Day 110 finishing off the No 176

In order to complete this route I had to make my way back to Elephant and Castle. This was effected by catching a tram from Wandle Park to Mitcham Junction at 1207 and then the 1225 to St Albans. Thus I arrived back at Elephant and Castle at 1248 and made my way to the stop I had alighted from the previous Saturday.

A No 148 at the bus stop I had alighted at earlier on the No 176

London General's EH48 of Camberwell garage

The weather was very showery with some intense downpours out of Cumulonimbus cloud. I had a little wait until my No 176 hove into view. This time it was London General's EH48 which departed at 1258.

The bus takes the Walworth Road and at the Medlar Street stop paused for 3 minutes, from 1307 to 1310 whilst drivers were exchanged- since this is the nearest stop to Camberwell garage. The bus carries straight on into Denmark Hill and there was a width restriction just after we had crossed Camberwell Green which meant we did not reach King's College and Maudsley Hospitals until 1315.

The Salvation Army college housing their museum

The bus turns left just after the hospital passing the huge Salvation Army building which houses their museum and wends it way to descend Dog Kennel Hill past East Dulwich Sainsbury's where I had disembarked from a No 42 a long time ago now. This road takes us into Lordship Lane which at times was slow progress owing to parking on both sides of the road which made passing the frequent buses coming the other way difficult at times.

London General's one off tri-axle bus TA1

As we passed Dulwich library at 1333 the experimental TA1 bus with 3 axles was plying the No 12 route on the other side of the road. This road took us to the South Circular which was painfully slow where there weren't bus lanes provided. On the west side of the gardens of Horniman Museum there is a wooden edifice made of old railway sleepers containing coal which was exactly in the place of the Crystal Palace High Level branch railway which closed in 1954. After the stop for Forest Hill station the bus turned right down Dartmouth road past the swimming pools and library and a Edwardian building with 'GIRLS HOME' chiselled above the windows.

Typical of much of the journey-rain streaming down the windows
made for difficult photography but this is to show that the No 176
route also is covered by 'Borismasters'. This shot is in Kirkdale.

At the end of this road we turned right into Kirkdale and headed for Sydenham. As we reached Sydenham High Street we were told the bus was on diversion and we could see why since Lawrie Park Road was closed. The bus was therefore forced to climb Westwood Hill but because the left turning into Crystal Palace Park Road was too sharp it had to do a complete turn around the roundabout at Fountain Drive and then head back whence it had cometh.

The diverted No 176 being followed by a No 227 and No 122 both on their correct routes climbing Westwood Hill.

Once we had descended Crystal Palace Park Road we regained the normal route just before Penge West station which was passed at 1404. After a run to the lights at the police station the bus turned right and terminated at The Pawleyne Arms at 1408. That's 70 minutes from Elephant and Castle and my previous bus had taken 34 minutes to reach there, so 104 minutes all told.

 EH48 at journey's end

EH48 heading up the road to layover before
its mammoth journey back
to Tottenham Court Road

What looks as if it was
a bricked up entrance
to the northbound platform at Penge West

Is this the remains of the pathway
on the southbound platform
to the road at Penge West?

I then walked to Penge West station and caught a Smitham train to Norwood Junction and then an Epsom train home.

Day one hundred and nine The No 174, 175 and start of the No 176

My journey today was rather protracted as having taken a No 410 to West Croydon with the intention of catching a London Overground train to Canada Water. However, engineering works meant there were no trains towards New Cross Gate and thus I had to take a Victoria bound train at 1047 but unfortunately this train goes the long way round via Crystal Palace. I alighted at Balham at 1112 and boarded a Northern line train to London Bridge where I arrived at 1135. Here I had to get the Jubilee line train to Stratford that I should have erstwhile caught at Canada Water. My arrival at Stratford meant I just missed the 1157 to Shenfield so had to wait for the next train the 1207, which was of the new Crossrail stock. This train deposited me at Harold Wood at 1232. I walked to the nearby bus stop and found a No 496 waiting to go to Romford and although I could see it went to the starting point of the No 174, I could not find the No 174 on the map. I thus had a brainstorm and thought my map was probably out of date-it had been for other bus routes, so turning around I caught the next train back to Romford at 1248. So at 1300 I was aboard a No 174 heading for Harold Hill Dagnam Park Square.

