Inside London's Most Dangerous Town 🇬🇧 

westminster and parlinment are the most dangerous places in london

It’s not just Croydon, the country is a train wreck…

I broke down in Croydon about 20 years ago. And the guy in the yellow sweater reminded me of the guy who came to my assistance, nobody asked him to, but he did, he let me crash out in his flat, we went for a beer with him and his pals, and he wouldn't take anything from me even though without his help I'd have been totally screwed. Good people. Makes you proud to be British

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!! The daily Jesus devotion has been a huge part of my transformation. God is Good 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌was owing a loan of £47k to the bank for my son's brain surgery(Samuel). Now I am no longer owning after I invested £6500 and got my payout of £290k every month, God bless Sandrina Edmondson 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

The majority of Britain has been turned into a futuristic, dystopian horror movie. Thanks Government. It resembles the film, "Escape From New York".

Croydon is definitely not the most dangerous part of London. It’s a concrete jungle.

Very articulate and fair in how you investigate these statistics. Great the way you interview the people who truly know what’s going on- the people who live it in the streets and residents. Great videos my friend! Keep up the great work!!!

Being from the midlands myself, I could tell exactly where about you are from. Your accent was difficult to place at first. Then I could hear you replacing the “Th” sound of words that begin with “Th”, with a “V” sound and it told me a lot. I love what you’re doing with your channel and how you confidentially approach people with a plan for your video 👍🏼

I could cry when I see what's become of Croydon. I grew up there in the 70's and it was a fantastic place. It is unrecognisable now to the town i once knew. Like the 62 year old interviewed, I was born in St Mary's maternity hospital back in the mid 60's. I could not have wished to grow up in a nicer area. But like others have said, it's not just Croydon, so many other towns have taken a similar downturn. Though gladly, not all have become as dangerous as Croydon. But honestly, if you could look back in time to the 70's you would not believe you were in the same place. Very sad.

Up until the mid-1980's Croydon was a fantasic town to live and work in, vibrant and full of energy with the best and most varied retail outlets in the whole country, after Harrods and Selfridges (In London), Allders was the largest department store in the UK, and many people to this day thought it was the best to shop in - Not to mention Croydon's two other iconic department stores, Kennards and Grants. Prior to 1989 when North End was pedestrianised and closed off to traffic, on a Saturday, around Christmas and during the annual shop sales (Without exaggerating), it was impossible to walk along the high street without brushing every single person you passed, to say Croydon was busy back then would be an understatement. Surrey Street Market has been trading since 1276, one of the oldest markets in the UK and there was a time during the 1970's / 80's when there was up to a five-year waiting list for a stall, and many generations of families worked there. Today Croydon is a shadow of its former glory, totally neglected with 80% of the shops either dilapidated or boarded up, depressing, filthy and full of unemployed wondering immigrants. This demise is solely due to Croydon Council and the amount of corruption, incompetence, and their mismanagement - Unfortunately not one Council leader was held to account or prosecuted, but instead getting massive financial payoffs and moving on to other high-powered jobs - All well documented. There is investment but only hungry opportunist investors constructing high-rise low-quality tower blocks, mainly rent only apartments. Unfortunately, Croydon is not an isolated case, there are literally 100's of other towns and area’s just like Croydon throughout the United Kingdom. I have travelled and lived in most of Asia and when one compares the United Kingdom to all these other countries you realise just how backward and third word the United Kingdom has become - Extremely sad but 100% fact.

I was born in the UK and lived in South London and Bristol but have spent my life in Australia travelling back and forth every 3-5 years for the past 40 years. Parts of those areas have always been rough. However, during that time I have seen quite big changes in places that were once familiar to me. Now I don't really have any urge to return.

Wendell, I appreciate your compassionate approach to these videos. I know some people would characterise it as poverty porn, but you give people a chance to speak and you do so without judgement.

I remember Croydon around 1970. Just your normal regular town. Alas all swept away amidst the mass immigration and social replacement. Dystopia here we come !

So many good people struggling is heart breaking. Thank you for giving them a voice on youtube.

