The day was quite slow to start and it wasn't until 1224 that I was on a train to London Bridge where I arrived at 1237. After a brief comfort stop I was aboard 'Borismaster' LT578 of Arriva London bound for Edmonton Green at 1247.
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No 149 waits for departure in line
with others of its type |
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| LT578 of Arriva arriving at London Bridge |
There seemed to be a little altercation at the northern end of London Bridge where a motorcyclist and a 'white van man' were in discussions. The bus was able to circumvent gingerly this and was soon heading along Gracechurch Street and then Bishopsgate to Shoreditch High Street.
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The building at the end of London Bridge until recently an
Army and Navy store. |
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| Near end of Threadneedle street the Lloyds bank |
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NAT WEST at Bishopsgate celebrating
England's cricket world cup win on July 14th |
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| Haggerston library |
The bus runs alongside the currently closed Geffrye Museum at Hoxton at 1309 and then on to Dalston.
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| When I travelled on the No 67 it ran from Aldgate to Wood Green, however, now the route is only Wood Green to Dalston |
It took until 1342 to reach the Stamford Hill crossroads, thus an hour after departure, and then subsequently we passed the new Spurs stadium at 1358.
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| The new 'White Hart Lane' |
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| Once again approaching Edmonton bus interchange |
I reached the Edmonton Green bus interchange at 1415.
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| The view from the platform of Edmonton Green station of the A10 |
From here after checking for useful buses I went to the adjacent railway station and caught the 1428 train for Liverpool Street. On arrival at Seven Sisters at 1437 I alighted and walked the short way to South Tottenham station. I arrived in time for the 1448 to Barking and for the first time I caught a class 710 on the 'Goblin line'.
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| 710263 arriving at South Tottenham to take me to Leytonstone |
I disembarked at Leytonstone High Road and walked to Leytonstone Central line station and caught a Hainault train at 1513 arriving at 1526. Beneath the station I bought some lunch and walked a little eastwards to the nearest bus stop where I had to catch a No 150 to the starting point of the bus route as it is the only bus to go to this point. However, I was too slow to get off the bus when it reached Chigwell Row, and to be honest there was no real indication it was coming. Therefore for the first time I covered a bus route that the public are not supposed to.
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| The bus does a trip around this triangle |
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| Returning back to Chigwell Row |
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| Waiting at the lights to reach the start point of the No 150 |
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| The boundary post for Essex |
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| Ready for the off at Chigwell Row |
We went straight on through the traffic lights down to a junction where there is a turning triangle for the bus to return back to the traffic lights and stop just beyond them.
I apologised to the bus driver that I had been too tardy to get off and he asked if I had fallen asleep! He said he would wait for 6 minutes and I explained why I would be then getting back on the bus.
At 1604 the No 150 operated by Arriva London set off for Becontree via Ilford, T70 of Barking garage.
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| Initially heading south before turning west into the built up area |
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| The estate with Docklands in the distance |
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| City of London in the distance |
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| Hainault station return 45 minutes after arrival |
It was surprising how high we were relative to London and there were some panoramic views available before we dropped to the level of Hainault station which we reached at exactly 8 minutes from the start at 1612, precisely on schedule.
Further on though roadworks outside Barkingside police station caused considerable delays as it was a four way light system.
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| Outside Barkingside police station |
We should have reached Ilford station 35 minutes after departure at 1639, but in fact it was ten minutes later than this, and we finally left Ilford town centre at 1656. The bus initially followed the same route as both the No 128 and No 145, but this became solely the No 128 after South Park Drive.
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| Someone is a chitty chitty bang bang fan! |
We headed directly east and finally reached Becontree Heath at 1724 about twenty minutes behind nominal schedule. I informed the driver that I was getting off this time before he again did a circuit which the travelling public are not supposed to enjoy!
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| T70 at Becontree Heath at 1724 |
From here I walked around the corner and had to run to catch a No 175 to Dagenham Heathway District line station. From here I caught a train to West Ham, then a Jubilee line to Canada Water, London Overground to Sydenham and then to West Croydon and onwards by Southern train arriving home at 1915.
