Day 160 After many days where transport strikes have made doing my odyssey rather difficult, the No 245 from Alperton to Golders Green.

 Owing to engineering work on the line to Victoria it took rather longer to get to Alperton than on previous occasions. Thus we had to get a bus to East Croydon at 1125; later than we intended as I wanted the cold front to have cleared through. At East Croydon we took the 1153 train to London Bridge and after arrival walked to the Jubilee Line at 1212. Here we caught a train to Green Park where we changed to the Piccadilly line for a train to Alperton. At Alperton station it was quite a shock to see nothing remains of the Metroline bus garage adjacent to the station  and that it was being billed as a location of future housing. From here we walked to Sainsburys where we found we had a 12 minute wait for the next No 245.  

 

Charmaine actively waiting for our bus to arrive

The No 245 Waiting departure from lay over.

Metroline's VW1831 arriving ar the Alperton Sainsbury's bus stop

Behind the barrier is the razed site of Alperton bus garage

Metroline's VW1831 arrived at 1342 and soon passed the site of Alperton garage as we headed for Sudbury. At the next fork we took Bridgewater Road to the Sudbury roundabout and then under the bridge at Sudbury and Harrow Road station before taking the right at the next major junction into Watford Road. The bus turned right at a set of traffic lights into East Lane and passed over a bridge at Wembley North after which were nice views of the Wembley Arch and the surrounding high rise buildings.

 

View of Central Wembley from East Lane

We continued across Preston Road into Forty Avenue which becomes Forty Lane passing to the north of Wembley Park before swinging southeast down Blackbird Hill. As we crossed the river Brent here I was very surprised to see a heron in such an urban setting standing in the river. Neasden Lane followed, once the river was crossed and this then took us through a spiral to Neasden parade, and then after this circuit we headed down Tanfield Avenue which becomes Crest Road. The bus turned right along Coles Green Road to where we met Dollis Hill Lane.

'Borismaster' on bus route No 332

Looking Southeast from Dollis Hill towards Kensal Rise to Primrose Hill

We then turned left and dropped down to the A5 (Edgware Road) to turn right to Cricklewood bus garage where we arrived at 1423. From here we took Cricklewood Lane to go under the Midland main line next cross Hendon Way and up the hill to Childs Hill. This meant we reached the Finchley road where we turned left and ran into Golders Green. The bus terminated at 1438 whereupon Charmaine went off to investigate the High Street.

Approaching Golders Green bus terminus

Journey's End

We used the Northern Line to get to Kings Cross from here and then took a Thameslink train from St Pancras to East Croydon arriving home around 1715.

Day 159 Another two buses done, albeit the second ended in the dark-the Nos 243 and 244.

 I made the 1135 London Bridge train and reached that station in time to catch the late running 1159 to Charing Cross the one stop to Waterloo East. I then wound my way down the spiral stair case to Waterloo Road in order to reach the starting point of the No 243 to Wood Green.

HV337 and HV343 of Arriva London awaiting
next duty

Waterloo station bus stop

There were two buses laying over HV337 and HV343, the first was in an all over advertising scheme and it was this bus that became my mount to Wood Green at 1217. This route I had used occasionally when commuting to Clerkenwell Road and it was a shock when I reached the Aldwych and found it was now two way and the part of the Strand to St Clement Danes church had been pedestrianised. The route follows Kingsway where there were many large baubles hanging from the Plane trees which flank the road and then right along Theobalds Road to Clerkenwell Road where I passed the old London Weather Centre at 1237.

Baubles suspended from branches of Plane trees in Kingsway

The bus continues along Clerkenwell Road until reaching the Old Street roundabout which is still or is it again being worked on. 

Work again or still happening at the Old Street roundabout

Passing what was effectively straight on we reached the Kingsland Road where we met up with the previous route, the No 242 as far as Dalston Junction. Here the No 242 goes right but the No 243 continues straight on to Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill and then Seven Sisters.

Atop Stamford Hill

Awaiting our departure from beside the Berney Grant Centre Tottenham

At Seven Sisters we had quite a wait as we were supposed to be changing drivers but no replacement driver arrived for six minutes. The Tottenham garage is just a little bit further on, albeit down a road on the left. At 1334 we were back underway again and continued our northward progress until we reached Bruce Grove where the bus went left. At the Bruce Grove museum we went left again and headed towards Wood Green with misty views of Alexandra Palace in the distance.

Lorry totally blocking Lordship Lane into Wood Green

With the final destination in sight there was a lorry broadside across the road which was depositing tarmacadam into a side road and we were forced to wait at 1348 before we could continue and finally we reached the terminal stop, just before Wood Green Underground station, at 1350.

Disembarkation at Wood Green

Lordship Lane Wood Green

From here I needed to get to Woolwich for the No 244. This entailed catching a Piccadilly line train to Kings Cross then a Thameslink from St Pancras to Farringdon and then the Elizabeth line from there to Woolwich, where I arrived at 1459, just over an hour later. The bus itself starts from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital which is well above the town near Woolwich Common. There were a number of buses that could have taken me there but the first to arrive was a No 469. This bus at the next stop stated it was stopping for a change of driver. I should have plumped for one of the other options but how was I to know? So having boarded this bus at 1509 I was at the hospital at 1525. But where was the bus stop, the first I saw didn't have the No 244 on it. Then it dawned the bus doesn't go the quick way to Woolwich, it heads off W to SW. 

Layover point for Nos 244, 291 and 469

The wrong bus stop in distance

It should take 47 minutes

London General's SE61 arrives to take me to
Abbey Wood

At 1531 I was aboard London General's SE61 as it headed west to meet Shooters Hill Road. The bus then turned east and became crammed with schoolchildren and remained thus for much of the journey which precluded any photographs from within the bus as it was a single decker. Once the bus had breasted Shooters Hill it turned left into Shrewsbury Lane and then left again down Eglinton Hill, this being the sole bus route on this road. At the bottom of the hill we briefly met the No 386 prior to Plumstead Common Road but just as soon the bus turned West again it was the only bus at Nightingale Vale and HaHa Road. As we approached the traffic lights heading West I could see the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in front of me, but we then turned right and proceeded back to Woolwich Arsenal where we arrived at 1551, almost an hour after disembarking nearby earlier.

From here the bus turned right along Plumstead Road to the bus garage and then turned left into Thamesmead West. The only other route here was the No 380 and we met one of that type laying over outside Belmarsh prison after our saunter around various residential roads all with bird names. By now it was 1607 and well after sunset as we moved swiftly down the main artery to reach Thamesmead Central. Here we covered some parts of Thamesmead I had visited previously before taking to the main road to Abbey Wood. We reached the station entrance by 1620 but this is not where the bus route ends. It goes on the the next roundabout and turns right into a little Victorian estate just south of Abbey Wood station where I arrived at 1624.

Rather dark by the time we reached journey's end!

The station was not far from where the bus dropped me and at 1636 I was heading back to Woolwich on board an Elizabeth l0ine train heading for Heathrow Terminal 5. I walked to Canon House on the Arsenal estate to meet my friend Tim who runs his company Flying Spot from there and later we had a pint before returning to the Elizabeth line to Whitechapel and then Overground and Southern train, arriving home before 7 P.M.

The Flying Spot Ltd., Cannon House, 25 Cadogan Road, Royal Arsenal Riverside, Woolwich, London, SE18 6LB. https://www.theflyingspot.co.uk/