Day 94 back to the East end for the No 147 and then to Shepherds Bush for the No 148.

Once the year 9 RS exams had been invigilated it was home to catch the 1135 train to London Bridge in order to take the Jubilee line to Canning Town where I arrived at 1217.

Canning Town bus station

London General E176 arriving to take me to Ilford

Amongst the Kier Hardie estate was this park

The No 147 leaves from the Canning Town Bus station and I was aboard London General's E176  at 1221. Unlike other buses I have caught from here, this bus turns south out of the Canning Town bus station but soon heads east into the Kier Hardie Estate.

The new Elizabeth line station at Custom
House with tracks coming out of tunnel just before it

Destination display showing Abbey Wood

After winding around the estate the route runs parallel with the DLR past Custom House with the rebuilt platforms looking ready for the Elizabeth line service with the destinations Abbey Wood, Heathrow T5, Paddington and Reading on the display with the imminent trains, presumably imaginary.

Destination display says Heathrow Terminal 5, Paddington and Reading

At Prince Regent the route turns away from the river towards Plaistow and then at Barking Road the bus routes heads back past The Boleyn Tavern at 1240 and on to East Ham. I noticed that the stop after was called Arragon Road and then Katherine Street, very relevant to our Tudor history. After travelling up East Ham High Street, where I followed a No 104, the bus turned right along Gladstone Avenue. This was a narrow road which when a No 147 came from the other direction made transit difficult. This continued to be an issue as we traversed Browning Road and reached the 'Goblin line' bridge where there was a Class 37 approaching from Barking.

Crossing the bridge over the Gospel Oak to Barking line.

Beyond this the bus headed towards Romford Road and then went into Ilford at 1309 under the North Circular Road. At 1313 after running around the Redbridge Central library and Museum again the bus terminated at the Hainault Road stop.

Arrival at Hainault Road Ilford

From here I made my way to Ilford station and having just missed a Liverpool Street train caught the one ten minutes later at 1329 to get me to Stratford. From here a Jubilee line took me to Bond Street and there I change for a Central line to take me to Shepherds Bush.

LT128 providing my service to South London at Shepherds Bush Green

 I walked around the corner  towards Shepherds Bush Green and waited at bus stop X for a No 148 to approach which should take me to Camberwell Green.  At 1504 LT128 a 'Borismaster' of RATP took me east towards Marble Arch and we arrived at Notting Hill Gate station at 1513. As we were approaching Marble Arch there was an announcement that the destination of the bus had changed and it would be terminating at Elephant and Castle.

Original London Sight Seeing Company bus in Park Lane after rounding Marble Arch

At Buckingham Palace there was another announcement that 'this bus is now on diversion' and we were informed the bus would go down Vauxhall Bridge Road to the Albert Embankment and turn left to Lambeth Palace past the Imperial War Museum to regain the normal route at St Giles Circus.

Ahead the bus would normally turn left along Victoria Street
 but because of the climate change protesters in Westminster
the bus went straight on into Vauxhall Bridge Road

We left at 1540 from the bus stop at the back of the Apollo Victoria and soon became involved in very slow moving traffic. The climate change protesters at parliament were blocking the bus's usual route and many other vehicles were similarly trying to cross Vauxhall Bridge as Westminster bridge was blocked.

Foreign parts for a No 148

At 1600 we were yet to cross Vauxhall Bridge, but we soon picked up speed once we had turned left at Vauxhall Cross. However, another hold up was encountered at the roundabout by Lambeth Palace and the Garden Museum.

Lambeth Bridge from the SW where the No 148 shouldn't be!

At 1614 we were finally back on the usual route at St Giles Circus and the bus terminated at the next stop, Elephant and Castle London Road at 1618. I took a ticket from the driver to ensure I could get on the next bus for free.

Where the bus terminated

The next No 148 also terminated

Finally I was able to board LT143

However, the next No 148 which arrived at 1630 also terminated at Elephant and Castle.  So it was the following LT143 that finally conveyed me onward at 1638, and deposited me at Camberwell Green at 1651.

Arrival at Camberwell Green I hour and 47 minutes after departure

To get home from here I waited for a No 68 to take me to Tulse Hill station where from Platorm 4 I took the 1734 to Selhurst and from there took the 1658 heading for Epsom Downs.

