Day 160 After many days where transport strikes have made doing my odyssey rather difficult, the No 245 from Alperton to Golders Green.

 Owing to engineering work on the line to Victoria it took rather longer to get to Alperton than on previous occasions. Thus we had to get a bus to East Croydon at 1125; later than we intended as I wanted the cold front to have cleared through. At East Croydon we took the 1153 train to London Bridge and after arrival walked to the Jubilee Line at 1212. Here we caught a train to Green Park where we changed to the Piccadilly line for a train to Alperton. At Alperton station it was quite a shock to see nothing remains of the Metroline bus garage adjacent to the station  and that it was being billed as a location of future housing. From here we walked to Sainsburys where we found we had a 12 minute wait for the next No 245.  

 

Charmaine actively waiting for our bus to arrive

The No 245 Waiting departure from lay over.

Metroline's VW1831 arriving ar the Alperton Sainsbury's bus stop

Behind the barrier is the razed site of Alperton bus garage

Metroline's VW1831 arrived at 1342 and soon passed the site of Alperton garage as we headed for Sudbury. At the next fork we took Bridgewater Road to the Sudbury roundabout and then under the bridge at Sudbury and Harrow Road station before taking the right at the next major junction into Watford Road. The bus turned right at a set of traffic lights into East Lane and passed over a bridge at Wembley North after which were nice views of the Wembley Arch and the surrounding high rise buildings.

 

View of Central Wembley from East Lane

We continued across Preston Road into Forty Avenue which becomes Forty Lane passing to the north of Wembley Park before swinging southeast down Blackbird Hill. As we crossed the river Brent here I was very surprised to see a heron in such an urban setting standing in the river. Neasden Lane followed, once the river was crossed and this then took us through a spiral to Neasden parade, and then after this circuit we headed down Tanfield Avenue which becomes Crest Road. The bus turned right along Coles Green Road to where we met Dollis Hill Lane.

'Borismaster' on bus route No 332

Looking Southeast from Dollis Hill towards Kensal Rise to Primrose Hill

We then turned left and dropped down to the A5 (Edgware Road) to turn right to Cricklewood bus garage where we arrived at 1423. From here we took Cricklewood Lane to go under the Midland main line next cross Hendon Way and up the hill to Childs Hill. This meant we reached the Finchley road where we turned left and ran into Golders Green. The bus terminated at 1438 whereupon Charmaine went off to investigate the High Street.

Approaching Golders Green bus terminus

Journey's End

We used the Northern Line to get to Kings Cross from here and then took a Thameslink train from St Pancras to East Croydon arriving home around 1715.

Day 159 Another two buses done, albeit the second ended in the dark-the Nos 243 and 244.

 I made the 1135 London Bridge train and reached that station in time to catch the late running 1159 to Charing Cross the one stop to Waterloo East. I then wound my way down the spiral stair case to Waterloo Road in order to reach the starting point of the No 243 to Wood Green.

HV337 and HV343 of Arriva London awaiting
next duty

Waterloo station bus stop

There were two buses laying over HV337 and HV343, the first was in an all over advertising scheme and it was this bus that became my mount to Wood Green at 1217. This route I had used occasionally when commuting to Clerkenwell Road and it was a shock when I reached the Aldwych and found it was now two way and the part of the Strand to St Clement Danes church had been pedestrianised. The route follows Kingsway where there were many large baubles hanging from the Plane trees which flank the road and then right along Theobalds Road to Clerkenwell Road where I passed the old London Weather Centre at 1237.

Baubles suspended from branches of Plane trees in Kingsway

The bus continues along Clerkenwell Road until reaching the Old Street roundabout which is still or is it again being worked on. 

Work again or still happening at the Old Street roundabout

Passing what was effectively straight on we reached the Kingsland Road where we met up with the previous route, the No 242 as far as Dalston Junction. Here the No 242 goes right but the No 243 continues straight on to Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill and then Seven Sisters.

Atop Stamford Hill

Awaiting our departure from beside the Berney Grant Centre Tottenham

At Seven Sisters we had quite a wait as we were supposed to be changing drivers but no replacement driver arrived for six minutes. The Tottenham garage is just a little bit further on, albeit down a road on the left. At 1334 we were back underway again and continued our northward progress until we reached Bruce Grove where the bus went left. At the Bruce Grove museum we went left again and headed towards Wood Green with misty views of Alexandra Palace in the distance.

Lorry totally blocking Lordship Lane into Wood Green

With the final destination in sight there was a lorry broadside across the road which was depositing tarmacadam into a side road and we were forced to wait at 1348 before we could continue and finally we reached the terminal stop, just before Wood Green Underground station, at 1350.

