I caught the 1035 to London Bridge and there boarded the 1104 to Dartford via Bexleyheath. At Dartford I just missed the late running 1137 to Gravesend but it would still not have got me there in time to get the previous No 416. So when I caught the 1156 to Gravesend and arrived at the bus station at 1210 I had just short of two hours to wait for the next bus.
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The Class 707 going back to London, whilst my
networker arriving to take me on to Gravesend |
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| A class 395 Javelin train arriving at Gravesend |
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| Each Javelin is named after an olympian |
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| At 1225 no sign of a No 416 |
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Class 69 69005 with a ballast train for Hoo
Junction in 1960s livery |
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The No 416 timetable but from Meopham
to Gravesend not the other way around |
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Balfour Beatty class 20 20905 which was running
light attached to No 20901 |
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| Redroute buses E4HRR resting |
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Finally the bus is indicated but still plenty
of time to go to Greggs for a tuna baguette
and latte. |
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| Inbound Embraer to Biggin Hill |
The bus arrived just after 1PM and then waited in the bay east of the station for almost an hour before running into the bus station at 1403 and leaving for Meopham at 1405. The bus was Redroute buses Optare Solo E4HRR which I had seen many times years ago locally when it was operated by Epsom Buses Quality Line.
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| The No 416 arriving |
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| Heading north in one way system |
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| Passing pier for ferry to Tilbury |
The bus turned right and went around the one way system heading down to the riverside and then later climbing up to the east of the town centre so as to head east along the A226 in the direction of Rochester. Once past St Peter and Paul church of Milton Next Gravesend with Denton we reached a roundabout which we went straight over. Quite soon though, the bus turned right into a housing estate at Forge Lane the bus then went left into Barr Road and then right into Cruden Road. we were climbing all the way and at a t junction at the end we took Cervia Lane to the end and then turned left down Thong Lane back to the A226.
At this point this A road had a 50 mph speed limit which meant we whistled along. I wanted to get pictures if the Thames Estuary as we were climbing again but the trees were too frequent to enable me to photograph the increasingly widening river Thames. We passed Thamesview Crematorium and entered Shorne where we turned right off the main road into Forge Lane where we climbed once more reaching Shorne Village at 1423.
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| Shorne village store |
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| Crossing the A2 |
We continued climbing into the village of Shorne Ridgeway and at the end of Tanyard Hill we took the right turn signposted Cobham. Passing Shorne Woods Country Park we crossed the A2 and next to it HS1 before stopping at Cobham Hall bus stop.
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| Cobham War Memorial |
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| Looking down The Street Cobham |
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| Cobham village sign |
We turned left here past fields to reach Cobham War Memorial where we forked right along The Street and into Cobham Village itself.
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| Building near Cobham |
Beyond the village we reached the national Trust property of Owletts. where we went left and at 1433 we reaching Sole Street railway station.
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Numerous apple trees betwixt Cobham and Sole
Street |
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| Sole Street village sign |
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| Agricultural areas en route |
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| Turning into Meopham |
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| Arrival at Meopham school |
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| The end of the road |
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| Awaiting return to Gravesend |
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E4HRR standing for twenty five minutes before
returning |
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| Owletts on way back |
Continuing along the same road we eventually reached the main road and turned left in Meopham. The bus remained on this road steadily climbing the shallow rise until we reached Meopham Secondary School. The bus did a circuit within the school grounds and then parked at 1441.
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| A clearer view of Cobham sign |
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| Cobham primary school |
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| Junction at end of The Street Cobham |
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| Shorne Woods Country Patk |
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| Clearer view of Shorne Village stores |
I had had a chat with the driver about what I was doing once the last passenger disembarked at Shorne until another boarded at Sole Street. He very kindly pointed out things I could photograph on the route which would be good references to my having done the journey. Since I was the only passenger at the terminus I filled him in with more detail as to what I was doing and why. The bus the headed back to Gravesend at 1505 and I was on platform zero at 1546 boarded the 1549 Victoria train. I changed at Lewisham and caught a Hayes train to Elmers End and then the tram to Wandle Park and finally a No 410 arriving home at 1750.
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| Gravesend necessitated a train and return bus ticket to Meopham |
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