Finally arrived at my starting point 3 1/2 hours after leaving home

My mount to Dagenham CEME Stagecaoach

19714

I finally arrived at the starting point of the No 174 at 1328 and boarded Stagecoach 19714 at 1332. The bus route runs one way around Leaminton Road and Dagnam Park Drive and therefore by doing what I did I covered all of the route.
Once on Straight Road the route becomes the only one for a short spell but generally around the area there is a multiplicity of routes criss-crossing the estates. Approaching Gallows Corner, where there was almost a crash earlier, as I was heading towards my start point.

Gallows Corner where the Southen Arterial Road splits from the A12

Passing another No 174 as we reach Gidea Park

The bus ran through Gidea Park and then we were approaching Romford once again at 1352.

At Romford railway station with a No 175 coming the other way

After Romford station the bus follows the same route as the No 103 along Oldchurch Lane and then left down Crow Lane. However, at Rush Green the bus crosses straight over at the lights and takes Dagenham Lane past Dagenham and Barking college and then Eastbrook Country Park.

The Chase! Dagenham Heathway version

Atop the bridge at Dagenham Heathway Underground
 station looking south to the river 

The bus crossed into Oxlow Lane at 1420 which takes the route to join the route Nos 173 and 175. The bus then turned left into Heathway past Dagenham Heathway Underground station and back we went to the old A13 where the bus turned left unlike the No 173. The bus passed a McDonald's where I could see the No 175 had its terminal point but then carried on east to Marsh Lane where the bus turned right across the old A13, rose above Highspeed 1 and then under the new A13 dual carriageway to CEME Dagenham where I arrived at 1435.

My mount now going out of service to the depot after arrival

The starting point from CEME Dagenham

CEME Dagenham, quite busy for a Saturday pm

The tracks for HighSpeed 1 and the C2C line to Southend

The layover point for the No 175, Oval road South.

In order to get from the end of the No 174 to the start of the No 175 it was necessary to walk back under the A13 and over High Speed 1.  As I got back to the old A13 a No 174 drew alongside and I was able to board this to take me to the Ballards Lane stop where I could cross the road to catch a No 175.

Arriva's T78 approaching to take me to Hillrise Estate north of Romford

   The bus arrived at 1502 and as the timetable told me it should take ten minutes less than the Route No 174  the bus should arrive at the destination before 4PM. It was quite a quick return to the route back past Dagenham Heathway station but this bus had very dirty windows and it was also drizzling so photography was not easy.

That is a No 173 in front at Dagenham Heathway station

I thought I'd take a snap of all three consecutive bus routes if possible and this was the best I could achieve through the murk and drizzle.

The No 173 operated by Arriva and the No 174 by Stagecoach just over the rise from the station

By 1513 we were no longer being accompanied by route No 174 as that turns off to the right as we head up Heathway towards Becontree Heath Leisure Centre with the route No 173. The No 173 goes straight on at the leisure centre but our bus turned right and then forked left at the university to enter the London Borough of Havering at Rush Green at 1521.  After a while we reached a crossroads with traffic lights and a No 174 crossed in front of us. The No 175 continued straight on towards Romford and in Rom Valley Way turned into Queen's Hospital. From here the bus runs back into Romford town centre where I had earlier snapped it from the No 174. The bus left the pedestrianised area at 1535 and then headed north to North Street bus garage and across the A12 at 1542 towards Colliers Row initially before taking the third exit at the roundabout into Chase Cross Road.

Arriva's T78 at journey's end

A view towards the city of London whilst awaiting my return to Romford

The bus takes a left up Avelon Road  and up Hillrise Road to arrive at the terminus at 1551.