My Mum was a Psychology lecturer back in the 90's when i was growing up as a kid. She had studied at Oxford and knew lots of well-to-do people who were "finacially blessed". I travelled to London with her one particular weekend and stayed in an incredible multimillion pound residence near Camden which had marble floors and high ceilings. When my Mum and her friend went to sleep i snuck out onto the balcony to smoke a cigarette (i was only 14). As i smoked i looked down on the streets below. I was absolutely astounded at all the drug dealing, crime, yardies and fights going on in what was supposed to be an afluent area. I ended up sitting there watching the madness unfold for at least an hour before i crept back inside. I'm no sociology expert but something tells me that London has been full of crime and skulduggery since its inception.

I lived in Croydon for 33 years, when I had enough money to buy a property I decided to move to East Grinstead. I never had any trouble in Croydon, but even in my lifetime it changed drastically. I wouldn't feel safe going down London Road at night at all. I still work near East Croydon station so I'm there once a week or so. Still feels like home. Great video, really interesting to read some of the comments.

Where has our country gone heart breaks ..

My daughter and son-inlaw will not work in Croydon, colleagues have been targeted by muggers etc....and it's dangerous!

I speak to the guy in the yellow top all the time! Lovely fella. I'm a 49 yr old woman and i work nights at West Croydon (get off the bus at around 1.45am) and nothing has happened to me, touch wood. Lovely boozer opposite the station. Beautiful old buildings if you look up! I used to think that Croydon was the armpit of the Universe but I'm growing to like it. It's certainly depressing as you travel outside it but then again, there's lots of green areas. I believe it is what you make it. I'll show this video to that guy and buy him a can on Thursday. Cheers for the great content x

Good video mate. I'm from London north. Where you were, I had passed by there few weeks ago...smh.. absolutely dreadful mate. Bleak, depressing. When I went to visit my mates in Swansea,(townhill, mayhill) it was similar. England unfortunately is falling apart. I guess everywhere has its no- go zone. Be safe mate, cheers 👊🏻

I was there in February 2023. Went to watch a match between crystal palace and Liverpool on a Friday evening. Going back to the Hotel in the Centre ( just opposite that empty shopping center you showed) was quite a scary experience. Some kid cut himself with a flick knife on the bus. The bus floor was full of blood. Some guy took off his shirt and applied it as a tourniquet around the kid’s wrist. I would definitely not have gone had I watched this video first. Didn’t feel safe at all. On the bus afraid to look at anyone just stared outside me and my son and were massively relieved to get back to the hotel safe and sound

I lived in Mitcham for 41 years and used to go to Croydon every week. It’s definitely not how I remember it from years back.

I use to work in West Croydon as i lived in Sutton most of my life ,and always went shopping in Croydon there as well as bars and clubs, my cousin lives off London Road, i walked along there last year to her house 20 minutes each way, thankfully didn't see any thing bad going on.

dude thankyou for doing what u do, Much respect.

Got out of Wandsworth 5 years ago, would never live there again. We are ethnically being driven out of our own country, change has to happen

I dont think Croyden is London's most dangerous town mate. Try the Wandsworth estates after dark. Try the estates of Harlsden -- Stonebridge. Try Woolwich, try Haringey, which had the highest knife crime incidents between 2022 and 2023 (632), followed by Enfield (599) and Barnet (399 incidents). Gun crime: try Haringey and Southwark.

I live in Los Angeles. This looks like Disneyland compared to LA.

Good video but I have to critique you on some of your points/musings about Croydon. I think you've read some puff pieces about it. Contrary from being 'on The Up' Croydon is in steep decline. -The residential prices are actually insanely high, not affordable. And with more London professionals and office workers able to work from home for some of the week people are moving further down the train line where they can get houses for the same prices they can get a tiny flat in Croydon. -On the commerical front, Croydon was a retail town for decades, and at one point people came from quite far away for the shopping. As a result of council mismanagement and increased competition elsewhere from places like Westfield in London. Croydon's retail sector has been declining since the early 2000s. The COVID lockdowns essentially finished off most of what was limping on. The remaining big chain stores that are left are dropping out 1 by 1. And the smaller high street stores are either abandoned/derelict or occupied by take-aways and vape shops. There's no real retail here now. On the office space side of things, there's basically a whole road of empty office buildings 5 minutes from the station. On top of all of that the council has been bankrupt 3 times in recent years, so we have less and less services, but ridiculously high council taxes. A 2 bedroom flat will run you about £2400 a year in council tax. In short Croydon is in late stage decline, with no real prospect of it turning around. Most people with the means to are either leaving or looking to leave as soon as they can.