Day ninety three the bus No 146 from Bromley to Downe.

This being a Thursday my wife and I played table tennis in Caterham first before driving to a church in Sanderstead where my wife was attending a fashion event. From here I walked from 1240-1255 to Selsdon High Street to catch a No 64 to Addington tram interchange. Once arrived here I changed to a No 353 to Hayes Iceland and then boarded a No 119 at 1336 to Bromley North. As we passed Norman Park we saw a No 146 heading towards Downe and at this stage I assumed I would be nicely in time for the bus following half an hour later.

On arrival at Bromley North I found out the service was but hourly.

However this was not to be as I subsequently found out that the bus service was hourly, the poorest level of service I had encountered hitherto. It was, however, obvious when I used the bus why this was indeed adequate provision.

The driver next to his bus in the distance

Once again at the bus stop where I had
caught the Nos 119 and 138 and stopped when
aboard the No 126

Stagecoach 36325 arriving to convey me to Downe

Like the No 138 this is a bus I had never used before even when I lived only two miles from it, for the first twenty six years of my life. If we went to Downe we either cycled or walked!
The Stagecoach Dart 36325 arrived exactly on time at 1433 and headed down to Bromley High Street where most of the passengers boarded. At 1442 we passed the spot where I had previously seen a No 146 to Downe and when I arrived at the terminus the bus driver informed me the service is run by the 'one engine in steam' principle, so it would have been the same bus I had seen.

The reflection in the windows made taking photographs aboard the bus hopeless-so here we are on Hayes Common

Once through Hayes we were into the countryside of Hayes Common, with its purple heather, by 1446 and then we passed the Keston Fox and its still extant post office in its 'shed.' We passed a No 246 coming the other way which is a half hourly service to Westerham via Biggin Hill and by this time only two persons were being conveyed.

Holwood Farm: this location, was where our milk in Farnborough came from,when I was a child.

The Queens Head Downe which was the site of my first encounter
with alcoholic beverages with the rest of the 1st Farnborough patrol leaders!

The other passenger alighted in Downe High Street which did not show any evidence of shops remaining and the bus terminated at Downe Church at 1454.

When I was a child cycling through Downe, the No 146 was a double deck AEC Regent from Bromley Garage.
The modern replacement has considerably fewer seats. Two people boarded for the return journey.

This was the village pond: the willow tree, the depression and associated growth
 is all that gives that away.

It was whilst walking across this field that I heard the Yellowhammer

The bus had just missed connecting with the No R8 service that could have taken me to Biggin Hill. The next one of those was an hour and a half away. Thus it seemed sensible to walk, and heading for Luxted Lane after the pond I reached a footpath totally crammed with year sixes from a local primary school. Eventually they cleared and I could actually start my cross country ramble.

A path through Oil Seed Rape

This took me through fields of Oil Seed Rape, Wheat and sometimes just grass. It was lovely to hear a Yellowhammer singing its characteristic call.

Spitfire landing over the treetops

I went across the Golf course and up to the airfield boundary fence where I then had to walk around the north of the runway and then SW across a wheat field; the pathway nicely laid out for the most part.

Walking around the north end of the runway towards a crash gate were these poppies on the edge of the wheat field 

On the NW side of the golf course was a number of these Orchids (anacamptis pyramidalis).

I followed the footpath through the wheat unlike a certain ex prime minister. A path I have taken many times over the years.

Looking back from the highest point in the wheat field the city of London was visible, Biggin Hill airfield being 610 feet AMSL near this point.

Once I had walked to the other end of the runway I boarded a No 464 bus to New Addington at 1653 and caught a tram home that was waiting for us when we arrived at 1707.

Day 92 Trip to Muswell Hill for the No 144 and then to Leytonstone for the No 145.

After purchasing a renewal for our two persons railcard I caught the 1150 to Balham and there changed to the Northern line at 1213. From that train I changed to the Victoria line at 1223 at Stockwell and from there travelled to Euston where I changed at 1238 back to the Northern line so as to get the nearest I could to Muswell Hill; thus I alighted at Highgate. From Highgate Priory Gardens side I walked up to Wood Lane / Highate station stop and at 1254 caught a No 134 bus to Muswell Hill.

The No 144 waits around the roundabout for its next duty as does the No 299.

