Day 197 To East London for the No 304 and then to west London; well in fact beyond London as TFL cancelled the No 305 from the first of September 2018. Some of the route was merged with the last bus I rode, the No 303.

 I intended to catch the 1035 to London Bridge but was still buying two tickets to Southport when it arrived, so went around the corner to catch a No 154 to Fairfield Halls. This enabled me to catch the 1048 Peterborough bound train running one minute late to Farringdon. At Farringdon I changed to the Elizabeth line at 1114 to take to me to Custom House, where I arrived at 1130.

The No 304 timetable with Custom House station behind

Custom House Elizabeth line station

London General's WHV80 arriving

The red TFL symbol I hadn't noticed before, unfortunately it stayed lit when it wasn't engaged!

Down below the station was the location where the No 304 starts from and London General's WHV80 arrived about 1145. The journey was forecast to take 37 minutes but the driver informed me the bus was on diversion and he arrived 9 minutes behind time but as he hadn't driven the other way was unsure what the delay might accumulate to. Almost immediately the bus goes 'off piste' and heads north up Freemasons Road and then under the A13 and into New Barn Lane until we reached the Barking Road where the bus turned right. At no point did the bus stop but once we turned right into Prince Regent Lane the bus stopped just before The Greenway.

Heading up Freemasons Road

Turning to go under the A13 into New Barn Lane

Turning left into Barking Road, still not on the correct route

The first stop heading South at the Greenway

Heading towards Newham University Hospital

The bus stopped again opposite a school before turning left into Glen Road and at this point rejoined its route which should have approached Glen Road from the opposite direction. The bus then ran through Newham University Hospital at 1202 and on through the bus gate at the end where we separated from the No 276 route but were still on the same road as the No 376 bus past Brampton Manor School. At the T junction at the end of this route the bus turned right into Lonsdale Avenue where the No 104 route joined us. We then followed the same route as the No 104 to the end of Lonsdale Avenue, then left up past East Ham Central Park where I started on the No 58 and No 115 before hitting roadworks which slowed our progress towards the town hall.  

The bus then continued north along East Ham High Street and onwards to cross the Romford Road to Manor Park station where the bus initially heads left and then right to terminate at Gladding Road at 1234.

Journey's End at Manor Park

Gladding Road where the bus terminated

I now had to get to the far side of London so took the bus back to Manor Park station and caught the 1253 Elizabeth line train to Paddington. I then caught the next train, thankfully a semi-fast, to Hayes and Harlington. where I arrived at 1338. On the road above the next bus was a No H98 which I took to Harlington Corner where I waited but a short time for a No 81 to take me to Poyle. By this time it was 1410 but I thought the No 305 was at 1430.

Coleridge Crescent with only this bus

Clear sheet with no timetable for the bus

Ex Metroline Dart on the No 305

Bear Buses of Feltham

However, by 1415 a bus appeared across the road in Coleridge Crescent I had just seen the bus stop which was a different type to any I had seen before. I checked with bus driver and he said this was the originating stop and the No 305 route was the only bus route the company Bear Buses operate. It was an ex metroline bus LK58CTV which had been DE959. Surprisingly to me the bus started off at 1421 so it was a good job I had been early.

Ye Olde George

The only Bear bus ticket I am
likely to get

The bus headed west along the Old Bath Road which became Park Street and then High Street  before we reached the 'new' A4 and headed for the M4 roundabout at Langley. At this roundabout we turned left into Majors Farm Road and this ran parallel with the M4 with the bus running at quite a rate before we seperated from the M4 and entered Datchet.

Reaching the A4 beyond Poyle

The bus needed to turn hard left as we passed the Red Deer pub into Horton Road but there were cars making some of these manoeuvres quite difficult to do but the driver did them expertly. He had previously been a driver for Hallmark before Covid caused such jobs to cease. 

We continued into Horton with myself the only passenger but at Horton Parish Hall we picked up a second passenger and a little beyond Horton in Stanwell Road we picked up another traveller. Around this area there were the banks of large reservoirs which caused me so much grief forecasting fog for operations at Heathrow. The bus had to wait for lights to cross the bridge at Wraysbury station which is one way only. I would have thought a level crossing would have been preferable. Driving from here to Staines the houses were massive such a contrast to where I had been 2 to 3 hours earlier.

The Perserverance in Wraysbury

Ar 1452 we were queuing to enter Staines, next to the remains of Staines West station which used to be attached to the line I saw from the No 81 bus as we entered Poyle where there was a Class 66 with an oil train. At 1503 we entered Staines bus station and terminated.

The totality of the timetable, no more than 5 buses
each way

Arrival at Staines bus station

Halloween decoration in Staines

From here I caught a No 117 to Feltham at 1530 and then a train to Clapham Junction at 1616 and from there a train home.

Day 196 To north London to do the No 302 and the No 303 which are an almost perfect combination.

