Day 167 To Aldgate for the No 254 and No 255 on the way home via Balham.

My original intention was to catch the 1030 to Victoria but just before it arrived an announcement was made about problems causing disruption near Clapham Junction. I thus waited the extra 5 minutes and caught the fast train to London Bridge. Had I gone to Victoria I would have used the District and Circle line to Aldgate but from London Bridge it was easier to walk. The train arrived at London Bridge at 1101 and I walked there via London Bridge, Monument Street, Lower Thames Street, Mark Lane, Fenchurch Street Station, Fenchurch Street and Aldgate where I arrived at the bus station at 1120 where the display said the next bus was in twelve minutes.

The next No 254 resting before taking me to
 Holloway

Arrival at pick up point for LT337

At 1132 LT337 of  Arriva arrived at the stop from its resting point in the bus station yard. The display had changed to next bus in fifteen minutes prior to its arrival, so I was a little concerned. Nevertheless we departed smartly turning right and heading up the Whitechapel Road past Aldgate East and Whitechapel Underground stations. There were large numbers of police in the Aldgate East area so I presume there was soon to be a union demonstration, perhaps from the London Hospital.

Whitechapel Road before Cambridge Heath Road turning

After Whitechapel station the bus turned left up Cambridge Heath Road to Bethnal Green, where the Museum of Childhood is closed until the coming summer.

Bethnal Green approaching Museum of Childhood

Continuing north we stopped at the stop just after the Regent's canal where we entered the London Borough of Hackney. This was the nearest stop to Ash Grove depot and here we exchanged drivers for two minutes, from 1154 to 1156. The road changes name to Mare Street at the same point and continues straight into Hackney town centre.

Interesting venue under the railway viaduct in Cambridge Heath

Beside Hackney Town Hall with Hackney Empire
ahead of me

After dipping under the railway bridge I reached the point where I had disembarked from the previous bus and from here onwards I was retracing the same route I had covered on the No 253. So up Amherst Road, right into Dalston Lane which morphs into Lower Clapton Road following this left to pass Clapton pond and on to the roundabout. Straight over this took us into Clapton Road and later Clapton Common which delivered us to Stamford Hill Broadway at 1228.

The original Clapton Tram depot

A No 253 coming the other way

Stamford Hill Broadway at point of crossing the A10

A No 254 closely followed by a No 253 going the same way

From here we continued on the A107 straight over the A10, the road now called Amhurst Park until the end where we turned left onto Seven Sisters Road to Manor House and on then to Finsbury Park. We took Isledon and Tollington Road to reach the Holloway Road which after crossing the bus took the left fork and terminated at the first stop in the Caledonian Road at 1246.

Passing Manor House

Final arrival in the Caledonian Road
Holloway

This looks likely an old bus or tram depot opposite where the bus terminated

To get to the next bus in Balham required me to find the Northern line and at the same stop where I alighted both the No 29 and No 253 would take me to Camden Town. So the first one to arrive, a No 29, was taken at 1251. I took the first southbound train which was a Charing Cross branch train to Kennington and changed there for Balham. This route should have been quicker but I had no way of knowing. I didn't have to wait long for either train and at 1335 I emerged from Balham Underground station to see a No 255 waiting.

Just had time for this before boarding bus

I quickly took a photo of the front of Arriva's ENL58 and noted the timetable said the route should take 38 minutes. The bus left at 1337 and swiftly turned left along Bedford Hill to reach the Balham High Road but soon swung east along Old Devonshire Road and then Weir Road to turn right down Radbourne Road to almost reach the northeast corner of Tooting Bec Common. 

Typical late Victorian or Edwardian dwellings in Balham

Since leaving Balham High Road this bus is the only route to cover this area until Emmanuel Road runs into Thornton where the bus turned right and made for the A23 at Streatham Hill railway station. Into Streatham High Road at 1352 I was now covering a road I had previously covered on 8 different bus routes. This number thinned to 7 as we took the A23 Croydon fork at St Leonard's Church and continued to decrease once we approached the borough boundary at Hermitage Bridge Norbury. Climbing up Norbury High Street the bus took the right called Stanford Road and this took us after a brief sojourn in the London Borough of Croydon into the London Borough of Merton. Here the housing is inter war years rather than the late Victorian and Edwardian styles of Balham and Streatham. The bus headed right to the end of this road before turning left into Rowan Road and then went in a straight line towards the centre of Pollards Hill and having passed the library we terminated in South Lodge Avenue at 1420. The bus therefore took 43 minutes.

Journey's End at Pollards Hill

Pollards Hill is rather isolated from the area to its south with the only practical way to get home the No 463 bus which luckily arrived at 1423. It is quite a tortuous route and it was after 3 pm before I walked through the front door.