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| Redbridge Town Hall |
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| Hainault Street bus stop where I had already been past on four other buses |
Stagecoach Dart No 36286 arrived at exactly the time appointed, 1141: it being a 20 minute frequency.
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| Stagecoach Dart 36286 at Hainault Street Ilford |
At 1146 exactly half an hour after arrival I was back passing Ilford station and the route followed a number I have used in the last year back to Gants Hill Central line station at the A12 roundabout. The bus crossed straight over the roundabout into Cranbrook Road where we continued along the same route as the Nos 128 and 150 to Barkingside arriving here at 1201. At the roundabout at the north of Barkingside High Street the bus took the second left along Fencepiece Road and into Chigwell. Here the bus leaves the Greater London area and comes under Epping Forest District Council, a sub-division of Essex. By this time apart from school buses this is the only bus route that serves the area. How many locals use the bus is open to question given the size of the houses which were often gated and had four BMWs mixed with the odd 'Roller' or Bentley in front of them.
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| The green at Chigwell |
The bus passes Chigwell station and then turns right along a parade of shops before swinging left along Chigwell Rise. After passing more massive houses the bus ran into a very rural area which apart from wher we crossed the M11 was mostly fields and trees. Climbing out of the valley we reached Buckhurst Hill station which was where I has previously caught a No 167 on the occasion of reaching Debden to catch the No 20 many moons ago. From Buckhurst Hill at 1217 the bus heads north through suburbia to reach Loughton station from the north where the bus terminated at 1225.
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| Autumn leaves in Essex |
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| Loughton station with a No 66 of Arriva Herts and Essex which will go to Waltham Cross in addition to my resting No 167. |
From this point I boarded a Central line tube train bound for Northolt and transferred at Stratford to a London Overground train headed for Richmond at 1300.
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| The first of the class 378 London Overground units, the freight train behind was pulled by two 52 year old class 86s of Freightliner |
The London Overground would take me to Hampstead Heath where I would find a No 168. En route it was noticeable at Highbury and Islington how times have changed on the North London line since the Broad Street days of the 1970s. All four platforms had a train in them simultaneously and the station thronged with passengers and that at 1315!
I found the No 168 quite easily just down the hill from the railway station although finding bus stop D wasn't quite as obvious. It was located near to the emergency exit from the Royal Free Hospital.
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| The bus terminal for both routes No 168 and No 24 |
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| Our No 168 'Borismaster' LT808 of Metroline approaching from its layover point |
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| Belsize Park tube station |
The bus headed up the hill and soon turned left down Haverstock Hill to run past Belsize Park underground station. This road becomes Chalk Farm Road as we ran into Camden Town past the Roundhouse theatre. At 1349 the bus reached Camden Town station and then ran past Euston railway station into Upper Woburn Place at 1400.
From here the bus continued south past Russell Square tube station into Southampton Row and on to Holborn Kingsway. I had been reading about the Evening Standard's campaign to reduce single use plastic and other things to help the environment and all the way down Southampton Row there were signposts advertising this.
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| Banners hoping to reduce single use plastic in Southampton Row |
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| Approaching Theobald's Road |
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| Something I have been doing for many years-not buying fruit that is in plastic bags. If I want an item of fruit and its only available wrapped in plastic I refuse to buy it |
The bus continued around the Aldwych and over Waterloo Bridge to reach the Elephant and Castle at 1432 and then down the New Kent Road. There was a small holdup at the Bricklayers Arms roundabout which meant it was 1442 when the bus terminated at Old Kent Road Tesco, although the bus stop was called Duncton Road.
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| My LT808 about to turn left off the Old Kent Road |
In order to reach the No 169 I had to get myself to Barking which required me to find a No 381 bus in order to get to Canada Water underground station. This required quite a walk along the Old Kent Road to find Peckham Park Road but when I got to Malt Street the map suggested I was walking the wrong way. In fact I wasn't, but just in case walked back the other way, to the next bus stop where I then realised my mistake. I found the correct bus stop at 1505 and had reached Canada Water by 1530 to take the Jubilee line to West Ham. At West Ham I took the 1543 C2C line to Shoeburyness one stop to Barking.
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| The No 169 that I missed heading for Barking station |
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| Stagecoach No 10198 arriving to convey me to Clayhall |
Once again when I had found bus stop that I needed- lettered D I just missed a No 169. However, unlike the No 167 it was a ten minute service, so didn't have to wait too long. Nevertheless with darkness looming taking photographs was going to be difficult. The next bus arrived at 1609 and once again it was Stagecoach operated but a double decker, their No 10198.
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| Bus stop D in Barking |
The bus passed Barking station at 1614 and took the second left at the roundabout just north of Barking station which is Fanshawe Avenue. This road became Ilford Lane as we crossed the stream (Loxford Water) and into the London Borough of Redbridge.
On arrival at Ilford Sainsbury's the bus then does a circuit owing to the one way system and then returned me back to the opposite side of the road from where I had caught the No 167 five hours previously.
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| The darkness made for difficult photography from the bus, this being Ilford Sainsbury's |
However, from here the bus turned left past where all the bus layovers are made for buses terminating at Ilford, which I had hitherto not seen and beyond this we passed the northern side of Ilford Traincare depot along Ley Street. There was quite a hold up at the roundabout here as a result of single line traffic working but once past this the bus made good progress to the A12 Eastern Avenue.
Here the bus crossed into Horns Lane and back into Barkingside and I rejoined the No 167 route once we had arrived at Barkingside magistrates court at 1655. From there the bus ran up to the roundabout at Fulwell Cross where we caught up with the previous No 169 Stagecoach 10309 that I had just missed. This bus has its hazard lights on and it soon became obvious the IBUS control had told the driver to head back to Ilford. My bus however then took the first left down Fulwell Avenue and the bus continued for quite a while down this road until we terminated at The Glade at 1707.
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| Stagecoach 10198 on arrival at The Glade |
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| Terminal bus stop at Clayhall The Glade |
I discussed why I was taking photographs of the bus at the terminus with the driver and I then rejoined his bus until it reached Barkingside station. From there I took the Central line to Oxford Circus and then the Victoria line to Vauxhall with the intention of meeting my wife at the Rose Community Centre Battersea. Having caught the No 156 and walked to the community centre I found it closed and it was evident she had already left for home. I therefore caught a train from Battersea Park and finally returned home around 8PM, a full ten hours since my earlier departure.
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