Day 12 buses 25 and 26

I left home at 09:45 to get the 10:02 to Clapham Junction. This meant I saw the 10:31 London Overground train leaving as I climbed the stairs on platform 14. Thus it was the 10:46 train I caught, intending to to go to Gospel Oak. However, as we left Willesden Junction I noticed a large quantity of the class 172 units that provide the train service from Gospel Oak to Barking. It was therefore obvious bus substitution was in place: as has been the case at times for the last year as this line is electrified. Since I needed to get to High Barnet I looked at my bus map and saw that if I stayed on the train to Kentish Town West I could walk to Kentish Town Northern line underground station and thereby reach High Barnet. The entire journey took until midday, much as my wife's journey to work takes, two hours plus, to get to Kingsbury from home.

Two No 34s waiting their return to Walthamstow, in Barnet.

VWH2052 The Metroline Volvo Hybrid bus that I would be catching at the stop below

Barnet Church which is the nominal destination on the bus in the background on the first photo

My departure was at 12:08 and we began by heading down hill towards London with a wide panorama of the London skyline in front of me. Very soon though we turned to the left and lost the long distance views within suburbia. It is very similar to my original home town of Orpington with similar size and types of housing and associated parades of shops. Gradually the bus works further in towards Central London but gets no further than the North Circular Road for a good while, sometimes even running along it. We transited a huge industrial complex around Edmonton before finally heading in towards the centre of Walthamstow where I reached the bus station at 13:18.

Walthamstow bus station 

VWH2052 resting before its long journey back towards Barnet

In order to reach the next bus it necessitated two trains and  bus. The first train I caught from Walthamstow Central to Hackney Downs at 1335. Trains from Walthamstow don't stop where I needed to get off though, which was Cambridge Heath. Therefore I had to change platforms at this station to get a train which had originated from Enfield Town which was heading to Liverpool Street, both trains now operated by London Overground. I didn't have to wait very long at all and as we left the station at Hackney I saw one of the Rail Head Treatment Trains on the Graham curve the second engine of which, 66723 Chinook was extremely dirty from the spray mixture they put down to improve adhesion. Alighting from Cambridge Heath I walked around the corner and caught a No 55 to Shoreditch Town Hall and from there I walked to stop N to catch my next bus the No 35 to Clapham Junction.  

The first stop for the route 35 at it NE end in Shoreditch, despite what it says on the sign it is actually between Shoreditch High Street station and the old North London Line station which closed in 1941

The No 35 (MHV62) resting before reaching the bus stop where I was waiting at 1408.

I waited here only short time before the Volvo hybrid MCV EvoSeti MHV62 arrived to take me along Bishopsgate and then Gracechurch street before crossing London Bridge at 14:25. Progress was slow but steady and it continued in this vein as we headed for Elephant and Castle and the Walworth road. I was taken aback by the abruptness of the turn left at Denmark Hill/Camberwell Green which affords the bus the opportunity to turn right across the road it was previously using and so head west to Loughborough Junction and subsequently Brixton. At Brixton there is another complicated means of turning right at Lambeth town hall as one needs to go around the triangle with Brixton St Matthew's church in the middle in order to turn left into Acre lane. This road leads to Clapham Common and as we crossed this the drizzly rain which I had encountered between Edmonton and Walthamstow returned; perhaps this was a waving cold front! The bus turned right away from the common and right again to go to the Falcon and once across Lavender hill terminated just south of the maze of railway tracks at Clapham Junction railway station at 1538 a total journey therefore of 90 minutes.

The bus leaving the stop at Clapham Junction, unfortunately it was by now gloomy owing to the rain so the photo is a little blurred.

After a short stop in the Halifax Building Society I then caught the 1552 to Caterham and got off at Selhurst to await a train from London Bridge which would take me to West Croydon and then onwards to home which was reached at 17:15

Day eleven the 24

I had been busy over recent days getting our daughter through her driving test and then accompanying her as she got used to her new car. Thus I finally got the chance to venture out again today. However, the progress on the day was not helped by track problems near West Croydon which meant my journey that should have started at 1241 eventually led to my arrival  at Battersea Park (a journey of around 10 miles) over an hour later at 1344. To reach my boarding point for the bus from there I needed to cross Chelsea Bridge and then turn right along Grosvenor Road to reach the starting point of the No 24 bus.

Walking along Grosvenor Road from under the railways tracks that lead into Victoria station

This was one of the earliest of the 'Borismasters' I have travelled on being Metroline operated LT13.

Starting point of the No24 in Pimlico

 My trip finally got underway at 1406, almost an hour later than I had intended and put paid to my following up with the No 25 on this day. Movement was quite brisk to Victoria but beyond that we crawled for much of the time, but particularly up Charing Cross and then Tottenham Court roads. Beyond the Euston Road the bus picked up speed towards Mornington Crescent and along Camden High Street and after touching Kentish Town we reached the Royal Free Hospital at Hampstead Heath at 1522, just over an hour and a quarter after leaving Pimlico.

