Day Five the No 11 and No 12

I had intended to do the No 11 the previous Friday but a bomb on the District Line at Parsons Green Underground station put paid to a trip to Fulham prior to going to see a play at the Young Vic. Thus today having been to my daughter's workplace and back I embarked on a trip to Fulham at 1145. I caught a tram to Wimbledon and then the No 93 bus to Putney Bridge station. From here I walked to Fulham and found first the lay-over point for the No 11 and then the actual boarding point at Fulham Town Hall.

LT51 NBFL at the lay-over in Fulham

My stead approaching the Fulham Town Hall bus stop

I boarded LT51 one of  the earlier, of the now 1000 'Boris Buses', at 1304 and proceeded east through the prosperous suburbs of Kensington and Chelsea after leaving the Borough of  Hammersmith and Fulham. This was obvious when I saw a very posh looking lady stop her car on a red route, with no loading markings, then put her car hazard lights on and go shopping!

After transiting these posh bits of London it was onto Victoria and the West End before arriving once again at the Aldwych. It is becoming rather reminiscent of the Floral Clock on Malta with all the buses seeming to stop here!

At the end of The Strand as we approach The Aldwych

The Duchess theatre in Catherine Street which we visited less than two weeks ago was on my walking route through Covent Garden to Oxford Circus

From the Aldwych I now had to wend my way to Oxford Circus which I did once again by foot. Since traffic is so slow around the Crossrail works at Tottenham Court Road it seems to be quicker to walk. So I went through Covent Garden to Shaftesbury Avenue on through St. Giles to Tottenham Court Road and then followed through the warren of small streets south of Oxford Street in an endeavour to make more progress rather than fighting my way through shoppers on the aforementioned street. I emerged onto Oxford Street from Dean Street having walked around Soho Square. On arrival at Oxford Circus I felt my rucksack was rather unbalanced and when I took it off I found the main area had been totally unzipped. Thankfully I had kept the camera around my neck, so all that could have been stolen was the newspaper I took to read or an empty camera bag - phew!!!

The starting point for the No 12

The empty LT450 approaching from the direction of All Souls Langham Place

After grabbing a sandwich in Topshop's bottom level cafe I boarded a No 12 at 1445. This bus was LT450, which is almost halfway through the build and operated by the same operator, London General, as was the No 11. It was slow but steady until we reached Parliament Square. Road works outside St Thomas's Hospital then contrived to make progress painfully slow until we were the other side of the Waterloo station bridge. The bus then runs to Elephant and Castle, Camberwell through Peckham where there is a nice freshly painted Reliant Robin outside the Peckham Best Western Hotel and onward to Dulwich. I reached Dulwich library at 1614 almost an hour and a half after I had left Oxford Circus. 

The final stop of the No 12 with LT450 leaving to soon turn left to its lay-over point

To get home from here I took a No 176 to Penge then a brief foray on a No 356 which enabled me to  reach a bus stop for the No 157 which took me home.