Disembarkation at Wood Green

Lordship Lane Wood Green

From here I needed to get to Woolwich for the No 244. This entailed catching a Piccadilly line train to Kings Cross then a Thameslink from St Pancras to Farringdon and then the Elizabeth line from there to Woolwich, where I arrived at 1459, just over an hour later. The bus itself starts from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital which is well above the town near Woolwich Common. There were a number of buses that could have taken me there but the first to arrive was a No 469. This bus at the next stop stated it was stopping for a change of driver. I should have plumped for one of the other options but how was I to know? So having boarded this bus at 1509 I was at the hospital at 1525. But where was the bus stop, the first I saw didn't have the No 244 on it. Then it dawned the bus doesn't go the quick way to Woolwich, it heads off W to SW. 

Layover point for Nos 244, 291 and 469

The wrong bus stop in distance

It should take 47 minutes

London General's SE61 arrives to take me to
Abbey Wood

At 1531 I was aboard London General's SE61 as it headed west to meet Shooters Hill Road. The bus then turned east and became crammed with schoolchildren and remained thus for much of the journey which precluded any photographs from within the bus as it was a single decker. Once the bus had breasted Shooters Hill it turned left into Shrewsbury Lane and then left again down Eglinton Hill, this being the sole bus route on this road. At the bottom of the hill we briefly met the No 386 prior to Plumstead Common Road but just as soon the bus turned West again it was the only bus at Nightingale Vale and HaHa Road. As we approached the traffic lights heading West I could see the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in front of me, but we then turned right and proceeded back to Woolwich Arsenal where we arrived at 1551, almost an hour after disembarking nearby earlier.

From here the bus turned right along Plumstead Road to the bus garage and then turned left into Thamesmead West. The only other route here was the No 380 and we met one of that type laying over outside Belmarsh prison after our saunter around various residential roads all with bird names. By now it was 1607 and well after sunset as we moved swiftly down the main artery to reach Thamesmead Central. Here we covered some parts of Thamesmead I had visited previously before taking to the main road to Abbey Wood. We reached the station entrance by 1620 but this is not where the bus route ends. It goes on the the next roundabout and turns right into a little Victorian estate just south of Abbey Wood station where I arrived at 1624.

Rather dark by the time we reached journey's end!

The station was not far from where the bus dropped me and at 1636 I was heading back to Woolwich on board an Elizabeth l0ine train heading for Heathrow Terminal 5. I walked to Canon House on the Arsenal estate to meet my friend Tim who runs his company Flying Spot from there and later we had a pint before returning to the Elizabeth line to Whitechapel and then Overground and Southern train, arriving home before 7 P.M.

The Flying Spot Ltd., Cannon House, 25 Cadogan Road, Royal Arsenal Riverside, Woolwich, London, SE18 6LB. https://www.theflyingspot.co.uk/

Day 158 the first time since early August I have been able to do more than one route in a day. To Northeast London for the Nos 241 and 242.

The day began with catching the 1200 to West Croydon and then the late running 1210 to London Bridge at 1215. My destination was Stratford and having reached London Bridge at 1232 I was on a Jubilee line train at 1240 heading for the eastern end of the line. Unlike the No 238 this bus goes from the Stratford City bus station outside Westfield and at 1306 I was aboard Stagecoach East  London's 11027.

Bus Stop W at Stratford City Bus Station

Stagecoach 11027 arriving

The bus left the bus station heading left and then did three right turns to enable it to run alongside the main Stratford Bus station.

Stagecoach main bus station

From here the bus turned left into the Broadway and then right into Tramway Avenue the exact reverse of the No 238. 

Tramway Avenue Stratford

However, the bus went straight on along West Ham Lane continuing to Plaistow Station and then along Plaistow High Street until we turned right down Balaam Street. The road crosses the Northern Outflow Sewer or the Greenway and then we crossed Barking Road and continued into New Barn Street.

Plaistow station, most of it is closed

At the far end of this road we reached the A13 but had to burrow underneath it to continue heading southwards along Freemasons Road. Custom House station was at the bottom of the road with some rather annoying roadworks just before one reached the traffic lights at the bottom, making the passing of buses going both ways a little fraught. 

Elizabeth line train at Custom House station

Heading to Prince Regent we pass the Excel Centre

The bus here turned left and headed for Prince Regent where until recently the bus terminated. However, we went further crossing the docks past London City Airport before turning right at the roundabout and following the DLR concrete decking to Pontoon Dock DLR station. A little beyond here the bus turned left and headed through some newly built buildings to terminate at Royal Wharf at 1341, 35 minutes since departure from Stratford.