Hybrid Volvo of Arriva London formed my mount to Edmonton HV49

The bus left Muswell Hill at 1305 and headed downhill to the east southeast, as indeed do most routes head downhill from that roundabout. This bus took almost a straight line through Hornsey to Turnpike Lane and as we approached the bridge under the LNER a new IET passed and also one of the class 313s on their 'last legs'.

Dropping down the road called Muswell Hill

At Turnpike Lane having done a pirouette around the bus station the bus ran north to Wood Green Shopping City which took ten minutes to transit from south to north. The bus turned right at the Underground station and took me past the Wood Green Crown Court that we visited at the Open Day on Good Friday. Beyond this we turned right from Lordship Lane into the Roundway and north up the Great Cambridge Road to the North Circular where we arrived at 1347. From here we followed the Routes 34 and 102 to Silver Street railway station and then turned north along Upper and Lower Fore Street to reach Edmonton Green which was at 1403.

Edmonton Green bus station with a 'Borismaster' from the No 149 route I will be doing shortly

From here I had to decide how to reach the next bus route. I had planned to get a train from Tottenham Hale to Stratford. At the bus station a No 192 was indicated as arriving soon and this would take me to Tottenham Hale station and this arrived at 1406. This route was very convoluted taking Plevna Road and Town road which were in quite the wrong direction but once we reached Montague Road the bus resumed going in the desired direction. After a little circuit near Angel Road station we joined a much faster road that headed south past Northumberland Park underground with a brief stop at a Tesco which arrived at Tottenham Hale station at 1429. However, on arrival the next Stratford train was not for 26 minutes so tried bus instead and quickly caught an Ilford bound No 123. As the bus reached Blackhorse Road there was a new 'Goblin line' train, which I could have caught to Leytonstone High Road but the doors shut just as the bus stopped and as it is a 1/2 hour service I chose to stay on the bus. After the bus had run along Forest Road to Wood Street library I disembarked and walked around the corner to catch a No W16 which came at 1454. This bus was timed to take 26 minutes according to the bus stop and it actually did. I reacquainted myself with Bakers Arms and Hainault Road where I took the wife for a filming job. Finally we reached Leytonstone Underground station at 1520. 

The east side of Leytonstone Underground station with
Stagecoach London 10321 awaiting departure

The No 145 starts from the other side of the station at the same stop as the No 66. Stagecoach London 10321 departed at 1528 and was booked to take 80 minutes. 

Original entrance to the library with a much brasher modern one around the corner

Passing the original library entrance at the end of Church Lane we turned left and headed up Leytonstone High Road to the Green Man roundabout and then left along Cambridge Park to Wanstead tube station which is parallel to the new route of the A12.

After Wanstead tube the bus joins the A12 at the bus stop called Nutter Lane and then after the usual slow traffic where the A12 meets the A406 it was onto Redbridge station. Unlike the No 66 which continues along Eastern Avenue this bus turns quite quickly right along The Drive and makes its way to Ilford where we arrived at 1559. The bus wriggled its way through Ilford town leaving it about 1607 to go down Green Lane which it shares with the No 128 and the No 150. However, the bus turns right down South Park Drive, the only bus route to do so, and then reached Barking Stagecoach bus depot where drivers were exchanged betwixt 1619 and 1622. The bus turned left past the depot along Longbridge Road and is shared with the No 5. We caught up with SE118 of London General on route No 364 which was previously seen at Ilford but after turning right into Porters Avenue, that bus turned Left down Parsloes Avenue. We headed SW for a time before going south down Gale Street past Becontree station where heavy rain was encountered. Indeed, throughout the journey patchy rain had meant that I could not take photos from the front of the bus. 

Along Hedgemans Road the bus took us to a dual carriageway via Church Lane. The bus turns left and takes a 360 deg turn around the roundabout and then heads the other way down Ballards Road. From here the bus turned right into New Road and then Ripple Lane before taking a right down towards Dagenham Dock station and then round to the right to finally terminate at Dagenham Asda at 1701.

Stagecoach London 10321
at ASDA Dagenham

I caught the same bus to Dagenham Dock station as it was leaving in three minutes
after my stop for toilet and lunch.

