Day 163 a pair of buses which are a near perfect combination.

I caught the 1035 train to Norwood Junction and then joined a London Overground train for just one stop to Anerley where I arrived  at 1058.

The No 432, the only other bus that stops here
taken from the station footbridge.

Anerley station bus stop

Arriva's HV293 of Norwood garage arriving.

The No 249 runs every 10-13 minutes and is expected to take 51 minutes to reach Clapham Common Old Town. Arriva's HV293 arrived at 1101 and took us right in the direction of Upper Norwood where we passed the Paxton Centre which had previously been the Paxton Arms Hotel. At the top of Anerley Hill the bus has to follow the one way system taking us south towards Croydon and past the original 405 lines TV transmitter at Croydon. 

The Paxton Centre

Crystal Palace parade bus terminus

The Croydon transmitter mast

Past the old VHF transmitter which now has mobile phone signalling equipment upon it, the bus swung right at the traffic lights into Beulah Hill. As we progressed along this road one of the stops was called Biggin Hill. This is named after a local road and not the settlement I passed last week on the No 246.

The Biggin Hill bus stop where I had previously stopped on the No 196 soon after lockdown

At Crown Point it was announced that the bus would be changing drivers, this being the nearest point to Norwood garage where the bus is based. This exchange took only two minutes and we were on our way by 1119 turning left towards Streatham and out of the London Borough of Croydon and into the Borough of Lambeth. As we descended towards the A23 Streatham High Road there was a good view looking West towards Wimbledon Common and beyond to Richmond and Teddington. 

Looking down the hill with Streatham Common North to our left and Wimbledon Common in the distance

We turned right as if heading for Central London when we met the A23 but after passing Streatham station the bus turned sharp left at St Leonard's Church and subsequently right at Ambleside Avenue in the direction of Tooting.

Tooting Common at junction of A214 and B road to Balham

This road is the A214 as it runs past Tooting Lido and the athletics ground before reaching Tooting Bec station which was achieved at 1137. The bus turned right here onto the A24 and this road took us through Balham and onto Clapham Common where we took a left called Rookery Road, having passed Clapham South station at 1146.

Clapham South additional entrance for the deep platforms.

The bus reached the Old Town at Clapham Common at 1151, just fifty minutes after departure. From here I walked passed the appropriate Omnibus Arts Centre along The Pavement which is name of  the road that the bus would have started its return to Anerley station, whilst I was walking to Clapham Common Underground station. 

The Omnibus Arts Centre at Clapham Common

Journey's end with already the destination
 having been changed

Thus I was on the Northern Line platform at 1158 and took just the two stops to Stockwell before changing onto the Victoria Line the one stop to Brixton. I arrived at Brixton Underground station at 1209 and was waiting for the next No 250 by 1214.

The Brixton police station stop where
 I had previously
boarded the No 109

The countdown display stating I had five minutes
 to wait

The route maps indicating the bus would
terminate at Croydon Fairfield Halls

I only had to wait 5 minutes before the next No 250 bus arrived at the Police station. Arriva T146 was my mount for the second bus of the day. The bus said West Croydon on the front of it whereas the bus stop showed the bus continuing to Fairfield Halls Croydon.

Arriva's T146 arriving.

As the bus climbed Brixton Hill the bus stops indicated that this was the 7th bus route I had used either to climb or descend this road. At 1229 I had reached the top of the hill and was soon crossing the South Circular to again be driving along the Streatham High Road. Ten minutes later we had got back to St Lawrence church where a No 249 was seen doing the abrupt turn from the High Road into Mitcham Road. The A23 was followed as we passed the Streatham ice rink run by the same company as so many leisure centres and library services.

Streatham ice rink

A No 249 having dropped down the hill to the A23
passing by

Once in Green Lane the No 250 is the only bus
to service this road

At the point just before Hermitage Road the No 250 leaves the A23 and takes Green Lane in the direction of Thornton Heath. The houses that line this road are for a long time from the inter war years. It was only as we neared Thornton Heath that earlier houses were encountered. At the Thornton Heath clock tower we were asked to wait to even out the service at 1255 and we dwelt at the bus stop here for 4 minutes before turning right and heading past the station and library to Thornton Heath pond. The bus turned left at the pond to regain the old road to Brighton through Croydon, passing Mayday hospital and the original site of Croydon General hospital which is now a school. The bus emptied at the stop before West Croydon railway station and then continued into Poplar Walk and did a complete 360 degree turn to drop me off at West Croydon bus station at 1319.

A gritter heading for Sumner Road from St James Road

T146 leaving the bus terminal point to layover at
West Croydon bus station

I then caught the next No 410 bus home which was reached by quarter to two.