Arthur Conan Doyle lived at 12 Tennison Road in South Norwood in the early 1890s, while he was writing many of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and he played cricket for the local club. Today South Norwood is best known as the home of Crystal Palace FC, whose Selhurst Park ground sits on its western edge, with the famous Holmesdale Road stand. On match days, the streets around the ground and Norwood Junction station fill with supporters in red and blue. Minibus hire South Norwood customers book is led by match days, along with country park days, family celebrations and runs to Gatwick.
South Norwood sits in the north of Croydon borough, between Selhurst, Thornton Heath, Woodside, Anerley and Upper Norwood, with the clock tower at the junction of Station Road and the High Street. From our base in SE1, it's about forty to fifty minutes outside the rush hour, through Brixton and Thornton Heath or Peckham and Crystal Palace.
Minibus hire South Norwood for Selhurst Park match days
Selhurst Park holds around twenty-five thousand, and the stands are tight against the surrounding streets. On match days, Whitehorse Lane, Holmesdale Road and Park Road close or fill with supporters, parking is suspended across a wide area, and Norwood Junction and Selhurst stations run on crowd control.
Supporters' clubs travelling from Kent and Surrey, hospitality guests and junior clubs on a day out book us to get there and home. Away fans book us from London Bridge or Victoria. We'll check the arrangements for minibuses for that fixture, drop at an agreed point outside the closures and set a meeting point a short walk from the ground for after the final whistle. Minibus hire South Norwood supporters book for an evening kick-off usually means a pickup after half past nine. London derbies and evening cup ties bring the biggest crowds, and those days need more time.
Match-day closures and unrelated bookings
If you live near the ground and have a booking on a match day that has nothing to do with football, tell us the date. The roads between Selhurst, South Norwood and Thornton Heath slow down for a couple of hours before and after the game, and we'll plan the pickup away from the busiest streets. The club's planned stadium expansion, including a new Main Stand, may change some of the access around the ground. Stadium tours run on non-match days, and school groups and junior clubs book us for those.
South Norwood Country Park and the lake
South Norwood Country Park, on the eastern side of the area, has meadows, ponds, a visitor centre, a pitch and putt course and a nature reserve on land that was once sewage farms. South Norwood Lake, a short walk away, was built as a reservoir for the Croydon Canal and is now used for fishing and sailing. The country park's visitor centre runs nature sessions, and the meadows are full of wildflowers in early summer.
Schools, scouts, nurseries, fishing clubs and walking groups book us for days at both, from science lessons to summer picnics. The driver drops at the car park and returns at the agreed time.
Family celebrations and schools
South Norwood's families come from Caribbean, West African, Tamil, Polish and many other backgrounds, and weddings, christenings and birthdays fill churches, halls and restaurants across Croydon and south London. Guests are collected from homes across South Norwood, Woodside and Selhurst, taken to the ceremony and the reception and brought home at the end. Holy Trinity and the many independent churches of South Norwood host weddings and christenings.
The area's primary schools and Harris Academy South Norwood book us for museum visits, swimming lessons, sports fixtures and residential trips to outdoor centres in Kent and Surrey. The Horniman is about twenty minutes away and the South Kensington museums about an hour.
Gatwick via Croydon
Gatwick is about thirty-five to forty-five minutes from South Norwood outside the rush hour, via Croydon and the A23 and M23. Heathrow is about an hour, London City about forty-five minutes and Stansted about an hour and a quarter or more. For a family holiday, a minibus from the door saves the change at East Croydon with the cases and the children.
The clock tower and Portland Road
The clock tower junction, where Station Road, the High Street, Portland Road and Selhurst Road meet, is narrow and busy with buses, and the streets around Norwood Junction station are crowded at peak times. Portland Road, running towards Woodside, has shops and parked cars along much of its length. Pickups happen on side streets, and on match days we'll plan the route to avoid the closures. The clock tower honours William Stanley, the inventor and benefactor whose Stanley Halls still host events nearby.
For minibus hire in South Norwood, call 020 7183 0567.