I left home at 1105 to catch a train to Forest Hill where I arrived at 1247. From the station I walked east along the A205 South Circular under the railway tracks to bus stop L where the No 122 was to convey me to Lewisham. The No 108 now starts from the centre of Lewisham and runs through Blackheath to the Millenium Greenwich area before passing through the Blackwall Tunnel and on to Stratford. This is the only bus service which utilises the tunnel.
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| Lewisham central Bus stop |
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| Lewisham market behind bus stop |
I had to wait rather longer than the 8-10 minutes expected wait time, according to the timetable, although a 108 had left whilst I was trying to exit the 122. So at 1240, almost an hour after reaching Forest Hill I was underway on MEC1, a Mercedes Benz Citaro. This was the first of a series of 50 buses that London General bought for the Red Arrow routes which have now been superseded by BYD Enduro electric buses. However, within minutes of starting we were overtaken by MEC12, also on the same route so somewhere bunching had occurred and perhaps the bus I was on was 8-10 minutes late starting from Lewisham.
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| London General MEC 1 approaching with market stalls to its right |
After circulating the maze of roads on the Greenwich Peninsula and leaving North Greenwich tube station we paused after passing under the Blackwall Tunnel approach road (A102M) to exchange drivers at 1309. We were back underway by 1311 and joined the throng entering the Blackwall Tunnel.
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| The queue for the Blackwall Tunnel |
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| Getting closer to the Blackwall Tunnel |
The transit was slow but steady and by 1318 we were out of the tunnel and running into Poplar. The bus then moved up to the A11 and turned right past Bow Church and over the A12 towards Stratford. However, as we approached Stratford City the bus driver announced we would be terminating there at 1342.
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| Passing Mittal's Orbit sculpture |
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| MEC1 leaving me at Stratford City bus station |
This was the penultimate bus stop and therefore to complete the route I had to wait for the next No 108. By now it was cloudy with a bitingly cold SE wind and the wait lasted until 1357 a full fifteen minutes before I could go the one stop, this time on MEC6 to arrive finally at 1402.
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| MEC6 has brought me to Stratford International since I couldn't cheat by walking! |
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| Stratford International DLR station |
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| Class 66 66735 with Bogie Aggregate Hoppers |
Stratford International DLR station is somewhere I had had no reason to visit before and what seemed strange when we were underway and burrowing underneath Westcroft was the length of platform to left and right with a fluorescent tube glowing every 4 feet or so. It seems so wasteful of energy.
I changed at the West Ham interchange to the Jubilee line to take me to Canada Water. From here I took, at 1433, a Clapham Junction bound London Overground train for the first time, which meant that after Surrey Quays I travelled on a piece of line that for years was just a grass track under the viaduct as one approached London Bridge.
My destination to catch the No 109 was Brixton and until 1976 on the South London line there was a station at East Brixton which would have been useful, but I had to get off at the stop before which was much further way at Denmark Hill. From the station I walked to Kings College Hospital and on to Coldharbour Lane where I knew there were three buses I could catch to Brixton. However, presumably because of the earlier climate change protesters when a bus did finally come, it was too full to let anyone board. So looking at the timetable, where it stated the bus only took 7 minutes to Brixton I therefore resolved to walk. Once I reached Loughborough Junction station though, the three buses were joined by another, the P4, and this was not likely to be affected by the protesters blocking bridges in Central London. One of these buses was due and I was able to catch this to Brixton police station where I arrived at 1530.
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| I was at the bus stop with 3 minutes to spare so walked a little further north to take picture below. |
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| Layover point for No 109 bus in Brixton before it returns to Croydon |
The bus stop where the No 109 starts is only just across the road from the police station and so by 1535 I was aboard in my usual spot Abellio 2513. This bus travels straight down the A23, a route I had frequently used during train strikes when I worked at London Weather Centre, either on this bus, the No 250 or at times had cycled.
There was thus little to report save for the bus taking until 1605 to reach the Tate Free Library at Streatham High Road and it was 1647 before I was at Park Street in central Croydon. From here I decided to walk home given the density of traffic usually on the local roads at this time arriving at 1725.
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| Abellio 2513 now in darkness in Park Street Croydon at 1647 |