My view on Croydon, I grew up here from 1982 onwards, then it was a very middle class area, great community spirit it was mainly white then. When the housing prices went up in nearby areas like Brixton, Battersea, Clapham and such. Resulted in an influx of people from rougher areas moving in as they could sell their homes , move to Croydon get a better home with money left over. They brought that more ghetto culture to the area, be it violent crime, and drug culture. This resulted with a lot of people moving out to towards coulsdon, redhill, Guildford and outside of London. The area has been neglected by the government and council as it mainly minorities and poorer English people. Where areas like Brixton and Clapham have gone through regeneration, Croydon ha gone through degeneration. The council has mismanagement public funds , fraudulent council staff, council being bankrupt, councils placing ridiculous charges making it not viable in terms of business. Croydon also has a massive rat infestation problem. Croydon is okay if your don’t present as vulnerable in terms of how you carry yourself. No local resources for the youth, no support for the vulnerable, local healthcare extremely poor, as the chap stated local hospital which use to be called Mayday is referred to as Maydie. I could go on and on, really sad when you think of the potential in the area, nice buildings, good transport link’s. On a governmental level no discipline in school, teachers are unable to effectively correct misbehaving children, like wise parents have their hands tired. This lack of discipline in the homes and schools just extends to the local and greater community, were some youngsters feel they can do what they like with no repercussions. A lot could be nipped in the bud if deal with it effectively at school level and homes

As a young lad in the 1970's a posh English family moved to my Scottish village from Croydon. At that time, i assumed Croydon was a rather nice town. The only part of London I've ever lived in was Woolwich way back in 1984/5. Went back for a visit, in 2012 and the whole place was completely different! It felt like I was in foreign city.

Breaks my heart. Went to school in Croydon my whole life in the 90's and 80's. Once the shopping center deal for Allders and the rest fell through and more people looked for cheaper cost-of-living, it crumbled so quickly. So many of my favorite places are gone. Lovely to see Surrey Street market still there. I still go home to visit every year but you have to know where to go and what time to head inside by.

At the start of the video I was trying to guess where you were heading. I was so shocked when you said Croydon, my home town. I’ve lived in Australia for the past 6 years and it makes me so sad to see what my home has turned in to.

Having lived there, I’d say Tottenham, Bruce Grove and Harringey would give Croydon a run for its money

What have we done to Britain? 🤬🤬🤬

Thanks for your videos. Good social documentation. It’s important.

30 years ago labour flooded Croydon with immigrants and changed it beyond all recognition! I lived in central Croydon for years and we moved to get our children out and into a good area and secondary school.. just after we moved the riots happened.. right down our road! That was confirmation we’d done the right thing .. having said that people in Croydon are generally friendly!

London is 35% indigenous British. The capital city.

Back in the 60`s, when I was a teenager, Croydon was a nice and popular place. Good shops, bowling alley and some decent pubs and clubs around and I did my apprentice training in Croydon Technical College. My in laws came from Roundshaw, a rough estate from when it was built, but most of the people were OK. Then the Home Office building opened in Wellesly Road, and it attracted the cause of the current problems, who were housed in the local area. Now, it`s a right shit hole.

Croydon was a great shopping destination, as a kid I used to get on the 264 bus with my mum and dad from Tooting and go into Croydon often. As I grew up into my late teens Croydon was a decent night out, many would travel into Croydon from afar to party. Now Croydon in my opinion is a place to avoid, they can build as many souless lego blocks as they want but you can't polish a turd. It's grimy, dangerous and will only get worse. The council are corrupt and useless and any decent people in Croydon have moved away.

So happy that I left the UK 26 Years ago, I knew Croydon very well difficult to see it Now. I have lived in Thailand Teaching English. Now retired I have a great life. Bought a lovely house for a crazy cheap price that I could never have afforded in England. My Thai wife and and I live very comfortably on the State pension.

