Day 54 two buses in SW London the Nos 87 and 88 followed by the No 89 in SE London

The August Bank Holiday seemed a good day to try and get some routes done and so it proved. I left on the 1105 to London Bridge and changed at 1135 for a train to Charing Cross. From Charing Cross I walked along the Strand to once again reach the Aldwych where the No 87 starts from.

EH35 of London General, my mount to Wandsworth

The traffic free streets on a bank holiday

The bus was operated by London General's EH35 an Enviro E400 Hybrid Double Decker and it departed at 1155 towards Trafalgar Square and then down Whitehall to the Houses of Parliament. The bus continued along Millbank to Vauxhall Bridge Road and then crossed the bridge to Vauxhall bus station where I arrived at 1211. One of the benefits of travelling on a bank holiday was the speedy translation through the Central London streets. A little further on at Lansdowne Green we waited to exchange drivers before leaving for Clapham at 1218. The bus was by now following the same roads as the No 77 and we continued in this vein until Clapham Junction where we arrived at 1232 (37 minutes from departure). The bus from here continued on to Wandsworth town and terminated in Wandsworth Plain at 1244.

Wandsworth Town Hall

Wandsworth Plain the terminus of the No 87

Almost brand new electric bus VHP1

I crossed the road called The Armoury to bus Stop E where I was able to catch a No 37 to Clapham Common at 1253. The bus that arrived was London General's VHP1; this has only recently started operation and is apparently equipped with a pantograph for electric operation. We passed Clapham Junction again at 1300 and dis-embarked at Clapham Common at 1315.

VHP1 one of two apparently, at Clapham Common

The No 88 at its layover point at Clapham Common

London General LT66 along with an arriva
Volvo Hybrid on the No 417 and another London General 'Borismaster'

LT66 now approaching to begin my second route of the day

I walked to bus stop TT in Wingate Square Clapham Common where I boarded London General 'Borismaster' LT66 at 1324 which provided the No 88 to Camden Town. It wasn't long before we were changing drivers again, this time at Stockwell at 1333. Vauxhall bus station was then passed through at 1346 before the bus crossed Vauxhall bridge. The bus turned right into John Islip Street and as we did so we passed a flashing sign which was indicating that the road was closed between Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street. A left turn into Bulinga Street led to a right turn into Marsham Street which took us to Westminster Abbey and then a run up Whitehall in the reverse direction to that which I had made on the No 87. There seemed to be no issue as we passed Piccadilly Circus at 1408. However on the left we passed a bus stop without its sign and the one side of the seat seemed to have been crushed with the windows smashed of the shop beyond. Further on I passed BBC Centre where there seemed to be some activity related to Strictly Come Dancing. An announcement was made just past this that the bus was on diversion. Notwithstanding this was only because the left arm of Park Crescent had roadworks and we emerged from the left end into Euston Road to regain the normal route. The bus then headed up past Euston station and Mornington Crescent into Camden Town where the bus arrived at 1433.

The terminus in Camden Town

LT66 not quite able to stop aligned straight behind its predecessor

From Camden Town the Northern line southbound was taken to London Bridge where I boarded the 1509 to Slade Green and this was reached at 1545.

Slade Green station

London General E44 at Forest Green Road Slade Green

There was a No 89 waiting in Forest Green Road but the countdown system told me I had 6 minutes to wait so I nipped in the nearby McColl's to get my lunch at 1550 to eat on the bus. The bus left at 1555 a Trident Enviro 400 No E44 of London General. Initially it meandered around the local estates making for Northumberland Heath. In Colyers Lane water was streaming down the road presumably from a burst water main. On arrival at Bexleyheath Garage drivers were exchanged very quickly and we reached the Bexleyheath clock tower at 1615.

Bexleyheath town centre

We then followed a straight road through Welling and on to Shooters Hill where there was a brief spectacular panorama across London. It was after this that I encountered the only hold-up of the day by what was the Brook Hospital and now seems to be being turned into flats. At Blackheath we passed through the village and down into Lewisham and finally reached the terminus at Lewisham station at 1703.

Lewisham Station is approached

From here I caught the 1713 towards Hayes and alighted at Elmers End where I took a tram to Wandle Park arriving at 1758.