Little Manhattan celebrates Croydon’s magnificent skyline and captures the memories of those who lived through the regeneration of the area between the 1950s and 1970s. A building boom transformed Croydon from being a town made up of traditional brick buildings to an architecturally modern urban space, rivalling the design, skyline and environment of major cities and earning it the nickname ‘Little Manhattan’. This famous landscape has been the inspiration for a year of community activities in the borough, culminating in an exhibition at Croydon Clocktower.

Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Little Manhattan Project has worked with volunteers in 2023 to record and preserve local people’s memories from the 1950s-1970s. These have been edited with little-seen archival footage to make a short film that brings the period to life. In addition to this, a new audio trail tells the stories of notable Croydon buildings from the post-war period, and digital posters feature musical tracks made by young people inspired by the built environment.

 Alongside the film, audio trail and posters, a towering artistic representation of Croydon’s skyline made by families and young people in a series of community craft workshops will be exhibited at the Clocktower between December 2023 and February 2024.

 Little Manhattan producers Digital Drama have been working with various project partners over the past year and would like to thank Croydon Archives, Museum of Croydon, Croydon Library Services, Art in Transit, Play for Progress, Rainbows Across Borders, Turf Projects and MOSS and in particular, the National Lottery players for making it all possible.

Find out more: www.digitaldrama.org/project/little-manhattan/