Riding the Routes: Day 240 on 12th September 2024 the No 362 and No 363.

Today's journey started with a bus- the No 157 to West Croydon at 1113 in order to catch a London Overground train to Canada Water and then a Jubilee line train to Stratford. I arrived at Canada Water at 1200 and was at Stratford at 1219. The first Central Line was going to Epping so I had to wait three minutes for a Hainault train which reached there at 1247. I then needed to cross platform for the Woodford shuttle to take me on to Grange Hill where I pulled in at 1258.

Arrival after two hours of leaving home

Some evidence of pre LPTB ownership

The terminal bus stop for the No 362

Roundabout left to become wild

Difficult to read but 1/2 hourly service

SC 36370 having arrived at stop D will have a little rest

Destination King Georges Hospital in 27 minutes

The starting point of the No 362 is left out of the station to bus stops D and C. D is for terminating buses so it was bus stop C where I waited for the half hourly service. I had arrived nicely in the middle so only had 12 minutes to wait for Stagecoach's single decker 36370 which initially set up south but soon went left along Brockett Way The bus route remained on its own as we too The Lowe to the point where we intersected with the No 150 and No 247 bus route which come from Hainault station. The bus at this point turned left at New North Road to the 'T' junction with the No 247 and then right along Romford Road which becomes Whalebone Lane North to Mark Gate. We passed Hainault Golf Club at 1326 and entered the Borough of Barking and Dagenham at 1328. Once we had passed the terminal point of the No 62 the bus headed into the estate here via Billet Lane and Rose Lane.This took us back to Whalebone Lane where we turned right and headed across the A12.

Passing a No 150 heading for Chigwell

Countryside near Mark Gate

Then when we encountered the A118 High Road Chadwell Heath the bus turned right and headed east. At the intersection with Station Road we entered the London Borough of Redbridge and turned right up Grove Lane into a hail and ride part the route which was once again only served by this one route. At the end of this road we joined other bus routes on Chadwell Heath Lane and taking Little Heath and then Barley Lane we reached King George Hospital and terminated at 1355.

Freshco shop in Chadwell Heath rather
than Weatherfield

At King Georges Hospital

After a brief comfort stop I caught a No EL3 to Goodmayes station and there took the 1414 Elizabeth line to Farringdon. This arrived with only a few minutes to wait for the 1447 to Sutton which I only took as far as Elephant and Castle.

Bus stop E Elephant and Castle

New form of timetable, just one screen so one
route at a time which means only one customer
can use it at a time

Another option was a map on same unit

Abellio 2570, blurred as I needed to be quick

I missed a No 363 as I crossed the spokes of the roundabout but was still about Abellio 2570 at 1506 at stop E. The bus took the New Kent Road from the roundabout and at the end of this took the Bricklayers Arms flyover onto the Old Kent Road.

On New Kent Road

Approaching Bricklayers Arms flyover

Descending Bricklayers Arms flyover

The bus turned right into Trafalgar Avenue although there was no road name as where it had been on a building had almost totally gone. This meant we were following the route of the No 63 which makes sense as this route is basically a spin off of the original. We crossed over two dry canal bridges and headed up Peckham Hill Street to Peckham. Having stopped adjacent to the bus station the driver informed us there were problems with the bus and an engineer was supposed to be waiting for him. We stopped at 1528 and it was at 1540 that I left this bus and got the following fully electric No 3084.

Changing to Abellio 3084

In Peckham

We then went around the outside of the Aylsham centre and bus station to access Rye Lane and continue our southerly journey past Peckham Rye Common and Peckham Rye Park. This lead us to a road called Forest Hill next to Camberwell Cemetary at Honor Oak where the No 63 terminates and the No 363 forges on alone. The bus turned right alone Wood Vale which is the boundary betwixt the London Boroughs of Southwark and Lewisham. We didn't follow quite to the end of this road as there was a short part along Melford Road and then right along Underhill Road presumably to allow access to the central lane on the A205 so the bus could turn right up Sydenham Hill.

We followed Sydenham Hill until it met Crystal Palace Parade and the bus terminated at this point at 1618.