Day eighty five the No 136 from Elephant and Castle to Grove Park.

After visiting the Unicorn theatre to see an amusing show my wife and I had lunch with one of her school friends and then went to the British Library. From St Pancras I caught a train to Elephant and Castle and from the railway station I walked towards the Borough Road to bus stop G where the No 136 bus begins its journey to Grove Park.

Stagecoach 11323 approaching from the layover point
under the Thameslink bridge on Newington Causeway

The almost brand new bus approaches bus stop G

Stagecoach's almost brand new 11323 was my mount for this route and after passing by the Elephant and Castle shopping centre it turned down the Walworth Road. However, it did not dwell on this thoroughfare long before turning left along Rodney Road, then Flint Street and finally via Thurlow Street to Burgess Park.

Briefly the bus follows the same route as the No 42 along Albany Street before turning left past the old Passmore Edwards library which shared the same building as the swimming baths and washrooms. From here the bus took Southampton Way until it reached Peckham Road. After this the journey was extremely slow and there were numerous police vehicles and an ambulance which passed both ways. It took over twenty minutes and probably nearer thirty to pass along this road to reach where the buses drive into the bus station. From Peckham Road we followed routes that I had previously travelled on, the No 36, No 21 and No 47 buses as far as New Cross, Lewisham and Catford respectively. Lewisham station was reached at 1545 but as we were now running so late we were informed at Catford garage where we changed drivers that the bus would terminate at Bromley Road Downham, which the bus duly did at 1617.

Disembarkation at Bromley Road Downham 

It was then a fourteen minute wait to 1631 for Stagecoach 11061 to arrive to finally take me on to the Grove Park bus station where we terminated at 1643, two hours and six minutes after departure from Elephant and Castle.

The replacement bus No 11061 arriving

Shops near Grove Park

Grove Park bus station

From Grove Park I caught a No 261 to Bromley High Street and then a No 119 to Five Ways from where I walked home to arrive at 1815.

Day 84 finishing the No 134 and the No 135

I arrived back at Robert Street bus stop at 1037 to resume the travel northwards on the No 134 bus.

Waiting for a bus to take me north with
St George's Day message atop the GPO tower.

St George's Day flag on GPO tower

However, at the stop there was a yellow notification that the No 134 would be starting further north at Mornington Crescent owing to gas works.

After the problems in Tottenham Court Road on the start of trip further issues on this one.

 Therefore I caught a No 29 just three stops north to Mornington Crescent and after alighting I didn't have to wait long before Metroline VMH2532 arrived to provide the No 134 to North Finchley.

A whole collection of No 134s waiting south of Mornington Crescent station.

A dead giveaway that the building is a tube station: the tiled
building on the left. However, this is the closed Kentish Town South.

At Kentish Town station the bus driver was advised to wait to even out the service, but only waited a minute. However a couple of stops further on at Fortress Walk he was asked to wait again and this time it was for two minutes and we were underway towards Tufnell Park at 1055. We then arrived at Archway at 1100 and by 1105 were driving under the Archway itself.

Following a No 263 under the Archway on the original Great North Road.

From here the bus moved on to Highgate and at the tube station turned right to go through the Highgate Woods and on to Muswell Hill.

Amongst the trees heading through Highgate woods

From Muswell Hill we headed downhill to cross the North Circular Road and then climbed back towards North Finchley where having driven around the bus station came to a halt at the Tally Ho Junction at 1136.

Reaching the North Finchley bus station.

From here I boarded a No 263 to High Barnet to meet my wife and then we came south on the Northern line from High Barnet to Old Street where the No 135 starts.

Bus stop around the corner from Old Street tube station .

Unfortunately my photograph of London General's EHV6 was rather too blurred for use but we left East Street, around the corner from Old Street station at 1326. The bus heads to Shoreditch High Street where I saw the only 'Borismaster' I hadn't seen on the No 8 service.

In Bishopsgate heading towards the 'Gherkin'.

From here the bus ran down Bishopsgate before turning left down Houndsditch to Aldgate tube station.

Turning from Commercial Road towards Docklands.

After Aldgate East station the bus takes Commercial Road at 1345 and this it follows to Limehouse where we passed the boarded up Passmore Edwards library and remains of Limehouse Town Hall.

An old disused viaduct near Mudchute which crossed a park.

The bus heads down onto the Isle of Dogs to Canary Wharf station where we arrived at 1404 and then after heading east the bus swung around to head west to wriggle south eventually to Island Gardens and then back east and the north and west finally to reach the ASDA at Crossharbour at 1426.

The No 135 having arrived at ASDA
starting to change its destination blind.

The flats of docklands behind the bus.

Looking north towards Docklands.

DLR train arriving at Crossharbour station.

