I caught the 1135 to London Bridge in order to utilise the Jubilee line to Finchley Road so as to transfer to the Metropolitan line which led to my arrival at Harrow on the Hill station at1237- not much more than an hour after leaving from South London.
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Inside Harrow Bus Station at stop E
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London United 30270 awaiting
departure from lay over point |
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| Arrival at bus station |
The next bus, the route the No 223, starts from the bus station adjacent to Harrow on the Hill station. The route is expected to take 45 minutes according to the timetable and the next bus was due to leave at 1251. I found my bus was resting down a nearby side road and like many buses operated by London United was an Alexander Dennis Enviro 200H MMC no 30270. It arrived at 1249 and actually departed from position E at the bus station at 1250. The bus turned right down College Road then right into Station Road and right again at Kenton Road to the large roundabout over the Metropolitan tube and Aylesbury line. First we went around three quarters of the roundabout and down the A404 and into Northwick Park Hospital. After a quick stop we retraced our steps to the roundabout and then did another three quarter turn and headed down Kenton Road to reach Kenton station at 1300. This road I had ridden down on the Nos 114 and 183 but after about five furlongs we turned right into Woodcock Hill. This road typified much of the route comprising of 1930s or 1950s built semi-detached houses which made for little reason to take photographs. The bus briefly took Draycott Avenue before turning left into Windermere Avenue and running down to South Kenton station. From here we took Carlton Avenue East and arrived at the Preston Pub and passed Preston Road where the bairns and I had walked to after the England v Cote D'Ivoire match in order to get on the tube instead of waiting in the queues at Wembley Park. The Drive took us to Forty Avenue and then down the Empire Way past Wembley Park at 1324 and on into Wembley to reach Wembley Central station. I nearly got off the bus here but as the bus hadn't made an announcement that it was the last stop I asked the driver and he said "oh do you want to go around the corner" to which I obviously replied "yes I need to do the entire route" and told him about the quest. This done I disembarked at 1334.
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| Around the back of Wembley Central station |
The next bus starts at St Raphael's estate and I had been there before when I did the No 92 and since this passes Wembley Central it was the 'obvious' way to go. The timetable said it should take 17 minutes to get there and that the service was every 8-12 minutes. However a bus didn't arrive until 1353, almost a twenty minute wait. The next issue was that I was told to get off at Brent Ikea at 1414 as this was now the final stop. When I rode the No 92 the start point was St Raphael's estate North. Luckily there was a map nearby where I could ascertain where Mitchell Way was, the start point for the No 224. It seemed like the best way was to walk down the North Circular Road to a point where I could access Mitchell Way. |
| London United 30271 having to park on pavement |
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| Two No 232s at the bus stop blocking access for the No 224 |
On arrival I found there were two No 232s waiting and that was all the space allowed such that when a No 224 arrived-which soon it did, it had to park on the pavement. The driver had his break from about 1428 until 1436 and then we were on our way back to Brent Ikea and then also to do a circuit of Tesco's. On departure it really was a circuit but this time we headed straight on and under the North Circular to rejoin it on the opposite side. |
| Looking back across the North Circular to the entry point to the St Raphael's Estate |
It wasn't long before we reached the opposite side of the road to Brent Ikea and here we turned away from the North Circular down Brentfield Road which becomes Knatchbull Road, and then on to Acton Lane where we turned right and stopped at Harlesden station at 1455. Continuing on down Acton Lane we turned down a bus only road into the Central Middlesex Hospital. From here the bus left the residential streets and for quite a while was running past industrial units in Park Royal. We left the industrial scenery briefly to do a little trip down Twyford Abbey Road, before doing a turn around a semicircular roundabout and back the way we came alongside the Grand Union Canal. Abbey Road then took us over the North Circular.
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| Crossing the North Circular on Abbey Road with St Raphael's Estate beyond the high rise building |
It was then Beresford Avenue and Mount Pleasant which conveyed us to Ealing Road Alperton and then once past the station we turned right then left and arrived at Alperton Sainsbury's at 1531. A 55 minute journey which was much as expected. |
| Arrival at Alperton Sainsbury's |
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| Alperton garage being demolished |
I then took the Piccadilly line to Earls Court, District line to West Brompton, London Overground to Clapham Junction and then the 1654 home from there.
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