Day 212 Back to Brent Cross shopping centre for the No 326 to Barnet the Spires.

 I caught the 1205 train to London Bridge and then the Northern line to Brent Cross unlike my previous trip here for the No 324. I was getting off the Underground train exactly an hour after leaving Waddon and as I reached the North Circular Road a No 112 was arriving so used that to get to the shopping centre. As always a bus left as I approached and it was not until 1329 that I was leaving on RATP London United's 30373.

Bus route timetable suggests a 10-12 minute
 interval but I waited at least 20 minutes

RATP 30373 resting at Brent Cross before 
departure

My No 326 arriving

The bus replicated the route of the No 324 to Hendon Broadway but at the roundabout the bus turned right in company with the No143 and joined with the No 183 into The Burroughs to pass Middlesex University. The bus continued along Finchley Lane which became Hendon Lane as we crossed The Great North Road in company with the No 125 and climbed up to Finchley Central arriving at 1349. Very soon after we crossed the tracks at Finchley Central the bus turned left initially with the No 383, but soon became a Hail and Ride on its own along Nether Street. This took us past West Finchley station through many streets lined with inter war housing with a few pre First World War at first. At the end of the road the bus turned left into Argyle Road heading for Sussex Ring where we joined briefly with the No 384.

Riverside Park from Argyle Road, Dollis Brook.

Another hail and ride section started as we turned right at the mini roundabout along Chanctonbury Way once again on our own. This became Southover once we had crossed a stream and all housing became post war. At the end of this road we turned right joining with the No 251 to run up to Totteridge and Whetstone station. Atop the hill the bus turned left and headed in the direction of Barnet for the first time.

The Green Man pub rebuilt in 1890,
now a tyre and exhaust shop 

However, at the Great North Way we swung right into Lyonshall Road at 1408 then heading downhill under the GNR mainline where the No 383 met us and on reaching East Barnet Village a number of routes joined us as well. The bus turned abruptly left and headed for New Barnet where we arrived at the railway station at 1415. The bus was heading towards Barnet shops, similar to the other routes, until it peeled away left after crossing under the Underground line into Underhill where another hail and ride section started. This was actually an out and back section and the most distant part was Hera Road, reached at 1423 which seemed to be a very new build estate. Returning to the mainroad the bus turned left and climbed up the hill to Chipping Barnet and final arrival at The Spires Barnet was at 1434. The route thus took 65 minutes as opposed to 58 minutes on the Brent Cross bus stop. It must be very difficult to plan the timetable with the large amount of hail and ride sections involved, on this occasion traffic did not give us any hold ups.

Arrival at the Spires shopping centre Barnet

The bus stop with 5 buses yet to be done, 4 in the 
300s and 1 in the 600s.

Swiss HB-JCJ CS-300 over Battersea Park

Turkish A/L A330 TC-JOD over Battersea Park

I returned home via the Northern line from High Barnet to Battersea Power Station and then walked to Battersea Park station where I caught the 1604 Epsom Downs train home.