Day 194 Two Sullivan Bus operated routes the No 298 and No 299, travelling to Potters Bar and back.

 After a trip to the medical practise I caught a London Bridge train from Wallington at 1202 which enabled me to catch the 1231 Peterborough bound Thameslink train as far as Finsbury Park. By 1300 I was on a Piccadilly line train to Arnos Grove where I emerged at 1315 to look for the bus stop the No 298 commences from.

The bus route runs every 20 minutes and takes 32
minutes.

I was here earlier for the No 251

Rather un-neccessary sign given the foliage

The bus stop suggested the next bus was at 1320 but that time came and went and it was supposed to be a twenty minute service so I assumed that bus had been cancelled and I needed to wait for the 1340.

Finally a No 298 arriving, Sullivan's E44

Driver having a brief layover at Arnos Grove.

Three different bus companies Metroline's No 251, London General's No 184 with Sullivan Bus E44

Indeed, at 1335 Sullivan's E44  arrived to layover in front of the Underground station. At 1340 it then crossed the road and we all boarded. We travelled briskly along Bowes Road to the roundabout and then hard right at the roundabout down Waterfall Road towards the Pymmes Brook and the Underground viaduct. From the next roundabout it became a hail and ride service up until Ye Olde Cherrytree roundabout where other bus services joined us as we turned left to Southgate Underground and bus interchange. We reached the interchange at 1350 so 10 minutes after starting but turning left along the High Street movement became extremely sluggish owing to roadworks at the ASDA roundabout.

Approaching Southgate transport interchange

The queue of traffic awaiting the lights at ASDA

Once past this roundabout the bus headed along Chase Side and eventually became the only bus on the road, but at the same time as we passed the Saracens Rugby ground it started raining steadily. At the Chickenshed theatre, opposite Middlesex University, we had taken 22 minutes of a service that should take 32 in total. The bus continued to follow the A111 to run past the Cockfosters Underground station, where we left the No 299 and No 384 behind. However, there are two UNO bus routes that start at Cockfosters station heading towards Potters Bar but these are not tfl sponsored routes. 

Cockfosters station car park

Countryside around Hadley Wood

The bus accelerated as it passed Trent Country Park and drove through Hadley Wood where we really reached the countryside. Just before we reached the M25 we passed into Hertfordshire (the County of Opportunity). Beyond the M25 the bus ran into Potters bar and didn't head right to the bus garage as I had before on the No 84 but crossed to ASDA and then worked around to Potters Bar railway station where we arrived at 1422, a 42 minute journey and this is largely explained by the roadworks and probably I did catch the 1320 bus.

E44 at Potters Bar station

It was raining really heavily when I got off the bus so repaired to Cafe Nero to have a latte whilst waiting for the rain to abate. Once it was only drizzling I decided to walk to the bus garage to see whether I could fill in any gaps in my Metroline buses seen. However, I didn't walk the direct way, I just followed the way I had driven when the wife was filming at Elstree. This meant I walked 1 1/2 miles instead of walking the 3/4 miles up the road called The Walk! The rain came on heavier as I was getting there so lingered in a bus shelter at the garage until I could see on the Met Office app that the rain should be easing.

Back many moons ago I caught the No 84 with Charmaine from New Barnet station to St Albans. The service is now not a tfl route and runs only in Hertfordshire and by Sullivan buses. This is their WVL2.

 I spent 1 hour and 40 minutes in Potters Bar before I was boarding the same E44 of Sullivan buses with same driver to take me to Cockfosters for the No 299.

The starting point of the No 299

Cockfosters station sign

The parade of Sullivan No 299s arriving

AE17 approaching to layover

I arrived at 1617 at Cockfosters but there was no sign of a No 299 until 1633 when three buses arrived AE17, AE18 and AE19 of Sullivans Buses. There was insufficient room for three buses to wait in the layover and AE17 came and sat in front of us. 

Evidence that we are on the periphery of London-a University Bus on route No 610 to Luton

AE19 arriving to convey me to Muswell Hill

However, it was AE19 that showed its face first as on AE17 the driver got out his prayer mat in the bus and was saying his Friday prayers. The No 299 also goes through Southgate so all these buses coming together is presumably because of the roadworks. At 1635 we were underway down to the Chickenshed theatre roundabout where this time the bus turned left on Bramley Road as far as Reservoir Road. Here the bus became hail and ride as it turned right into Reservoir Road down to The Fairway and then Avenue Road where the bus was the sole user of the road before turning into Chase Side to run into the roadworks at Southgate ASDA. 

The constant rain was causing the bus to steam up particularly given the large number of passengers and therefore photographs were nigh on impossible. Southgate interchange was reached at 1651 and exiting right we turned down High Street which became Cannon Hill and at Broomfield Park we took Powys Lane which meant the No 299 was again the sole service on the road. Once across the North Circular Road and into Brownlow Road the bus route was joined by a number of others as this road morphs from Brownlow Road into Durnsford Road, Albert Road  and Alexandra Park Road. At the end of this the bus turned left into Colney Hatch Lane and ran into Muswell Hill to terminate at 1717.

AE19 heading to the Muswell Hill roundabout to await return to Cockfosters.

From Muswell Hill owing to the rain I jumped on the No 43 to reach Highgate Underground station where I caught a Northern line train to London Bridge then a Thameslink bus to Croydon and a no 194/407 home, arriving around 1900.