London is just disgusting I hate modern London. Back in the 90s it was ok, but I avoid it like it's a plague rat these days!

My grandparents moved out of central London to Croydon in the 1940s, it was a prosperous town near the ‘countryside’, many happy memories, I went to school there and worked there for several years and it was always thriving, I remember everyone coming out of shops and offices to watch the Olympic torch procession in 2012! Rapidly went downhill in last 10 years, I only live a few miles further out but never go there 😢 Would have been good to look at the history as well, the Almshouses, the Minster and the Palace!

A while back I got stranded in Croydon overnight, I had a really nice homeless man, offer me what little change he had so I could get a bus to Brixton, obviously I didn't accept, but every encounter I have had with people from Croydon has been positive. There are some really good souls there!

I was born in and spent the first 40 years of my life in nearby Sutton but moved to the south coast about 30years ago. In those days everyone used to go to Croydon for the shops, night clubs and 'in' pubs, so I found this video SO depressing. The thought of re-visiting Croydon, after watching this, is BOTTOM of my bucket list.

Great vid. Noticeably fewer interviews and it's interesting people are so much less happy to chat. Keep doing your thing Wendall 👍🏻

The empathy you have in this FIRST video i watched of yours made me subscribe. Bless you man ...

I lived in Belize Park and worked in St. John’s wood in 2000 to 2004. Those were both very upscale neighborhoods yet. People frequently had bars on their windows. Further, I had one experience where I was concerned that an older neighbor might be having some problems and we called the police. They told us to call the noise police. There was no concern about property theft. The one thing you saw was a lot of parking in enforcement.

This is something of which you're so proud you're broadcasting it to the world...

Unfortunately immigration has destroyed not only Croydon but Britain in General. I barely noticed one English person in that video. Seriously where have all the Brits gone? The British government should be absolutely ashamed of what they've done to this country.

The town centre in Croydon has gone massively down over the last 10/12 years. The High Street used to be buzzing. The Whitgift shopping centre (where you go to here) was meant to have a complete refurbishment in to a Westfield which has been stalled for years. This has meant the town centre retail hasn’t been invested in at all as there is the potential for this to come along. A previous Labour run council invested very badly in housing projects and commercial property which bankrupted the council. High property prices have pushed some in now more gentrified areas of Brixton and Peckham in to cheaper Croydon. The North is very different to the South. The worst parts of Croydon are in the North, Thornton Heath and Selhurst are particular problem areas for crime etc. They are worse than where you are here. Sanderstead and Selsdon in the South are far more affluent and are much safer. Other tough areas of London are some parts of Brixton, Tottenham and North Peckham

Hi mate, i'm following you from Paris, as a french who used to live in London (Willesden Green) for two years, between 2001 and 2003. It seems that London, and England overall, is much more dangerous now. Anyway, i still love your country and english people as well ! Good job, love your vids, mate !

I was born in Lewisham in the 70s. It was always poor and scruffy, but it was safe and had a community. The place changed beyond all recognition for various reasons. My Dad moved us away and it was the best thing we ever did. My Aunt and Uncle are the only members of the family who are still there. They are trapped. They are the only Londoners living on her street. Everyone else escaped or died.

Somewhere between Mogadishu mumbai capetown & lagos welcome to Blairs Britain Exactly how the govt planned 😮

I can't imagine why someone would choose London to live in. Too expensive, too big, too impersonal and too many weirdoes surround you.

Estuve en londres con 19 años, viajé desde españa para conocer lo último en musica. De ésto hace 40 años, he pensado volver alguna vez, pero cada vez se me hace más dificil decidirme, cómo se está deteriorando nuestro continente. Gran trabajo amigo

A good old English city, well it used to be

I'm not from the UK but I come from very humble beginnings and videos like this make me nostalgic.

Nice video man. I live in Brazil now. I'm a Nottingham boy and it pains me to see the decline.

