Day 244 Another trip to the Barking area this time to do the No 368.

 I made sure Charmaine reached the 1205 to Market Harborough at St Pancras and then took a Metropolitan train to Barking. I arrived at the station at 1249 and resolved to walk to the starting point in the Hart Estate bus as I was walking towards North Street a No 368 arrived. I thus boarded that to the start of the journey.

Bus stand in the Harts Lane Estate

Timetable suggests a journey of 32 minutes.

London General's Wright Hybrid Volvo No 70

The bus driver having made himself comfortable I reboarded London General's WHV70 five minutes after alighting at 1309 and we set off briskly back the way I had recently travelled. This part of the journey to the roundabout was only covered by the No 368 route.

One of a number of ex public houses seen, in
some places only the sign remained, this is North Street

We turned left to cross over the throat of Barking station which took us to the roundabout to the north of Barking station. We reached the station at 1314 and after that took the diversionary route around the back of the High Street to intercept North Street at near Barking Abbey. 

Church on site of Barking Abbey

From here we continued to run around the outside of the town centre in an anti-clockwise direction and thereby reached Ripple Road.  A little way along this road roadworks caused quite a hold up the Barking side of the Movers Lane junction. Beyond this though progress was quite quick to Rippleside Cemetery which was reached at 1330. 

The end of Ripple Road where it meets the A13

At the junction with A13 flyover we bore left along the A1153 (Lodge Avenue) accompanied by the No 62. However, after the Roundhouse this bus route is alone and continued thus along Lodge Avenue until we reached the Bennetts Castle Lane stop where the bus driver announced the bus would terminate. The hybrid bus had been making strange grinding noises each time it tried to pull off in electric mode so I guess this was why. It was 1344 when we got off and the bus service is every 11-13 minutes.

St Cedd's church Lodge Avenue

The bus in front was going all the way but departed as we stopped

WHV70 at terminal stop

Journey left only five minutes

Our saviour WHV113 arriving

With perfect timing WHV113 hove into sight at 1357 and we quickly turned left now joined by the recently covered No 364. We separated from that route at the end of Bennetts Castle Lane joining the Nos 128 and 150 as we turned right as far as Valence lane where those buses go straight on and we turned left again accompanied once more with the No 62. We then passed over the railway at Chadwell Heath station and terminated in the one way section at the stop call Wangey Road at 1403. The billed 32 minute journey had taken 54 in total. To get home I took the Elizabeth line at Chadwell Heath to Farringdon and then the Thameslink to East Croydon, a tram and finally a local bus which took two hours.

Final Arrival

WHV113 starting its return journey