I took the train to London at 1200 with the wife, but changed to the next train to London Bridge at West Croydon so as to be able to change there for a train to Charing Cross. We then walked to meet one of her school friends at the cafe in Foyles. After a tea they went to the Gielgud theatre and I walked to Red Lion Square to deliver a book to the library there and in Kingsway took a No 68 to Waterloo arriving about 1445.
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| The journey expected to take 51 minutes |
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Arriva's HV275 pulling up under bridge from
Waterloo East |
The No 341 starts from stop F in Waterloo Road and Arriva's HV275 which I boarded at 1455 was my mount for this trip. The bus went straight over Waterloo Bridge and then right around the Aldwych and along Fleet Street.
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| The view whilst approaching Waterloo Bridge |
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Three Tourist buses ahead of us next to Somerset
House |
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On Fleet Street where this building
displays the original use thereof. |
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Fleet Street looking towards
St Paul's Cathedral |
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Passing the building destroyed
in a zeppelin raid in 1915 |
Unlike when I used to catch it to work when it was the No 171A to begin with it passed by Fetter Lane and continued to Ludgate Circus where it turned north along Farringdon Street. It followed Farringdon Street as far as Mount Pleasant sorting office and then turned right up Roseberry Avenue thereby rejoining its original route. This meant the bus passes by Sadler's Wells theatre and then turning left into St John Street it passes along Islington High Street.
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| The Old Red Lion Islington where we saw 'the play that goes wrong' before it hit the big time. |
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The Old Queen is Essex Road which now has
a profile of Elizabeth the Second |
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| The Alpaca Essex Road |
At Islington Green we headed along the Essex Road and continued along this until we crossed over the Balls Pond Road and into Newington Green Road and then left at the green itself into Green Lanes. At this point we were sharing the road with only the No 141 having hitherto had many accompanying routes.
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| Passing Clissold Park |
This took us past Clissold Park and over the New River where there was a huge water works before passing across Seven Sisters Road at Manor House station and then down the hill with Finsbury Park on our left to cross the New River again. We followed the same route as the No 141 until we reached The Salisbury Hotel where we turned right along St Ann's Road and finally the route was alone. At Chestnuts Park the bus took the road that used to be known as Black Boy Lane but is now La Rose Lane so as to reach West Green.
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| I was intrigued by the metalwork in the gaps in the stairs up to Bruce Grove station. Why are they the shape they are? |
The bus briefly turned right here just at the point where the GER line to Wood Green used to cross under with the track bed now filled with the houses of Gresley Gardens. Nigel Gresley's tank engines used to pull trains to Wood Green from North Woolwich. Taking Philip Lane from here we reached the Bernie Grant arts centre and paused to exchange drivers outside Tottenham bus garage from 1604-1606. Then we took the A10 northwards past Bruce Grove station but went straight on when that road heads left and took Lansdowne Road in the direction of Northumberland Park. Turning left along Shelbourne Road the bus again began ploughing its own furrow as far as Leeside Road and then it joined with other routes as it turns briefly into Meridian Way and then turns right to terminate at Glover Drive Superstore. at 1620.
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| HV275 has arrived at the terminal point |
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Three different No 341s were present
when we arrived |
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Platform 2 at Meridian Water,
there being no platform 1 |
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| Train passing on fast line through platform 4 |
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Platforms 3 and 4 at
Meridian Water
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From here I walked to Meridian water station, which I have never used before, in order to catch a train to Stratford. The 1638 arrived at Stratford at 1654 and I then spent a little while train watching before taking the Elizabeth line the one stop to Whitechapel. Changing here I then caught the District line one stop to Aldgate East and here went to St Georges church Alie Street for Organ Vespers at 1800. After the service and my inspection of a piano I caught a No 343 to London Bridge and just managed to get the 1955 home to Waddon.
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