's Road Cemetery, opened in 1861 when the neighbouring churchyards were getting full up.

Mayday Hospital started life in 1881 as the infirmary of the Workhouse, and was renamed Mayday in 1930. The hospital takes its name from the road, not vice versa.

Another Grade II listed building is St. Alban's Church, Grange Road. Built in 1889, it is described as a red-brick perpendicular style with stone dressing.

At the junction of the High Street and Parchmore Road, on a site previously called Walker's Green, stands the Clocktower, which was built in 1900, financed partly by public subscription.

In earlier times, Croydon was well-known for its charcoal-burners or colliers, and Colliers Water Lane commemorates this connection with that trade. Another industry connected with the area until recently was clock and bell-making. The world-famous firm of Gillett & Johnston was based in Union Road from 1844 to 1957, and its clocktower was a well-known landmark in the area until it was demolished in 1997.

Located less than a minute from Thornton Heath railway station and with a bus stop outside its entrance, Thornton Heath Pool could not be easier to get to. Alternatively the Car Park at the side of the pool means that you can bring your own vehicle if you wish, nice!