Arrival at Royal Wharf Silvertown

Typical builds around Royal Wharf

Looking east from West Silvertown DLR station

Looking towards river from West Silvertown station

The Tate and Lyle factory. We used to forecast
at London Weather Centre for their ship unloading

From here I needed to get to Homerton Hospital so had to go to Stratford once more. Here I walked through the same pedestrian tunnel I had taken earlier to get to Westfield but this time walked up to platform 1 for the London Overground train to take me two stops to Homerton. I caught the 1414 train to Richmond and alighted at 1420. I knew where I was going because I had seen both station and hospital when on the 236 last month and thus quickly reached the starting point of the No 242. A bus arrived very soon and I asked the driver if this was indeed the first stop and she confirmed it. I was concerned as there are stops HA and HB both served by the route. 

The route to the hospital from Homerton station

Stop HA at Homerton Hospital

HV234 at Homerton Hospital

Stagecoach 37572 ex Tower Transit 45108 on the No 488 route

The bus, Arriva's HV234, left at 1431 and did 3 sides of a square to reach stop HB before heading effectively north up Chatsworth Road past the hospital to the bus's left. At Dunluce Road the bus turned right and this required some very skillful driving to squeeze past the parked cars. The front window could have done with a good clean, however.

Dunluce Road parked cars both sides made transit very difficult

A quick right then left at the end took the bus into The Clapton Park Estate, unlike Dunluce Road which was evidently Victorian, this estate was 1960s and 1970s I would imagine. At the end of the run around this estate the bus reached the Millfields Estate,which is where Hackney park their refuse lorries. Heading West now along Millfields Road we reach the park and after 15 minutes are back on Chatsworth Road heading in the opposite direction. Not for long were we doing this though, before we branched right up Powerscroft Road with on one side 3 storey Victorian villas with basements downstairs presumably for all the servants. This road crossed the end of Dunluce Road becoming Median Road before we reached Lower Clapton Road. This road allowed us to run down to Hackney where we turned right along Graham Road which then led on to Dalston Junction station.

Approaching Dalston Junction station

The next route to be done going the other way in
Kingsland Road

After this the bus turned left down Kingsland Road past the Geffrye Museum and on to Shoreditch where Commercial Road was taken so we could access Aldgate. Aldgate was reached at 1527 and as I disembarked I told the driver how impressed I was with her squeezing past the parked cars in Dunluce Road. 

HV234 on its way to lay over in Aldgate bus station

To get home I caught a No 343 to London Bridge and just missed my train by 30 seconds so took a Thameslink to East Croydon at 1600 and then the No 410 from outside the Whitgift Centre so I was home around 1630.

Day 157 A visit to North London in very wet conditions to ride the No 240.

 The day started with catching the 1135 to London Bridge with our son to ensure he was able to get to Paddington on time for his train to Plymouth. From London Bridge I caught the Northern line to Golders Green where I emerged at 1238. It took a while to find the correct bus stand and having initially headed for the No 245 I discovered the No 240 was on its own in the middle of the complex. The wait was ten minutes for the next No 240 but with 7 minutes to go Metroline's TE985 arrived. 

The bus route is quite obviously a 15 minute service

TE985 turning into the bus stand after dropping
 off passengers from Edgware 

Condensation and rain streaming down front window

The departure was at 1251 and the timetable told me it should take 46 minutes. It had been a wet morning with areas of standing water on the roads, and the condensation inside and rain cascading on the outside made it nigh on impossible to take any decent photographs of the journey.

The bus took a right turn and headed down Golders Green High Street and continued in a straight line across the North Circular Road and on towards West Hendon. At the stop called the Quadrant in Brent Street the  bus continued in a straight line and was then the only route on the road called Parson Street.

The No 245 stop at Golders Green

Rain streaming down window at West Hendon

From here the bus crossed the A1 and travelled along Holders Hill Road to Holders Hill Circus past Hendon cemetery on the left. At the circus the route was joined by the 384 and shortly before we reached Mill Hill East station the No 221 joined, too. Bittacy Hill had been descended when I took the No 221 so this time I went the other way. Slowly but steadily TE985 climbed the hill and at Engel Park went straight on into the Ridgeway again as the only bus route. We continued thus past Mill Hill School and then turning left down Hammers Lane where there were good views over London. 

Brighter as the sun replaces the cloud in Hammers Lane but still rain drops preclude decent photos

The front window was still very difficult to take photographs, through. Daws Lane was taken on the right and at the end of this, and we had to go through a couple of narrow roads so as to be able to cross the A1 at the roundabout, these being Albert and Victoria Roads. Crossing the roundabout allowed access to Mill Hill Broadway at 1315 and we were back under the railway station and M1 at 1319. The No 221 route had rejoined us just before the station and we then followed that route in reverse to Edgware station where I arrived at 1338, 47 minutes since departure. 

Once again disembarking at Edgware Underground station

The London Sovereign bus garage at Edgware coded BT for Barnet. Next to it is the Metroline garage coded EW for Edgware

To get home I took the Northern line back to London Bridge and the 1455 Epsom train home arriving home around 1530