Day 166 Having delivered the wife to a London theatre the opportunity was taken to go to Euston and catch the No 253.

 Or so I thought! Once at the bus station it was evident that no buses were using it as works for HS2 had closed the bus station at least for the weekend. There was a very helpful guy on hand to explain where I needed to go and so I 'hoofed' it to Mornington Crescent Underground station which was where the No 253 was currently terminating and departing from.

The map explaining all the changes

The bus stop E where I should have boarded

The first stop north which the No 168 serves but not
the 253

The second stop I missed

The third stop not being served

There were three stops en route I missed and it took me the best part of fifteen minutes to walk up Eversholt Street and beyond Mornington Crescent station where it was indicated the route was starting from Camden High Street.

A No 253 waiting to terminate beside Mornington Crescent Underground station

The route in purple should take 51 minutes

The No 253 approaching along Camden High Street

Boris Bus LT540 of Arriva

There was quite a wait but eventually Arriva's LT540 arrived picking me up at 1507. There were some road works in the High Street and to compound that one of Metroline's fairly new double deckers on the No 134 had broken down, so it was 9 minutes before we reached Camden Road. The route we followed from here I hadn't used since doing the No 29 in the Autumn of 2017 but was almost a straight line along Camden Road to Holloway at the The Nags Head where Parkhurst Road becomes the Seven Sisters Road.

A strange building for a methodist church in Finsbury Park

This road then took us through Finsbury Park at 1532 to Manor House. From here I was on new ground as the bus took Seven Sisters Road a bit further, before swinging right into Amherst Park parallel at least at first with the New River. 

The New River curving away from Amhurst Park

From Holloway onwards I will be repeating this journey on the No 254, although it has a different starting point. The bus then ran into Stamford Hill at 1542 and over into Clapton Common which eventually leads to Clapton Pond. From the Pond, which was reached at 1556 we repeated a number of other routes past Hackney Baths. We  travelled down Cricketfield Road, Pembury Road and then left just before Hackney Downs station to terminate prior to reaching Hackney Central Station at 1606. The journey took 59 minutes instead of the booked 51, all of which was lost in Camden High Street.

LT540 departing to lay over at Hackney Central

Stop says towards Cambridge Heath
but No 253 goes no further.
Normally bus stops say or other
 buses terminating here if a bus terminates
at that particular stop.

To return home I climbed up to Hackney Central station and then used the walkway to reach Hackney Downs station. I just missed a train to Liverpool Street but only had 15 minutes to wait for the next one from Chingford at 1628. At Liverpool Street I just about managed to fight off the desire for a pastry as they smelt so inviting, but at £6 were rather steep and caught the Circle line to Farringdon and then the Thameslink to East Croydon.