Journey end with No 24s laying  over on right and No 168s laying over to the left of this junction

Three 'Borismasters' waiting in turn to return to Pimlico

I would have needed to get the No 168 to Camden and the No C2 to Oxford Circus to reach the starting point of the No 25. So therefore given the problems already experienced getting to London in the first place, I took the London Overground from Hampstead Heath to Clapham Junction and a train home from there which actually got me home just after 5pm. Total cost of the odyssey thus far has been £100 which suggests the final payment to TFL around £2800 over the period but that is assuming no fare increase in four years or more-we will see!

Day 10 the 22 and 23

This day started rather later than most as I spent the morning giving my daughter driving practice before her driving test the following day. Thus I did not leave my home station for Putney until 1353. I changed at Clapham Junction and only had to wait three minutes for a Hounslow train and arrived at Putney at 1434. Given the time I decided to take a brisk walk from the station across the High Street and down a side road parallel with the railway to Barnes before bending right down Dryburgh Road to Putney Common. This took 15 minutes so must have been about a mile or so and as I crossed the Common by the church I saw the starting point for the No 22.

As I approached across Putney Common the first of the two buses moved off

My mount to Oxford Circus, London General Wright bodied Volvo hybrid WHV34

I just missed one so had to wait until 1456 to depart on WHV34 operated by London General from Putney Garage. This is the third bus in sequence operated by that company but all were maintained at different garages. The initial journey once we had passed Putney Bridge station to Parsons Green and into Fulham was a new experience but soon afterward we mirrored the No 11 through Worlds End and then the 19 up Sloane Street to Green Park. The final part across Berkeley Square and along Conduit Street was different and having joined Regent Street

Carnaby street

Crossing Oxford Circus

opposite Carnaby Street we arrived at Margaret Street just beyond Oxford Circus at 1559. This was actually a quicker trip than booked on the timetable which says it takes 66 minutes.

The No 22 just about to turn left to do a circuit to restart its journey near Oxford Circus

To get to the starting point of the No 23 I had to once again get to the Aldwych. So I started to walk down Regent Street with its throng of pedestrians which was quite heavy going. At the bottom of Regent Street a No 23 going to the Aldwych appeared so I jumped on that and alighted at Drury Lane. Once I had crossed the road to be in front of Somerset House I could see a No 23 waiting 'for me' in the distance. Indeed, the bus stop I needed was not the nearer of the two and when I arrived at that stop at 1628 the countdown display said it would be a 10 minute wait.

The bus countdown  display showing by this time an 8 minute wait

The No 23 arriving at the Aldwych from its layover spot just a bit further back

The No 23 is owned by Tower Transit and this was only the second in the sequence that has been operated by that company. The other also ends in a 3, the thirteen. The bus was No 33787 an AD Enviro 400 with the fleet number originally in the Firstbus sequence but is not part of that company now. We left the Aldwych at 1633 and were surprisingly brisk along the Strand to Trafalgar Square and even Oxford Street was less choked than on previous visits. However, once the bus gets beyond Paddington into Notting Hill Gate and Ladbroke Grove it takes quite a tortuous route and it was not until 1749 that we arrived opposite the home of the bus, the Westbourne Park bus garage, where the bus terminated.

The final stop of the No 23 with Westbourne Park bus garage behind me

To return home I took a No 31 to White City and alighted at Shepherds Bush station. The next train to East Croydon, the 1819, was cancelled owing to trespassers on the line, so had to wait for the late running 1823 Overground service to Clapham Junction. I then chose to take the Caterham and Tattenham corner service to East Croydon to get the bus home but I did not get back until 2000 to the consternation of my wife. So once again 6 hours of travelling netted me two buses!

Day Nine the far off 20 and 21

My departure was somewhat delayed this morning as I didn't get back from Hever Castle until around 1200. Thus it was the 1241 train that I got to Norwood Junction, where I once again changed for the London Overground to Canada Water and then the Jubilee line, this time to Stratford. At Stratford I then took the Central line to Buckhurst Hill with the intention of catching the 167 bus to Debden. However, my bus map was out of date, as since earlier this year the 167 has been curtailed at Loughton station and only the 804 school bus now does that route once a day. I expressly got out at Buckhurst Hill at 1356 to avoid travelling into Zone 6. Thus having taken the 167 bus I had to wait at Loughton station for a No 20 to arrive to take me to the culmination of the route of the No 20 at Debden where I finally arrived two hours after leaving my home station at 1440. There are a fair amount of road works going on where the bus terminated, so I asked the driver where to get on for the return to Walthamstow.

The starting bus stop at Debden

Debden High Street

Wright Eclipse Gemini WVL448

 Therefore it was a very bemused driver who saw me get straight back on WVL448 once it had driven around the corner. He was only the second driver I have spoken to about my odyssey and he thought it was a great idea. Thus at 1445 I was finally on my way to do the No 20. It does a smaller circuit of the Debden housing estate than on the way in, so we got to Loughton station rather more quickly than going the other way at 1505; mind you, we were picking up school kids on our way into Debden. It is quite a leafy journey in through Waltham Forest and traffic was fairly light until we reached Walthamstow itself, which became quite a crawl owing to road works near the stations. There were a number of occasions when the driver was told to wait at various bus stops to regulate the service, I finally finished the No 20 at 1600. So just this one bus took me 3 and a half hours to do.