 I caught the 1130 Victoria train to Clapham Junction and then walked to platform 1 for the Overground train to Kensal Rise. The first train to arrive was announced as being not in service so I presumed there was a problem with it and I had to await the 1120 to Stratford to arrive. Even so I was at the bus stop for the No 302 outside Kensal Rise station by 1145. 

Metroline's VWH1418 awaiting departure

Only the No 302 stops here other buses that
layover at Kensal Rise pick up elsewhere

The next bus-Metroline's VWH1418 was already waiting and at 1150 it pulled up to the stop. The bus stop is on the south side of the station but as soon as the bus leaves it does a 180 degree turn over the railway into Chamberlayne Road. There were three buses which cover this road but just before we reached Sidmouth Parade the No 6 peeled off. However that bus is replaced by the No 206 at the same time. The abrupt left turn into Staverton Road which led into Brondesbury Park did not have any bus stops along its length but I presumed the No 52 probably also covered this road.

The relatively new Willesden library, built 2015, which was a building site when I took Charmaine for her first visit to the Village School this way. It meant we stayed outside zone one, using the bus!!

At the library the bus turned left along Willesden High Road: as was usual there were issues with traffic the closer we got to Willesden bus garage. At that stop the bus driver was exchanged betwixt 1201 and 1203. We then headed up Dudden Hill Lane and were accompanied by the No 226 as far as Burnley Road. Beyond this the No 302 was on its own until we reached the roundabout with Neasden Lane when numerous other routes joined us. We headed under the North Circular underpass and along Neasden lane which morphs into Blackbird hill as we passed over the river Brent. At the roundabout at the top the bus went right and over the next roundabout into Tudor Gardens now accompanied with the No 83. This road becomes Church Lane  and continues as such all the way to Kingsbury Road. At Kingsbury Road the bus went left and then right at Roe Green which then took me past the school where Charmaine worked from 2014 to 2017. 

Approaching Neasden Lane roundabout as sole bus on the road

Roe Green Kingsbury

Row of shops where Charmaine used to buy her
 milk, TV magazine etc

Rather unexpected thatched houses in this area

Village school entrance

Village school staff car park, blurred by the drizzle

The No 302 alone along Stag Lane

There were two spells along Stag Lane where the No 302 was sole supplier of a service but briefly between Princes Avenue and Capitol Way the No 303 joined it. Just before Burnet Oak the No 114 arrived from our left before we reached the A5.The No 302 used very little of the A5 before heading down Watling Avenue to Burnt Oak station. After this the bus turned left up Grange Hill Road and at the roundabout took Deansbrook Road, both of these roads, as the only bus service. At the far end of the second mentioned other routes joined as we turned right and then left into Mill Hill Broadway station bus interchange. We terminated here at 1242.

Underneath the M1 at Mill Hill Broadway

I then needed to just get one of three buses from here to Edgware but saw that the No 221 and No 240 were ten minutes quicker than the No 303 so caught a No 221. After a quick lunch I went to the Edgware bus station and boarded London United's single decker 30271 at 1317.

Service every quarter of an hour and takes around 40 minutes

London United's 30271-photo taken on move!

Leaving Edgware bus station through back window

This bus turns left out of the bus station to the junction with the A5 and here turns left again to run towards central London. After a short run on the A5 I was in Deansbrook Road again but on a part unused before. At the roundabout where we met the previously used Grangehill Road the bus peeled away continuing on its own path until we reached The Hale. Here the No 221 and No 240 were rejoined for the run into Mill Hill Broadway interchange which was reached at 1331.

Once again under the M1 at Mill Hill Broadway

 The bus took Burns Lane at first but where this went under the railway line this bus went straight on into Grahame Park Way; the perimeter track of what was RAF Hendon. The bus was again the only route in the area and we did a few twists and turns in the estate before reaching the RAF Museum at 1339. From here we went to Quakers Course via Bristol Road stopping at Colindale library on both the outward and return journey.

Hurricane

Spitfire

On our return we turned right and went past Colindale Underground station which would have taken us back to the A5. However the bus turned right at Annesley Avenue and again right where this reached the A5 which enabled the bus to turn left at Capitol Way to stop at ASDA, where I had recently terminated on the No 292. After wending our way around this industrial estate going through a bus gate allowed the bus to reach Stag Lane for that brief period where it runs parallel with the No 302. Very soon the bus took Princes Avenue which took us past the fictional Grange Hill school which was actually Kingsbury High School. At the end of Princes Avenue the bus turned left into Honeypot Lane and soon terminated at Kingsbury Circle at 1403.

Journey's End

London United's 30271 which didn't wait very long at all before rounding the 'circle' and heading back.

I  walked to Kingsbury Jubilee line station and caught a train to West Hampstead whereupon I changed to the London Overground so as to reach Clapham Junction. I found I had only just missed my train home and there was a twenty five minute wait for the next one, so took a Dorking bound train and alighted at Hackbridge to walk home from there. I arrived over ten minutes earlier despite the long walk than if I had waited for my next train.