The view from the bridge at Dagenham Dock station. There were two Southeast Javelin trains which passed on the tracks to the left and further over are freight tracks with the A13 above.

The journey back from Dagenham Dock was a fast train to Limehouse: a class 357 and at Limehouse I changed to a DLR train to go one stop west to Shadwell. 

Class 357 at Limehouse, previously Stepney East

View from C2C platform of DLR platforms and queue of cars waiting to enter the Rotherhithe Tunnel below.

Here I caught the London Overground to West Croydon arriving at 1818

Day Ninety One, once again to Brent Cross for the No 143.

It was Saturday so therefore thought I might as well go straight through Zone 1 to Brent Cross. Thus arriving at 1359 at London Bridge I caught the Northern line Edgware branch train to Brent Cross where I alighted at 1436. I then repeated the walk to the shopping centre over and around all the concrete and the Dollis Brook to board my No 143.

The No 143 in the midst of many others laying
 over in Brent Cross bus station.

This bus service is run by Metroline and Enduro Dart DE957 departed the shopping centre at 1452. The bus heads north through Hendon where progress was slow initially, but by 1514 having turned right for Middlesex University we were in Finchley Regent's Park Road. The traffic was again slow here for a while and I then noticed the next stop displayed within the bus had been St Mary's Ave for at least ten minutes and the audio describing had stopped on the bus.

London Borough of Barnet's road sensor at East End Road

It took until we were passing Finchley cemetary before the bus started naming stops again and the matrix box said anywhere other than St Mary's Ave, which was at about 1525.

Fair in the Square Highgate

From East Finchley the bus takes the right fork to Highgate and here was an event called Fair in the Square which again caused somewhat of a hold up and we finally arrived at Archway at 1548.

DE957 having arriving at Archway

To get home I took the Northern line direct to Balham and then changed to the Southern railway train home, which just happened to be a train from Milton Keynes which I had caught to catch the No 142 to Brent Cross earlier in the week.

Day 90 to the far NW on the No 142

I started the journey on the 1200 train to Clapham Junction. My initial thought was to catch the London Overground to Brondesbury and the bus from there to Brent Cross. However, I just missed that train so chose the catch the Southern train at 1239 to Wembley Central. Outside the No 182 bus at 1315 took me to Brent Cross Shopping Centre where I arrived at 1352.

My conveyance from Wembley moving on after
 depositing me at Brent Cross Shopping Centre

My future No 142 RATP ADE40406 at Brent Cross Shopping Centre next to a No 143

I could see RATP's ADE40406 resting next to a Metroline No 143 prior to their next duty and at 1400 ADE40406 arrived to take me to Watford Junction.

The destination board is still turning, showing Edgware as it approaches the stop

The bus uses the A5 for the first half of the journey. There was one lane out of use for roadworks which caused a delay for a while as we reached West Hendon. We progressed more quickly after this but it was becoming increasingly wet and was therefore not possible to take photographs during the bus journey.

Staples Corner where the bus chooses to take the A5

At 1418 we passed the road called Grove Park where my wife's last library job was situated at the Village School and we then headed through Burnt Oak to Edgware. On reaching Edgware the bus turned right and headed to the bus station which was achieved at 1436. By 1441 we were back on the A5 heading NW out of Edgware, but travel up this road was arrested as the bus turned left at the roundabout and stopped at Stanmore Underground station where we arrived at 1448.

After the bus had stopped an announcement was made that the bus was being diverted away from its usual route and the next stop would be Common Road. Instead of taking Stanmore Hill the bus headed west along Church Road then Uxbridge Road to a roundabout with Clamp Hill. The bus took Clamp Hill which according to my bus map has no bus service, however, there were bus stops for the No 640 school bus service. The bus turned right into Common Road and then at the next traffic lights turned left to rejoin the normal route of the No 142 into Bushey at 1500 and then into Watford at 1510 to finally reach Watford Junction station at 1518.

Watford Junction bus station with Arriva bus No 10 to left whilst
to the right is the shuttle service to Harry Potter film studios

After a look around Watford in the rain I found the bus stop for the No 258 and caught this to Harrow and Wealdstone station. I arrived with only 8 minutes to wait for the 1700 East Croydon train via Kensington Olympia and having alighted at Selhurst caught the Epsom Downs train running 3 minutes behind this.