Day 139 A day where I was able to do three buses the No 217 Turnpike Lane to Waltham Cross, the No 218 from North Acton to Hammersmith and finally the No 219 from Clapham to Wimbledon.

 The day started by taking a No 407 to the Whitgift centre at 1008 and then a Thameslink train from East Croydon to Finsbury Park at 1035 and then a Piccadilly line Underground service two stops to Turnpike Lane. The bus station above the Tube station was achieved at 1120 and it appeared I had just missed a bus but two No 217s suddenly pulled into the bus station. This is the first route I have used in its entirety operated by Sullivan buses.

Sullivan Buses E75 at Turnpike Lane

So at 1124 I was aboard Sullivan's E75 an AD E40D headed for Waltham Cross on the No 217 which quickly turned right and right again to be proceeding in a Northeasterly direction along Westbury Avenue. The bus did a little wriggle at Lordship Lane and then took The Roundway to reach the Great Cambridge Road. The journey from here north was largely on a dual carriageway through Edmonton and Enfield. 

Typical road type for much of the route
the dual carriageway of the Great Cambridge Road.

Once we reached Southbury Road the bus did a little deviation through the 1990s built Enfield Retail Park at 1154 but soon returned back to the A10 and continued north until we almost reached the M25 at 1203. The bus then turned east along Bullsmoor Road until it reached  the A1010 Hertford Road and then passed over the M25 where it is in a short tunnel.

Getting ready to turn right down Bullsmoor Road prior to reaching the M25

The concrete blocks announce the leaving of Greater London and entering the Borough of Broxbourne Hertfordshire

The park above the M25 tunnel

The bus having crossed into Hertfordshire swung down Abbey Road and then into the Waltham Cross bus station where we terminated at 1212.

Disembarkation point at Waltham Cross Bus station

A surprisingly large number of red TFL buses since this location is out-with the Greater London area

In order to get to the next bus I needed to get to North Acton which is on the Central Line. At this point I made a bad decision and because I saw a No 279 bus arrive, I thought I would take it quickly back into Enfield so boarded this bus at 1218. It then took me until 1244 to do the 1 1/4 miles to Turkey Street. The railway station was about a 10 minute walk from where I alighted and when I arrived I found the next train was not until 1307. This delay put paid to any possibility of doing four buses of which I had harboured hopes when I started out. I remained on this train until Liverpool Street mainline station and took the Central Line 16 stops west to reach North Acton at 1418.

Looking down on North Acton station

The No 218 reposing on Victoria Road

The bus readying to leave before I had ascertained
the actual departure point

The Central line at this point is in a cutting rather than below ground so just had a few steps to climb and then I arrived at Victoria Road where I saw there was a No 218 waiting. However, when I reached the bus stop I could see it was not where one boarded the bus.

London United's DE20094 at the first stop long before I could get there!

The next No 218 arriving with Acton Vale as destination

By the time I had found where the bus stop was located the bus I had seen waiting was long gone and therefore I had to wait for the next one. This was one of the Wrightbus Streetlites that until very recently used to be operated by Tower Transit but are now operated by RATP. No 33027 is ex TT 46101 which was still stenciled on the inside of the bus. As this bus arrived it had on the front Acton Vale as its destination. When I challenged the driver he said because of a demonstration in Hammersmith he was being told they would have to terminate the bus early.  We were underway at 1434 from the bus stop in Wales Farm Road and crossed Western Avenue and then Horn Lane into Noel Road. The next part of the route is quite strange as it does three sides of a large recreation ground where people were probably playing cricket for the first time this year. At one corner we passed the road where the Bridge Cafe of Apprentice fame briefly came into view. Having returned to Noel Road we passed West Acton station and at 1445 then headed south as the road became Twyford Avenue. At the bottom of this road the bus turned east into the Uxbridge Road which we followed through Acton to Acton Vale. In the meanwhile the bus driver had made an announcement which was inaudible but the internal sign stated the destination was now Hammersmith bus station so we assumed the change of destination had been the reason for that announcement.  

Non standard point of termination

As we entered the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham the bus turned off the Uxbridge Road into Askew Road which led to Goldhawk Road and then almost straight over this we took Paddenswick Road down to the District railway near Ravenscourt Park Station. The bus did not go under the railway but turned left and ran parallel with the line into Hammersmith Broadway. The bus terminated outside the Hammersmith and City Underground station. It wouldn't normally do this but works in the bus station meant this was where we parted company at 1514.

London United 30027 at Hammersmith

The nearest point where I could catch the next route was at Clapham Junction and since there is a direct bus, the No 295, passing through the bus station I thought I would catch that. I bought a tomato and mozzarella baguette and latte at Paul's in the central area and waited for the next bus to convey me onward. It was rather galling to see a number of buses pass thorough on the No 220 route which I would not now have time to do today. The bus took around 40 minutes to get me to Clapham Junction and then I had to find Asda which is where the next bus started from.

London General's WS17 at ASDA Clapham

Proof, if needed of location!

This bus was another Wrightbus Streetlite, this time  WS17 of London General. The bus took off at 1613 taking a couple of swift left turns to take St John's Road up to Battersea Rise and then turning right to climb the rise and on to Wandsworth Common North Side. Here the bus turned left onto Trinity Road and followed this to Tooting Bec. We passed once again people playing cricket on the common to the east of us, whilst Wandsworth prison was to the west of us. 

Surprisingly rural part of Wandsworth Common

The last part of the common was really rural looking and was showing signs of spring being really sprung. Tooting Bec was reached at 1635. The bus turned right onto the A24 and it was then a significant crawl to Tooting Broadway where we waited for two minutes to even the flow and on to Colliers Wood. At Merton bus garage the bus driver was changed which took three minutes and we were back underway at 1701. The route then took us to to South Wimbledon Underground station and then up to Wimbledon itself finally terminating at Francis Grove at 1715.

Approaching the final stop in Wimbledon

The final stop of the day.

I returned home on the tram arriving exactly 8 hours after departure.