Day 86 The No 137 Brixton to Marble Arch and down to Bromley for the No 138

I left for London on the 1230 train but alighting at West Croydon for a train via Crystal Palace I had almost 20 minutes to wait and even then the train dwellt at Crystal Palace for 4 minutes so it took until 1320 to reach Streatham Hill. I then walked to Brixton garage which is where the No 137 turns around. On approach there appeared to be a bus ready to leave but this didn't leave prior to another which was 'Borismaster' LT954.

Approaching Brixton bus garage with an ex Arriva the Shires training bus in foreground 

The expected No 137 LT976 with nose visible

My actual mount LT954 appeared from within the bowels of the garage.

The bus left at 1332, initially towards London on the A23 but soon turned left past where the No 45 and No 57 had come to a halt earlier in my journeys. Beyond this the bus took Kings Avenue: a road which I used to cycle up on my return from work in an endeavour to avoid the much busier Brixton Hill. Once Clapham Park Road was reached the bus turned west and headed for Clapham Common and followed the same route I had used on the No 35 and No 37.

Crossing Clapham Common with the Horse Chestnut in bloom

 When Clapham Common was crossed we encountered roadworks which made for slow traffic for a while until the bus turned right into Cedars Road on the northwest side of the common. This road becomes Queenstown Road and then after passing Battersea Park station the bus runs beside the park itself before crossing the Thames at Chelsea Bridge.

Crossing the Thames on Chelsea Bridge

By this time it was 1400 and as we entered Central London progress became inevitably slower. After this the bus heads to Sloane Square and then up Sloane Street where there were some more roadworks before reaching Knightsbridge and turning east at 1414.

LT954 leaving bus top to layover in front of March Arch

LT954 now at layover point

From here the bus ran to Hyde Park Corner and then up Park Lane to terminate at Marble Arch at 1419.

To reach the next bus in the sequence in Bromley I needed to get a train from Victoria and to do this I caught a No 390 from the opposite side of Park Lane. The next train to Bromley South was the 1455 to Ashford International so this I boarded allowing arrival at Bromley by 1515. The bus starts from Bromley North so I walked up the High Street, deviated into the Nat West bank and reached the bus stop outside the station where I have previously caught the No 61 and No 119. There was a thirteen minute wait for the bus and at 1544 Metrobus 159 stopped to permit me to board for the 22 minute journey to Coney Hall.

Layover point for many buses, on view are No's 367,119, 146 and 354

London General (Metrobus) 159 approaching the bus stop

 Despite having seen this bus on many occasions for at least fifty years I can't remember any occasion when I caught it and can't think why I would have done.

From the bottom of Bromley High Street the bus takes the entirety of Westmoreland Road before turning left into Pickhurst Lane which lead to arrival in Hayes High Street at 1600. From here the bus follows the route 119 to the roundabout at the bottom of Glebe Way where it turns left along the A232 for a while before heading right into Kingsway where there was only half the road width available.
I was unsure where the bus actually finished and this became increasingly clear as we made a circuit of the various roads in the estate, briefly touching Layhams Road before heading north down Birchtree Avenue. This road and the previous, Sylvan Way were announced as a hail and ride section but it was as the descent of the former that the bus destination changed to Bromley North.

End of hail and ride section

Bus obviously heading back to Bromley North

Thus the bus does not really come to an end point but goes around and then straight back to Bromley. I would have alighted at the shops in Kingsway but was told that bus stop was closed owing to the roadworks so got off the bus at the next stop by the Glebe Way roundabout at 1614.

The bus now returning towards Hayes and the Bromley North

Here I crossed the road and caught the No 119 home. I had thought about walking to Biggin Hill but realising that the trams were not running from New Addington owing to a strike I thought it best to go straight home.