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