The journey began with taking a suitcase and large bag of items for delivery to the Beatrix Potter AGM being held at the Victoria and Albert Museum. So after leaving the contents and my wife there, I caught the Piccadilly line to King's Cross and St Pancras station. On arrival at St Pancras and having paid for my ticket I found at 1400 that the next train was the 1342 and it said delayed. The following train at 1412 was also delayed and further down the 1442 train was stated as on time. However, at 1410 the 1442 was also displayed as being delayed. So after standing on the platform until 1443 the 1342 arrived to convey me to Radlett where I arrived at 1516. I checked where the No 338 departed from which was just around the corner in Watling Street but I groaned when I saw the previous bus was at 1507 and the next was not until 1607. Other hours have two buses but not the hour I happened to arrive in thanks to the delays on the railway. It seemed odd to me that the bus stop was on the side of the road heading south when the map showed the bus going north so I checked the bus stop opposite. Indeed the No 338 was not indicated as stopping there so I was about to return when I saw a piece of paper fluttering on the bottom of the stop stating changes owing to roadworks. It did not mention my bus but it made me uneasy. People at the bus stop with me who were waiting for the No 602 were getting worried when time for their bus came and it didn't. I was lucky, however, and the bus arrived bang on time at 1607.
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| Cessna on base leg for Elstree airfield overhead |
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| Bus stop display at Recreation Ground Radlett |
The bus service is provided by Lucketts of Watford and I had a very engaging driver. The bus did very briefly head towards London but soon turned right up Aldenham Road and then right down Station Road to arrive almost opposite the Recreation Ground bus stop I had spent fifty minutes at.
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| Lucketts of Watford minibus on route No 338 |
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Turning left at the end of station road aboard
the No 338 |
We then turned left and headed away from London up Watling Street towards St Albans. After about a mile and a half the bus swung right at some traffic lights to enter Harper Lane which starts with a narrow bridge over the Midland mainline. This took us to the site of Harperbury Hospital which seemed still to have some NHS function but was also a housing estate where the bus did a circuit and waited for a while. The driver informed me this route was busy in the rush hour with people heading to the station as the car park was more expensive than the four pound return bus ticket. On Saturdays though, it was always quiet-I was the only customer for the entire route there but another passenger did join on the route back.
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| Narrow bridge at start of Harper Lane |
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| Harperbury Park on site of hospital |
After leaving the hospital site we ran parallel with the M25 passing Watford FC's training ground before pulling up over the M25 and turning left into the retail park which is a turning off Barnet Road. We arrived at just after 1620 when the driver advised me to be back for ten to five in order to be taken to Radlett station.
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| Sullivan Bus on the No 84 |
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| My bus running off back to Radlett |
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| Red Rose bus company operate the No 357 |
I went into the shopping centre and upstairs to the cafe to have a latte and sandwich and it was suggested if I got crisps too it would be two pounds cheaper which obviously I did! I made my way back to bus stop 2 or B and the No 338 duly arrived as the driver said he would. I found out on my way back he used to drive for Arriva from their Garston depot and at one stage was seriously looking at moving to Halfway on Sheppey and transferring to Arriva's Sheerness depot. He thus knew where I meant when I explained what I was doing and how I had been at Sheerness only a few days ago.
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| Bus services from bus stop B-5 different bus companies |
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| However the No 200 bus appears only once and that only on a Monday at 1233 |
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| The destination of the No338 London Colney retail park |
The bus arrived back at Radlett at about 1705 and this was plenty of time to catch the Sutton train at 1712. However, this was a slow way round from my point of view so I left the train at St Pancras and took the following Brighton train which was diverted away from London Bridge owing to engineering works. I arrived home at about 1900.
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| A rather cheaper trip than the No 334, £3.75 on the train and £4 round trip on the bus. |
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