I then took the bus in front, a much cleaner DW of Arriva back to Romford at 1600 and as with the No 174, doing out and back on the same route meant I covered all of the one way section of the route. I was back at the railway station to catch another Crossrail class 345, this time to Liverpool Street. From there I caught the Central line to Tottenham Court Road and was ready at 1721 in St Giles Road to catch a No 176 to Penge.

WHV195 of London General at layover

The bus was waiting quite a while before it moved and as it did the destination changed to Sydenham. Nevertheless I boarded London General's WHV195 at 1733. Progress was really slow owing to the quantity of pedestrians thronging Charing Cross Road which meant we failed to get through traffic lights before they changed to red on many occasions. It took a full ten minutes to reach St Martins-in- the-Fields which is walking pace and The Strand was not a great deal better. However, at least when we reached the end of The Strand the bus turns right onto Waterloo Bridge rather than doing a circuit of the Aldwych. Waterloo station was achieved at 1756, 23 minutes since we started and I decided to abort the trip at 1607 when I had reached Elephant and Castle.

Another picture in the dark at Elephant and Castle

From here I took the Northern line to Balham and then caught the second train from platform one. This was not pointed out in any way by staff  that it would get me home earlier than the first, as it did not travel via Crystal Palace but by Norbury.

Day 108, the missing part of the No 172 and the No 173

Today got off to a late start owing to our trip to Gatwick Airport with our son to take him to a zoo educators' meeting at Edinburgh Zoo. So after we had gone back to bed for a bit it was the 1150 train that I caught to Balham. The Northern line conveyed me from thence to Elephant and Castle where I was able to rejoin the No 172 route we had exited on Saturday.

Back at the same bus stop at Elephant and Castle

London General's EH180 

I duly boarded London General's EH180 at 1239 which headed up London Road to St George's Circus then along Waterloo Road past the station and across Waterloo Bridge to terminate at the Aldwych Drury Lane stop at 1251.

Running around the Imax

At the Aldwych all of twelve minutes after boarding

Disembarkation at the Aldwych

I decided the quickest way to reach the No 173 was to walk to Holborn Underground station and take a Central line westbound to Newbury Park.  I was really lucky with the timing of this being on the platform one minute before a Newbury Park terminating service was due. The literature said it should take 31 minutes but having boarded at 1301 we reached Newbury Park at 1335.

The Great Eastern Railway origins of this station are evident in the
support brackets for the canopies at Newbury Park

Looking down the platform to an approaching Central line train from Central London

After a brief comfort stop as I left the station there was a No 396 outside destination King George's Hospital which was exactly where I had to go. The bus left at 1338 and reached the destination at 1347 just as Arriva T187 was leaving its layover point to commence route No 173. A quick change was thus effected but this made it impossible to photograph the bus before boarding.

Wending our way through King George's Hospital on the No 173

The route took me initially back the way I had just come from Little Heath but there it struck out to the East along Chadwell Heath Lane which later became SE. On arrival at Chadwell Heath the bus route does a strange circuit around a triangle with what was the police station but is now a Wetherspoons pub within it.

What must have originally been Chadwell Heath police station. POLICE is chiselled into the parapets above the windows

 Again heading east for a while I was following the same route I had done before on the Nos 62 and 86. The bus turns south once more when it reaches Whalebone Lane which took us back to the Becontree Leisure Centre and as we entered Wood Lane we joined the No 175 route. The bus then forks left down Heathway and part way along this road the No 174 joins forces along with the No 175 down to the old A13. Here these bus routes part company with the No 173 heading west along Ripple Road and then Alfred's Way just over half an hour after departure at 1422.

Three sequential bus routes on the Heathway Dagenham

Running along the road after Dagenham entertainment centre we pass these statues with Bobby Moore in the middle holding the World Cup

There was quite a hold up as we reached the junction to turn left towards Beckton and underneath the flyover there had obviously been quite a coming together of vehicles.

London General's SE102 has collided with a car underneath the A13 whilst on bus route No 300

Beckton DLR station

The Beckton bus terminus opposite the DLR station

Arriva's T187 at Beckton

It was quite a swift run on to Beckton station where we terminated at 1443. I then crossed the road to catch a DLR train to Canning Town, there to change to a Jubilee line to Canary Wharf and there another DLR from Heron Quays station to Lewisham and homeward.

