Waste Collection and Clearance in Addiscombe

Addiscombe sits immediately east of Croydon town centre, about 9.1 miles south of Charing Cross, so it is one of the shortest runs we make from our Purley Way base.

The street pattern here is unusually regular, and there is a reason for it. The East India Company bought Addiscombe Place in 1809 for £15,500 and ran it as a military seminary until 1861; when the college grounds were sold off, five parallel roads — Outram, Havelock, Elgin, Clyde and Canning — were laid out across them. Those long straight roads are generally easier to work than the older lanes nearby.

Most of the housing went up after 1858, with the Ashburton Estate redeveloped in the 1890s and smaller infill filling the gaps by the 1930s. That means Victorian and Edwardian stock, much of it since divided into flats — so shared entrances, communal stairs and a floor number matter more to the quote than the room count.

Addiscombe railway station closed in 1997, and the area is now served by four Tramlink stops: Lebanon Road, Sandilands, Addiscombe and Blackhorse Lane. Parking near the tram route is tight, so where we cannot get close we plan for a carry rather than assuming a tailgate load.