Not many places in London are good anymore

Hello Wendell, glad to see you back my friend. Love your videos. We love you here in northern California. Thanks for all your hard work my friend peace and God bless.🙏💯💙🇺🇸

Thank you Wendell. Very interesting. Sara x

That Whitgift shopping centre is absolutely incredible. I remember being brought shopping there before Christmas with my parents when I was a kid (so you're talking 25 years ago - I'm 33 now) and it was heaving with colour and Christmas lights and busy people and happy crowds and packed shops and so on. To see it just utterly collapse in that space of time is mental.

Great video Wendell.. Be mindful in some of these places even in daylight..🙌🏼✌🏼

I wonder what could have caused Croydon to have become such a violent dump?!?!

Wendell sir, it's because the police have withdrawn from the streets over decades from foot patrols that crime across the country, including Croydon, has gone up. The police are supposed to prevent crime before it happens by a visible presence, not react to it afterwards.

I grew up in Hackney mate.. it makes Croydon look like wonderland. If you go to a club and they ask if you got any weapon's and you say no, they give you one.

Born and bred here. Growing up in the 80s and 90s was great, I only remember good things about it friends family Whitgift was a vibrant shopping area along with the new Drummond centre which is now centrale. Had three cinemas, London road was always safe to walk down even at night.They had a massive Victorian department store called allders everyone was for healthy and worked had good incomes as they commuted from the city. Then labour took over the running of the council A bad bunch moved in, the people who grew up there all fled to Sussex, Essex etc not a good thing to abandon your home town but what was left then started to decline rapidly throughout the 2000s and never worked its way back again, so it is what it is now ☹️

"Fugue for a Darkening Island" by Christopher Priest tells the story of Croydon and the UK, written 50 years ago but spot on with its predictions. Life goes on.

Evening, Wendall, You should do a video on Harlesden , North West London. Very rough area and very similar to Croydon in terms of crime etc.

Excellent vlog, Wendall.. 👏 You really showed the gritty stuff and interviewed some fascinating people in Croydon! PS) I noticed the shout-out to Turnip.. your channels really compliment each other and I hope you collab again soon.. 👍

Give Harlesdon a look. Makes Croydon look peaceful

Mass immigration has got a lot to answer for

I used to manage the Riley's club there in the 90s, travelled there often to a shop I like but that was 20 years ago after. It is mass uncontrolled migration, legal and illegal that is dragging everywhere down.

Lived round here for a short while last year. One thing that stood out to me was that they'd have security on the doors of the puregym and locks on the female area within the gym. No music was played in the gym, instead the guys would come in playing their portable speakers from their backpack. Never felt safe walking home late after a workout with all the nutters around.

Immigration has destroyed my city of London

Croydon the most dangerous place in London!?!? LOOOOL Even in the local area, Streatham, Peckham and Lewisham are more dangerous places to go. Croydon is a shopping centre.

I grew up in Croydon and moved away with my parents at 17, I’m. 61 now. There were places that were rough then but a visit to the Whitgift centre 5 years ago broke my heart to see how run down it was. I was also struck by how friendly and engaging strangers were, something I have brought with me through the years but had forgotten how prevelent it is in Croydon you noticed it too. Good old Surrey street market looked like a shadow of what I remember back in the day you couldn’t move down there. I used to wander all those streets in the middle of the night without a care for my safety. You wouldn’t catch me out there after dark these days it’s becoming a sad world😢

QR code thing is cool ty. Great video pal.

Our first family Television was a Philips Television manufactured in Croydon circa 1973

Some of the people you interviewed sums it all up perfectly. Especially compared to what London was like 50 years ago

Speaks volumes that subtitles are required.

Thats mad they have security in Costa - crazy. Enjoyed the vid

Top video Wendall. I have only been to Croydon once when I traveled from the Black Country down there for work at the council depot. Driving through the local area was enough to back up comments on the video and that was a number of years ago now. Keep up the good work! …. Smithy

Croydon used to be Surrey.

I lived in S London for 25 years and hated every moment. When we retired I told my husband (Born and raised in Brixton), that I was not staying in London anymore. Eventually he saw the sense and we moved 12 years ago. I miss Croydon and Bromley for shopping but that is all.