Waiting in turn to access Walthamstow bus station

Walthamstow bus station

I did the journey that way round as the No 21 starts from Newington Green which I was able to access from Walthamstow by taking the Victoria line to Seven Sisters and then the No 476 bus, and was duly reached at 1633.

Newington Green

The entire route planned to take 75 minutes, optimistic in rush hour

Borismaster LT863 turning to stop behind a No 141

The No 21 duly came at 1638 once again a 'Borismaster' and a newer one being LT863. Indeed, I finally found LT2, which is in a lovely green and cream colour scheme early on in this trip. The route into town was through Hoxton to Old Street which I had very recently travelled when on the No 19. However, from Old Street we then headed south reaching Bank at 1659. The bus crossed London Bridge and then into The Borough before turning left down the Old Kent Road to Peckham, New Cross and finally into Lewisham which was achieved at exactly 1800. I then took the train back to Charing Cross station to go to a theatre visit that evening..

At Lewisham shopping centre bypass where the No 21 ends

Day 8 buses 18 and 19

I had originally intended to combine these two buses with the No 20, but time beat me to it. Indeed it took over six hours to just do these two routes. I left on the 09:55 to Victoria and alighted at Balham to catch the hourly Milton Keynes train to Wembley Central.This train deposited me at Wembley Central at 1105 after another trip past the blackened remains of Grenfell Tower. In order to get to the start point of the No 18 I needed to catch a bus to Sudbury and rather than get a No 18 merely to retrace my steps I caught the No 182 bound for Bushey lane.

Sudbury and Harrow Road station

Collection of VWs awaiting starting back to Euston

Evidence I was on this bus heading for Euston

So it was at 1125 that I boarded VW1892 on the No 18, another Metroline Volvo chassised, Wright bodied vehicle, although unlike the 6, 7 or 17 which were utilised earlier in proceedings, this bus was not a hybrid. The bus then followed the Harrow Road back through Wembley and on to Harlesden and at 1155 we stopped in Willesden to change drivers, since this bus is based at Willesden Junction depot. Traffic was fairly light through much of this part of NW London and we only hit really painfully slow moving activity once past the Paddington Basin. Thus the Marylebone road was its usual crawl but we still made it to Euston station at 1232, which made the entire journey only 1 hour and 7 minutes. This gave me hope I might do the three buses I intended to, as I changed onto the 253 to Hackney which was my ride to Finsbury Park.

Bus having arrived at Euston railway station

The journey to Finsbury Park through Camden and Holloway was fairly trouble free and I reached the station just after 1PM. I felt a bit peckish so nipped into Greggs for a tuna sandwich and ginger beer and then waited under the awning of the Finsbury Park Interchange, as its called, for my mount to Battersea bridge southside.

HV256 waiting at the Finsbury Park Interchange to head to Battersea

The No 19 was an Arriva Volvo Hybrid HV 256 which left the Finsbury Park Interchange around 1316. This is a route I am very familiar with as when the bairns were younger I would stop at the Sylvanian families shop in Mountgrove Road and buy Christmas or birthday presents. As we reached Highbury Corner it was announced the bus was on diversion as Islington High Street was closed for road works and a significant diversion it was indeed. We went down through Hoxton to the Old Street roundabout where we turned right and headed for Clerkenwell Road. Thus we missed out all of the Islington shopping area and Sadlers Wells/ Roseberry Avenue and only regained the usual route outside my previous place of employment, 127 Clerkenwell road. I had worked here for 16 years straight from 1992-2008 (May) and then another two years later 2009(April) 2011. My employer's lease ran out last year and finally it looked like the owners were replacing the lifts or at least giving them an overhaul.

The roof work at 127 Clerkenwell Road

The junction of Roseberry Avenue and Clerkenwell road with Grays Inn Road crossing them with Theobalds Road beyond. The G is the pole dancing pub next to where I used to work!!

Crossing Battersea bridge approaching journeys end

This diversion was definitely a longer way round but since it's not the usual route we didn't seem to dwell very long at any bus stops. Normal service having resumed, however, the area around Cambridge Circus to Piccadilly Circus was again a bottleneck. The bus then continues west to Knightsbridge and then south down Sloane Street before heading west again before turning left into Beaufort Street and finally crossing Battersea bridge.

The bus arrived at 1445; this is so far the longest journey I have done on one bus. Thus it was with a heavy heart that I had to accept defeat, as to reach the nearest part of the No 20 I would have had to get to Walthamstow. To achieve this would have necessitated getting to Clapham Junction, taking the London Overground to Gospel Oak and then the Overground two car diesel to Walthamstow Queen Street. Instead I walked to Clapham Junction station, and made a brief stop to look at Battersea heliport. This was empty at the time and caught the 1523 Littlehampton train home. Total score two buses in six hours!