Day one hundred and seven, most of the No 172.

It seemed like a good way of doing this bus was to utilise it to get to Islington to see a play on a Saturday evening. Therefore we caught the 1750 train to West Croydon in order to catch a train to Honor Oak Park.

Aboard a London Overground class 378-Charmaine already deep in a book!

This train arrived at the latter station at 1720 and then we walked to Brockley Rise where I had passed the turning point of the No 172 when aboard the No 171 earlier in the week.

The next No 172 laying over to run around the corner later.

EH187 with another route that starts from Brockley Rise the P12

EH187 of London General departed from Brockley Rise at exactly 1730 and the route plan on the bus stop suggested the entire journey should take 38 minutes to the Aldwych. This would be ample time to get to the King's Head Theatre for 1900 and initially the bus progressed quite swiftly. We passed the Brockley Jack at 1732 and apart from a brief hold up again at Crofton Park railway station bridge were soon on to Brockley station where we arrived at 1739. Until we reached New Cross garage we were following exactly the same route as the No 171 and although an ambulance was blocking the bus lane just at the A2/A20 junction we still reached the garage 15 minutes after departure. So far so good! Especially as the bus drivers did not exchange this time.

Disembarkation at Elephant and Castle.

From the garage the No 172 takes the A2 route rather than the way the No 171 travels through Peckham. This route becomes the Old Kent route and at 1758 I was back at the the Old Kent Road Tesco where I had disembarked the No 168. Beyond here the bus took the New Kent Road after the Bricklayers Arms junction. By the time we had reached the Elephant and Castle it was 1810 and given we needed to catch the Northern line to Angel Islington and then walk quite a way to reach the theatre, I decided we needed to alight and finish the journey another day.

Day 106, two in south London the Nos 170 and 171.

After a break for invigilating the English and Maths GCSE resits for the sixth form I was able to sally forth from Purley station at 1145. From here I took the 1148 to East Croydon and changed for the 1200 fast train from East Grinstead to Clapham Junction. At Clapham Junction I transferred to platform six where a Hounslow roundabout train at 1218 took me to Barnes. Finally I boarded a No 265 bus to Roehampton Danbury Avenue arriving at 1240. The bus stop at which the No 170 originates is three bus stops down Danbury Avenue and I eventually arrived ready to catch the bus at 1250, having already missed two buses enroute.

The first bus I missed as I was waiting to
cross into Danbury Avenue

The next bus I missed coming up Danbury Avenue 

The bus terminus, will that No 170 wait for me?

Phew yes it has, SE 209 of London General

London General Dart SE 209 departed soon after at 1252 to return back to where I had alighted earlier but the bus heads up the road towards Putney Heath in a similar way to the No 85. The Green Man was reached at 1302 but from here the bus turned right up to Tippits Corner to turn left down West Hill {the A3} into Wandsworth. Initially the bus shares the road with the No 39 and No 493 but by the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability it is the only route which runs straight into Wandsworth.
There were some roadworks at the point just before the Wandsworth one way system but this didn't retard movement of the bus for very long before we were up and running around to Wandsworth Town Hall and then on to Clapham Junction station which was achieved at 1319, just under half an hour's journey. At Arding and Hobbs the bus turns left to run along Falcon Road under the railway tracks before turning abruptly west past the northern entrance to the railway station where we caught up with the previous bus on this service.

Autumn leaves on the London Plane tree whilst we wait in Plough Lane

The bus driver was therefore asked to wait once we had turned right into Plough Lane by the Waylands Estate. We waited from 1324 to 1327 before moving on and turning right into York Road and then left into Lombard Road past Battersea Heliport and into Battersea High Street. At this point 5 minibuses from Thomas Day schools went by-were Prince George and Princess Charlotte on board? I couldn't tell because the windows were all blackened. The road eventually reaches Battersea Bridge Road and it was quite a slow chug across this giving me time to photograph the high astronomical tide which had flooded Venice that day.