Croydon used to be such a wonderful place to live. I grew up on the borough where there was a great community feeling about the place. The shops, night time economy, pubs, restaurants and night clubs use to be in abundance where everyone would travel from all over London for shopping or great night out. It's a shame you only managed to speak with two genuine local Croydonians who told you how great the borough of Croydon used to be. Surrey street market definitely is not the same, all the old stall holders have long gone! Apart from one or two of the old stall holders remain like the bloke you briefly spoke with. Croydon is such a huge borough to police, this is why you never saw many police. I recall from my time growing up there, the police were there in great numbers, unlike today, officers now have to cover three boroughs, Bromley, Sutton and Croydon with lower numbers etc. I like many others Croydonians have left the borough for pastures new. I still come back to the borough to watch my beloved Crystal Palace FC, at Selhurst park, soon as the game is over I am out the ground and back in the safety of my car for the journey back to the south coast. If I get the train to London, it's amazing to see how many people are making the journey Selhurst Park. Lots of the original locals to Croydon have left for Kent, Surrey, Sussex to escape the place which was home for me and them also. Croydon is now the biggest dumping ground, which in my opinion has brought the issues, deprivation and violence which you see today. All I will say. God bless RIP Croydon.🙏🏼

Croydon McDonalds has a walk through airport style metal detector before you go in. Enough to make you lose your appetite

Just discovered the channel mate watched a few videos and loving the content bro keep it up 🎉🎉

Terrible to see the Whitgift Centre and the high street looking so desolate. Used to be a really great place to shop. I lived and worked there for years, many good memories and never had any hassle. Sad times.

I was in London as a tourist by my self when I was 16 years old. That was in 1985. Times have changed for sure!

I was born in Mayday hospital and grew up in Thornton Heath. Along with W Croydon, probably the roughest parts of the borough. Croydon is one of the largest London boroughs, with some very nice and wealthy areas, but varies greatly. I left in 1991 and don't think I'd go back.

I moved to Croydon from Nottingham when I was 18, and I never personally felt in any danger because I'm very aware and street smart, but I witnessed a lot. Decided enough was enough when not only a kid was stabbed to death across the road from my house, but someone also got shot, so I moved myself and my kids to Kent.

Alders held Croydon together for many years great memories. Went to Croydon Tech in 1982 some of the pubs used to close early evening even then. So many changes to architecture made me feel very claustrophobic in East Croydon . Used to love Surrey Street market back in the 70s.

Keep up the good work and stay filming those neighbourhoods and people.

Croydon used to be in the county of Surrey.. it became part of Greater London.. maybe if the county boundaries were restored then things could be better… just a thought!

Ex resident to the local catchment area. Whilst Croydon isn't great, and has regressed in the last 15 years, I've been to far worse players in London (Vauxhall, Elephant & Castle, Dagenham, Tottenham a few that come to mind). South Croydon is regarded as quite affluent and a big commuter belt. East Croydon is popular with young professionals looking for a 20 min direct train into central London. Down the road you have places like Purley, Carshalton, Banstead, Chipstead where many celebrities and footballers live. Back in the 90's Croydon was a hub for nightlife and you had clubs like Blue Orchid, Bud World, Joe Bananas, Atlantis (which was where the old Water Palace used to be) Whitgift centre was a vibrant hub, but unfortunately like many shopping centres it has seen more businesses closing than opening. Croydon gets a lot of bad press, some of it justified but there are far tougher places in London from my experience.

I remember when they used to say Croydon would be the second capital of the uk 41 years ago.

Asking to homeless “how is Croydon?”. “Rough”. Very informative lol

I used to live on the Brighton Road Croydon, never was a problem a few years back; what has changed ? The population has changed !!

Born, raised and still living in Croydon. Whilst crime is still a major issue here, I feel as though a lot of it usually happens between parties who are already on bad terms with each other (e.g. gang or school related) and if you just keep to yourself you'll be fine. It really is sad to see the state Croydon is in, though. I have very pleasant memories of being a kid in the 2000s and messing about in the Whitgift Centre with my brother whilst on a shopping trip with our mum. Went back in there recently and I honestly could not believe how hauntingly quiet it is. Most people nowadays will just go to Bromley or Sutton (also going downhill a bit) for all their shopping needs.