Day 217 The No 332 was withdrawn by TFL on 29th April 2023 so I found the next nearest one I could the First Essex No 332 from Chelmsford bus station to Steeple The Star.

 This bus has a very erratic timetable and hence I photographed the same at the bus stop. Monday to Friday it does not go as far as Burnham that only happens at weekends. Monday to Friday there are two buses a day on Saturday there is one and on Sunday it is much more frequent!

Note the Burnham in brackets-weekends only

Three 332s mentioned but one is an alternate as operates on non school days only

Plenty of time to wait for the bus

So to get to the first bus of the day at 1600 I caught the 1335 train to London Bridge and then the Underground to Liverpool Street where I arrived at 1423. I could, had I been quick caught the 1430 Norwich train but the 1436 to Colchester Town was waiting at platform 12 which got me to Chelmsford at 1510.

Express bus from Southend to Stansted Airport

I spent nearly an hour therefore waiting in Chelmsford bus station which is adjacent to the railway station making sure I knew where the bus started from. First Essex bus No 67164 had been waiting the whole time I had been there displayed route 336 with destination of South Woodham Ferrers but as a bus turned up next to it with same destination the display was changed by the driver of this bus and I joined the throng of school students boarding for an on time departure at 1600. 

Boarding First Essex 67164 to Steeple on the No 332

The bus passed through the arch under the railway line where there is a sign banning double decker buses and headed into town where all remaining seats were taken up before we reached the inner city by-pass. The bus then headed roughly East to cross first the old A12 and then the modern dual carriageway that is now the A12 and straight onward to Danbury along the A414, Danbury was passed at 1628. Very few passengers left in Danbury and the bus only slowly started emptying once we reached Maldon which we entered through Woodham Mortimer. The route into Maldon passed over the remaining bridge parapets of the Maldon west station before turning right and heading into the town. By the time we had passed through Maldon town centre at 1648 and run down the High Street less than six people remained.

Entering Maldon town centre

Thomas Plume library in Maldon

At the roundabout south of Maldon the bus went straight on where we picked up the final person to board the bus and then went to the village of Mundon. 

Expansive skies in this area of relatively flat farmland

Mundon Village Hill

Note Bradwell is Zero miles, sign at Latchingdon

Beyond this the bus met the B1018 and turned left into Latchingdon which after negotiating some road works we reached the village centre at 1702. The main road turned right at the church but the bus headed straight on to turn left into Maylandsea. After heading down this road which leads to the small shopping parade by Mundon Creek the last passenger apart from myself got off. 

Health centre at Maylandsea much of area was of bungalows

Here the bus turned around and headed back the way it had come until it went left at Wembley Avenue and then right to reach the same road it had taken from Latchingdon. Here the bus went left through Mayland and the next village after some twists and turns was Steeple and the Star was reached at 1723.

Arrival at 1723

The Star at Steeple behind the bus

Here the bus reversed into a side road and changed its display to say not in service. It would presumably have returned empty to the depot at Chelmsford. I on the other hand had to get myself to Southminster railway station to catch a train home. As I got to the junction to turn for Southminster I saw a No D2 operated by Stephensons which was headed for Maldon Tesco which could possibly have provided me a ride if I had waited for its return. However, I decided it was safer to walk than wait for a bus in such a remote spot. It was 3.4 miles which took a little over an hour to walk but was pleasant enough  and I saw 3 Grey Partridges in afield, a species I have not seen for a long time.

Sold Congregational church at Steeple

View of Steeple from hill to
 south only 65 feet AMSL higher

View of Steeple using zoom with
River Blackwater behind

Looking at Steeple's steeple from same location

Road I had earlier walked along from Steeple

After arrival in Southminster I purchased some food in Morrisons and walked to Southminster station and caught the 1838 to Shenfield. This arrived in time for me to catch the 1937 to Liverpool Street which I left at Stratford. I immediately boarded an Elizabeth line train the one stop to Whitechapel and the first train to come on platform 6 was a West Croydon train which connected beautifully with an Epsom Downs train that was running late which all in all meant I arrived home at exactly 9 PM.