The 1005 to London Bridge conveyed me there were I changed to the 1031 Peterborough Thameslink service to Finsbury Park. A Piccadilly line train was then taken as far as Southgate, after a 5 minutes wait and I emerged from the station to see a No 382 already resting in the bus terminal. The bus was Metroline's DEM1356 and by 1118 I was aboard and it was turning left along the High Street to Southgate ASDA with the No 125, 298 and 299.
 |
| Awaiting departure within Southgate bus station |
 |
| Quarterly hourly service on the No 382 |
The bus took a sharp left and descended Osidge Lane towards the valley of the Pymme's Brook where it went up Brookside South and around Parkside Gardens and then round again to Church Hill Road to cross over onto Brunswick Road past the library.
 |
| Descending along Osidge Lane |
 |
| SEe184 on diversion in front of us |
The bus was on its own for the previous three roads and should have continued to be alone down Brunswick Park Road but because of diversion the No 184 accompanied us from the library to Betstyle Circus. Here we went down Bowes Road to Arnos Grove Underground station; the one before Southgate where we arrived at 1134.
 |
Distinctive Underground stations of the 1930s at
Arnos Grove |
The bus did a 'U' turn here and went back to the circus where it went left along Friern Barnet Road thereby accessing New Southgate station. I was the only passenger left on the bus at Arnos Grove but we quickly picked up another nine. We crossed over Colney Hatch Lane but left all other routes by turning left along Summers lane. At the end of this road the bus turned left rejoining with other routes the No 112 and 263 but only for a short while before heading right before we reached the North Circular Road. At Squires Lane we were on our own and took the fifth turning right along Long Lane which took us to Ballards Lane with the No 143.The bus turned left and then before it reached Finchley Central station headed right down Nether Street with the No 326 at 1157. This other bus soon went off to the right to leave the No 382 to descend to the valley bottom along Dollis Road where we crossed the Dollis Brook.
 |
| Brick viaduct behind trees by Dollis Road |
At the roundabout at the end of Dollis Road we joined two other routes as we headed under the railway bridge to Mill Hill East station. We climbed up the hill from the station and then took a right turn into the Millbrook Estate and into Inglis way and we terminated at 1206.
 |
| Final stop at Mill Hill Millbrook estate |
I then walked down to the underground station but as I approached a train left and entering the station I found it was a 14 minutes wait until the next one. I therefore crossed back over the road and caught the same No 382 heading back to Southgate but alighted at the Finchley Central stop. Here I took a Northern line train to High Barnet which arrived in the platform after one minute and deposited me at High Barnet just as a No 383 was heading away down Meadway. I needed to get to the Spires though to board at the beginning of the service and my next one would be at 1305.
 |
| UNO No 603 at the Spires Barnet |
 |
| Will do the No 384 next |
 |
| This one is a half hourly service |
For a change the bus service for the No 383 is operated by UNO, the bus company based around Hatfield and St Albans and it was their number 603 which I boarded. The bus went down Salisbury Road to the High Street where it turned right for the church and on down towards High Barnet station. However, it didn't reach the station before turning away to the left down Meadway which is also the case with the route No 184. The bus then followed Potters Road and Plantagenet Road, a mass of late Victorian and Edwardian villas to reach Station Road so as to access New Barnet railway station. We did a 'U' turn here at 1317 and then went under the railway towards the Sainsburys along East Barnet road. The bus took a hard right to go under the railway on Longmore Avenue with initially the No 326 for company but then took Netherlands Road on its own to reach Oakleigh Park station. We took Oakleigh Park North to reach Oakleigh Road and then turned left into Whetstone High Road.
 |
| Whetstone High Road |
 |
This bus route showed me many parkland areas
I had not experienced before in North London.
Friary Park |
Here the bus turned left and met up with a No 234 and indeed followed this as it bore left down Friern Barnet Lane. Once again the bus was back on its own after Priory Park and it took a right along Torrington Park to reach the High Road once again. We did a quick right and left and were then descending downslope towards Woodside Park station where we arrived at 1341.
 |
Woodside Park station, this is the only bus to serve
this side of it |
The bus then retraced its steps and headed back to the High Road where we turned right for the TallyHo junction and North Finchley bus station. We passed these and then turned right at Granville Road and entered the Memorial Hospital as the only bus which serves it. The bus terminated at 1348.
 |
| Arrival at Finchley Memorial hospital |
I then had to decide how best to reach the No 384 as both ends of the route would be not too far away. Checking the TFL journey planner it suggested getting the SL1 to Arnos Grove from North Finchley bus station. I therefore walked back there as the bus would be waiting ten to fifteen minutes before leaving and I could have been on an SL1 by then. Indeed, at 1416 I was waiting for the next Piccadilly line train from Arnos Grove to Cockfosters. Unfortunately on arrival I had just missed a bus and it is at best a twenty minute service.
 |
| The two 600 buses are operated by UNO |
 |
| Metroline's VMSS2842 arriving |
 |
| Bus service is every 20 minutes |
So at 1443 I was aboard one of the new electric Metroline single deckers VMSS2842.
 |
| My bus arriving |
This bus took the first turning right as we travelled south from the county boundary called Mount Pleasant and as with many parts of this bus route it was the only bus route on the road. At the Mount Pleasant circle the bus dropped down to the Park Road and then did a circuit of Lawton Road and Westbrook Crescent travelling up and down Baring Road parallel with the Pymme's Brook. At the second time we reached Park Road, the bus turned right and ran into Victoria Road which led us to East Barnet Road, just prior to the New Barnet station underbridge. We went under the bridge at 1456 and then went straight on up Station Road to the Everyman cinema.
 |
| Passing Northern line stock at High Barnet |
 |
| Another Metroline single decker on Barnet Hill |
The bus then went up Barnet Hill passing High Barnet station and running into the Spires shopping centre parade of bus stops at 1510.
 |
| High Street Barnet |
From the Spires the bus turned right down Strafford Road and then into Alston Road and the Avenue as Hail and Ride before reaching Wood Street where the bus went right before passing Barnet Hospital on the right hand side as it descending Wellhouse lane. At the bottom of this road the bus went left passing the actual well house up a side street before selecting Whitings Road. Taking the right of Quinta Drive we rose up to Barnet Road once more and turned left to pass through the settlement of Arkley and on to Stirling Corner near Barnet Gate where we arriving at 1527. At this major interchange with the A1 the bus chose to run down the A1 through Scratch Wood and there were a couple of occasions where the bus pulled in to stop and then found it quite difficult to get out into the traffic stream again. At the roundabout at Apex Corner the bus took the A5109 to Hale Lane and then went right here to run on into Edgware. We terminated at Edgware bus station at 1547.
 |
Once again I have disembarked at Edgware
Underground station |
I then caught a Northern line train via bank to London Bridge at 1600 and there caught the 1646 Brighton Thameslink service to East Croydon. Finally I reached home at 1725 by bus 7 and a half hours after departure.
No comments:
Post a Comment