High Tide 4.08M at Chelsea at 1415, this was 1345, the next tide was the highest at 4.35M

Approaching high tide at Albert Bridge

The bus turned right at the end of the bridge along the Albert Embankment before taking a left past the Chelsea Physic Garden, National Army Museum and then the Royal Hospital Chelsea war pensioners hospital. The extension of this road took us to Buckingham Palace Road just South of Victoria Coach |Station and the bus then turned up the said road to end in Victoria railway station bus station at 1352.

SE209 has arrived at Victoria bus station

Bus leaving to layover before returning to Roehampton

After a brief comfort stop I sought a means to get to Elephant and Castle to board a No 171 to Catford bus garage. It transpired there were two options: the C10 or No 148. I chose the No 148 since when I caught this in its correct position in the list it was diverted down Vauxhall Bridge Road because of 'Extinction Rebellion' protesters outside parliament.

I don't tend to use the middle arch of the Southern side of Victoria where I noticed this map of the pre-grouping LBSCR

I was interested particularly in this section of the map. East Southsea only existed from 1904-1914, and why are the Isle of Wight railways on there when they were independent concerns?

I found the bus stop in Victoria Street and duly caught a London United 'Borismaster' at 1207.

The approach to St Thomas's Hospital with yellow sign stating Westminster Bridge is closed

Victoria Street was clear but we still couldn't follow the correct route as Westminster Bridge was closed so we were diverted left just before Westminster Abbey to cross over Lambeth Bridge. This time though the road was clear to St Thomas's hospital and we regained the normal route at the southern side of Westminster Bridge and reached Elephant and Castle at 1429.

Stop D at Elephant and Castle
 the same stop I had alighted from

London General's EH171, appropriate for route No 171

We must have just missed a No 171 as I had to wait until 1438 for London General's Enduro Hybrid EH171 to pick me up at bus stop D. This route initially followed many I have taken heading along the Walworth Road to Camberwell Green which was reached at 1454. The bus here took Camberwell Church Street which meant again I passed Trotters Reliant Robin outside the Peckham Best Western. The bus reached Peckham library at 1502 and continued from here past Peckham bus station and Queens Road Peckham station to arrive at New Cross bus garage. Here a change of drivers was expedited very quickly and we were on to New Cross Gate. At the next stop I heard but couldn't see a youth being thrown off the bus but the schoolkids on the other side of the bus seemed quite concerned as to what was going on. From New Cross the bus route finally heads off into new land on its own. Instead of taking the A2 or the A20 which I have on other buses, this bus takes Shardloes Road which is signposted Brockley and at Vesta Road I saw a sign to Brockley Nature Reserve. A little further up this road we reached Brockley Cross and then dipped under the original LCDR railway line from Nunhead to Lewisham to come to rest at Brockley station at 1528. From here the bus takes Brockley Road and this joins the No 122 route just prior to the cemetery. This was a part of the journey which was very slow owing to roadworks ahead on Crofton Park station bridge compounded by the school crossing patrol of the neighbouring school.

School crossing patrol in action with cemetery to the left and
roadworks ahead

Just past this were signposts to Buckthorne Cutting Nature Reserve at the Brockley Jack and progress subsequently became much swifter up Brockley Rise where we passed the starting point of the No 172 back to Aldwych. Mental note: don't do that bus at school chucking out time!

On the South Circular a No 171 heading for the Elephant and Castle 

Soon we were at the South Circular and at 1550 we turned left and into Catford then around the one way system to come to rest at Bellingham Catford garage at 1608. Exactly 90 minutes had been taken which precluded any thought of my doing the No 172 as it was already getting dark.

Despite the operator of the No 171 being London General, the service finishes at a Stagecoach operated garage. A typical result of the randomness of bus deregulation

Journey's end with Catford Garage behind

A view of EH171 as I wait for a No 54

Thus I caught a  No 54 to Beckenham in order to catch a tram to Wandle Park which took me an hour and twenty minutes. Had I not then taken a train to Sutton I would have been late for what turned out to be a cancelled PRG (Patient Reference Group) meeting at Sutton Town Hall.