Stories that gripped Croydon in 1979:

A MONKEY defied police, firefighters and the RSPCA when it made a bid for freedom.

Eric, the female squirrel monkey, was one of 13 owned by Mike McKenzie, who ran a photographic studio in Lower Addiscombe Road, Addiscombe, and used the monkeys for his work.

His two assistants, Helen Whilton and Karen Harker, were cleaning out the cage when some of the monkeys got out.

They managed to retrieve all of them except for Eric – who climbed onto the roof of Joan Playne's house, in Sundridge Road, Addiscombe.

Despite the best efforts of the emergency services, no-one could get Eric down. Thankfully, she descended of her own will the following morning and was returned to her relieved owner.

LEADING jazz musician Kathy Stobart used her talent to back a campaign to help "save Croydon's heritage".

The saxophonist joined forces with Croydon Building Preservation Trust, given the task of restoring the historic Bell Hill cottages near Surrey Street.

Kathy, of Norbury Court Road, Norbury, heard about the trust and decided the restored buildings could provide a home for her pet project – starting a band for amateur jazz players and a jazz club.

THE end was announced for a major department at Norwood Hospital.

In-patients would no longer have a service at the Upper Norwood site, but outpatients and casualty departments would remain open.

The aim of the closure was to save about £20,000 each month.

Sixty per cent of the 80 affected staff at the hospital were offered jobs elsewhere in the borough.

TEENAGE fireraisers caused alarm among shopkeepers and residents in Green Lane, Thornton Heath, after a spate of incidents.

Wooden boards in front of a garden shop were set on fire with the use of oily waste from a nearby garage forecourt, police believed.

On the same parade of shops fireworks had been posted through the Co-op letterbox on three consecutive nights, causing damage to the floor and letterbox, and a baker's shop was gutted by a fire.

TWO Croydon athletes were awarded with three Olympic "mini" medals between them.

Amanda Pearson, 18, from Addiscombe, won a bronze medal for swimming and her team mate Peter Baddeley, 24, from New Addington, won a silver medal for diving and a bronze for swimming.

The pair were members of a 20-strong team from the borough taking part in the Mini Olympics 1979 – a competition for mentally handicapped men and women, held in Lowestoft, Norfolk.

EDUCATION chiefs officially announced the proposed closure of Tavistock High School, in Addiscombe.

Angry parents, who were given just six days to raise objections, rallied against the plans at a meeting in the school hall.

It was argued the school's 239 pupils could be accommodated by nearby Davidson High, which had 260 pupils.

David Cook, assistant director of schools, defended closing the school due to a decline in the number of children entering secondary schools and the movement of people away from city centres.

He did accept that the school had an outstanding record, particularly in the field of immigrant education.