To get home I took the DLR from Crossharbour to Lewisham, and there I caught the 1444 train to Elmers End which arrived at 1507 and was supposed to be ending at Hayes but was curtailed owing to lateness. At this stage I caught the tram to Wandle Park and walked home.

Day eighty three the 132, 133 and part of the 134

After a break of three weeks I was aboard the 1120 to West Croydon where I changed to the 1130 towards Highbury and Islington and changed at Canada Water for the Jubilee line to North Greenwich which was achieved at 1211.

The bus station stop at North Greenwich

London General E51 at North Greenwich bus station

At the bus station here I boarded London General's E51 which provided the No 132 route and we left at 1222. The bus runs through Millenium East to the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road and then runs along this southeast towards the Sun in the Sands roundabout. Through Kidbrooke the bus route turns onto the Rochester Way towards Eltham and we reached Eltham High Street at 1249.

Well Hall Road with a No 132 approaching

From Eltham the bus route heads due east through Blackfen which was John's home for many years and indeed the No 132 was a bus utilised by John and Debbie on many occasions.

Approaching Blackfen from Eltham

Blackfen crossroads

Blackfen shops

Gwillim Close Blackfen, John's home for many years and initial marital home with Debbie

My co-travellers noticed with incredulity as we drove through Bexley that the car in front kept stopping so pedestrians could cross the road even though these people weren't waiting at crossings. They announced it is so 'villagey' around here.

The Kings Head in Bexley, surely that king is not XV century!

We arrived at the Bexleyheath terminus at 1324.

Journey's end at Bexleyheath

From here I quickly crossed the road to catch a B15 to Bexleyheath station.

A pair of class 465s heading for London at Bexleyheath station

At Bexleyheath station I just missed one train that was going to Charing Cross but it then occurred to me that as the next train was for Victoria and thus I could change at Peckham Rye for Streatham. So I boarded the 1342 and changed at Peckham Rye at 1409 for the 1411 to Beckenham Junction. I then changed at Tulse Hill and caught the 1426 Thameslink train to Streatham station where we arrived at 1430.

The layover point at Streatham railway station 

The No 133 starts from just around the corner from the station as did the No 60 and I will also be there later to catch the No 159. Arriva provided the service with Hybrid HV20 which I boarded at 1434. The route mirrors a number of routes I had already used and as with those, the transit of Streatham High Road was painfully slow and it was 1455 before we had reached the old Brixton Hill tram depot. The bus runs straight on through Brixton and on to Elephant and Castle and reached London Bridge at 1536. Despite the roadworks at the northern end of the bridge we still only took a further ten minutes to reach the terminus of the bus route at Great Winchester Street at 1545.

Looking west down the Thames as we crossed London Bridge
with a class 376 crossing to/from Cannon Street and with cargo ship
Polla Rose on the river.

The more usual bus type on the No 133 the HA of Arriva at London Bridge

A bus route now set for the chop, the No 48

Another No 133 this time in Threadneedle Street

Old Broad Street from
atop my No 133

Terminus of the bus route at Great Winchester Street, across the road from Liverpool Street

Just by the bus stop for the No 8 was this sign. The sign top right refers to the comments below:

Metropolitan Streets Act 1867 which limited obstructions on road or footway, any advertisements or driving of cattle through the streets!

I walked briskly to Old Broad Street and boarded a No 8 heading for Tottenham Court Road. There has been a change in buses used on the No 25 with 2019 registered buses now much in evidence and also they were terminating at City Thameslink rather than heading on to Oxford Circus. On arrival at St Giles Circus there were No 38 and No 19 buses in profusion and it appears that the bottom of Tottenham Court Road and Charing Cross Road were closed to buses. I was a little concerned there would be difficulty in finding the No 134 starting point. Later I found this was all down to the Extinction Rebellion protests and a boat was blocking the road.

Centre Point near
Tottenham Court Road
station

Almost brand new Metroline bus providing the No 134 service

 The Metroline operated No 134 starts in Tottenham Court Road just north of the Dominion Theatre. However, with the No 73 buses also terminating here rather than at Oxford Circus it made it difficult to find whether I was waiting at the correct bus stop. However when VMH2580 arrived the bus driver got off to have a smoke saying he would be leaving in about 5 minutes.

To be fair it was exactly five minutes after arrival he departed at 1620. There was very slow moving traffic, however, and after 20 minutes we still hadn't reached Warren Street tube. The reason travel was so slow was evident when we finally neared Euston Road and only one lane of the three was usable whilst the rest of the road was being resurfaced.

New tarmac being laid and north end of Tottenham Court Road

Robert Street just to the west of Euston railway station

I decided that having reached Euston Road at 1643 I had better alight soon and so I thought Robert Street would be appropriate. I therefore left the bus there at 1645 with the intention to resume the journey next time from the same point which is conveniently located near Euston Station.

From here I was able to catch the Victoria line to Victoria station and the 1716 Sutton train home arriving just after six PM.