Day 14 the 29, 30 and 31

I crunched the numbers earlier this week and realised it could possibly be costing me more to avoid travelling by train in Zone one, because it was taking me a long time to get started on any one route which then impacted on my ability to do three or four routes in a day.

Arriva London HV129 barding in Wood Green

Therefore  today  I resolved to get the train to Zone 1 (Victoria) and then onwards by the Victoria Line to Finsbury Park and then changing onto the Piccadilly line to Wood Green. I caught the 0941 which arrived at Victoria at 1030 and it took until 1106 before I was aboard Arriva London  HV129 providing the No 29 service to Trafalgar Square. The journey was relatively slow but steady going  and after an uneventful 1 hr and 11 minutes we arrived at Trafalgar Square.

The Morgan Hotel in Gower street

Approaching Trafalgar Square

At final lights by St Martins in the Fields

Where on previous days I would have got a bus to minimise cost I caught a Bakerloo line train to Oxford Circus and then Central Line to Marble Arch. Thus I was able to catch at 1245 a No 30 bus towards Hackney Wick, which

It was rather frantic to catch the first No30 that came as it stops around the corner.

was Tower Transit 33790. Given when I get off the No 26 at Hackney Wick I had felt rather unsafe I put more money on my oyster card at Marble Arch rather than get my wallet out in Hackney. After the crawl along the Marylebone Road the only other significant hold up was the roadworks around Highbury Corner which were reducing 3 lanes to just one. Hackney Wick was achieved after 1 hr and 11 mins, exactly the same duration as the journey on the No 29.

My conveyance the Tower Transit 33790 at Hackney Wick

The bus terminus for No 30 and 236 but not the 26

A rather large number of No 30s waiting to return to Marble Arch

After a brisk walk to Hackney Wick railway station I boarded a westbound London Overground train for which I only had to wait 4 minutes to Camden Road.

Camden Road London Overground station with a No 29 approaching under the bridge

This railway station was reached at 1424 and having espied the starting point earlier in the day of the No 31 from the top deck of my No 29 I duly walked towards Camden town crossing Camden Road to walk to where the bus stand was located at bus stop U.

Two No31s laying over between trips

Tower Transit 32429 my home for and hour and a quarter across N and W London

 Tower Transit provide the buses for the No 31 which is a rather circuitous route which goes to Kilburn via Swiss Cottage and Chalk Farm but then turns south towards Westbourne Park and to Notting Hill Gate before finally west along the A40 to Shepherds Bush and onward to White City. This journey started at 1432 and ended 1548 thus spoiling the sequence since the journey took 1 hr and 16 minutes.

Journey's end the White City bus station with Tower Transit 32429 in the background turning to retrace its steps back to Camden Town

I needed to return home quickly to take my wife to drama so boarded a No 207 back to Shepherds Bush bus station. This made it just in time to get the 1553 London Overground train to Clapham Junction where I changed to the 1612 train to Sutton. It had been definitely easier not to miss out Zone one as it would have taken longer to get to Wood Green and it would also have been a much slower change from Trafalgar Square to Marble Arch.