Day Seventeen the conveniently juxtaposed 36 and 37

This day started a little later than most recently, but having caught the 1132 towards Clapham Junction, admittedly running 6 minutes late, I followed that train with the 1216 to Stratford which dropped me at Willesden Junction at 1235. Very unusually there was an overground train in platform 2 which was not in service and left for the nearby depot before my Bakerloo line train arrived on platform 3 to take me to Queen's Park.

London Overground class 378 located in platform 2 at Willesden Junction Station

E264 forming my mount to New Cross at Queen's Park Station

I didn't have to walk far to the right from the station exit to the bus stop where the No 36 arrived at 1254 to take me diagonally across London towards New Cross. The bus provided was a double decker Enduro 400 E264 of London General. The route runs past Paddington station and then down the Edgware Road to Marble Arch where it heads south down Park Lane so avoids the crawl along Oxford Street. In fact even the roadworks around Victoria didn't seem to hold the bus up that much as it was soon travelling down Vauxhall Bridge Road and into the bus station at Vauxhall. From here we passed the Oval and on to Camberwell, Peckham and finally ceasing at New Cross bus garage. On alighting at 1418 I queried with the bus driver that I thought the bus went to New Cross Gate but the lady informed me it hasn't done so for the last five years.

Despite display on bus stating New Cross Gate bus terminates at New Cross bus garage

Aboard the No 36 ready to head back to Peckham

To access the No 37 I needed to return to Peckham so having crossed the road I boarded a No 36 in the opposite direction. As we approached the bus station we had a message that the bus was on diversion and would not stop until it reached the school. This was ideal for my purposes as I was sorry I hadn't taken a photograph of the yellow Trotters three wheeler outside the Best Western Peckham. This is also on the corner of Lyndhurst Road! So I tried to get both in shot and failed miserably owing to the quantity of the railings.

Bus stop 'E' where the No 37 starts

London General E34, my No 37

So on to the No 37 with a brief comfort stop in Burger King as I passed back to the bus station. I just missed one bus as I walked into the station but the 'countdown' display suggested only 7 minutes until the next one. At 1450 I duly boarded a much earlier Enduro E400 double decker E34 headed for Putney Heath. This was a place I had already experienced on the No 14 but on that occasion from Warren Street. The No 37 took me to parts of Dulwich I hadn't seen on any other bus so far but eventually having reached Herne Hill we joined the No 3 route into Brixton. From Brixton we followed the No 35 all the way to Clapham Junction before turning left up the hill to Wandsworth and eventually Putney. We arrived at Putney Heath at 1623 which meant that both bus journeys today had taken one and a half hours.

E34 after arrival reposing at Putney Heath

To get home I caught the No 93 to Wimbledon and then caught a tram to Sainsbury's in Purley Way.