As it was another week of work to rule or strikes on the railways I had to drive Richard to work in Crawley first thing and then drive back arriving at 0940 whereupon I had my breakfast. There are no fast trains to London Bridge on these days of disruption so had to catch a Victoria train to West Croydon at 1100 and then change to the 1116 London Overground train to Whitechapel. I arrived at Whitechapel around 1152 and had only three minutes to wait for the Elizabeth line to take me to Harold Wood where I arrived at 1235. In order to reach the start of the No 346 it seemed the best way was to catch one and the same bus to the terminus in Dagnum Park Drive Harold Hill. Thus at 1305 I was at the starting point of the No 346.
 |
The demise of the No 497 and extension of the
No 346 to cover its route |
 |
Bus runs three times an hour taking approximately
50 minutes |
 |
View of bus stop with
the bus approaching |
 |
Laying over before departure from
this almost totally post war estate |
Stagecoach 37540 provided the service both ways and I reboarded it at 1320 . This actually meant I had covered a part of the route I wouldn't have otherwise as it travels one way around the circuit to rejoin the inbound circuit just before Harkness Close. Once over the Carter's Brook and past Brookfield school we reached North Hill Drive and crossed straight over into Hilldene Avenue. Just beyond the shops the bus sets off on its own down Charteris Road as a hail and ride service down to the Harold Hill Industrial Estate.
 |
In Hilldene Avenue a sign pointing to
the station but
the bus goes a much more roundabout way |
 |
| The Faringdon Avenue industrial area |
 |
| Terminal spot for the No 499 Gallows Corner Tesco |
Here the bus met the No 496 in Faringdon Avenue but then soon went on alone again down Ashton Road to reach the A12. Turning right the bus briefly headed for Gallows Corner but then turned left to access the Tesco superstore passing a No 347 as we did so.
 |
At the end of Lister Avenue we encountered much newer
housing than previously
|
From the Tesco superstore the bus retraced its steps before heading right along Lister Avenue and then into an area of recently built housing. Once home I found this had been the site of Harold Wood Hospital. There was a bus gate a good way into the estate which explained why Lister Avenue had a no through road sign at its entrance. All of the estate was only served by this one bus which I had found had replaced the No 497 from 9th March this year.
 |
| Very recently built housing on ex hospital site |
We were then back at Harold Wood station at 1339 just over an hour after my original arrival. We passed onwards to the Harold Wood neighbourhood centre where the bus turned left along Squirrels Heath Road which became Shepherds Hill. Now the country became very rural and the bus turned right into Hall Lane through fields and hedgerow down to the Southend Arterial Road.
 |
| The view towards London which is barely discernable in the distance |
 |
| British Legion hall in St Mary's lane |
Since the station we had been on the same route as the No 347 and this continued as we ran into Upminster and turned left down St Mary's Lane at 1350. We went under a railway bridge and immediately turned left into Front Lane and the No 346 was on its own again until we reached the Upminster underground depot which is the terminus of the No 248. This was the part of the No 346 I used before when I caught it to return to Upminster after riding the No 248. These buses soon separated again as the No 346 goes almost the length of Moor Lane before turned left and terminating after a little jiggery pokery in Waycross Road at 1405.
 |
Journey's End Waycross Road in the Upminster
Park Estate |
I now needed to get to Ockendon station to catch a No 347, the urgency being there are only four buses a day on a two hourly service. Initially I walked to the Upminster deport with the intention of walking to a No 370 bus stop but it was clear I was still a long way away at that point. So, I caught a No 248 back to Upminster station and luckily I only had to wait 1 minute for the Lakeside bound No 370 to appear. This bus actually picks up at Bus stop A on one side of the road, then turns around in the railway approach road and picks up on the opposite side of the road too. At West Street in South Ockendon I alighted and crossed the road with the intention of walking to the railway station. However, as I crossed the road I could see a No 347 coming towards me. It was Arriva's ENL112 and I therefore caught the bus in South Ockendon but not quite at the start point as that was 300 yards further on but given the two hourly service it seemed sensible to leap aboard. So at 1503 I was heading back the way I had come on the No 370.
 |
| St Nicholas South Ockendon church |
 |
| The stop where I alighted from the No 370 |
 |
| Nelson Road, the third bus stop on the route |
At North Ockendon where the No 370 had emerged from beside the South Essex crematorium the No 347 headed straight on accompanied by the No 269 which I understand is operated by NIBS buses from Grays to Brentwood. At the 't' junction the bus headed for the bridge under the M25 which was actually St Mary's Lane and so after a while the No 346 route came to join us just before the railway bridge from Front Lane at 1513.
 |
The route the No 370 had come from our left here, but the No 347
heads off North with the non tfl route 269 for company |
The No 347 then accompanied the other route back through Upminster and on through the countryside of Hall Lane and Shepherd's Hill before reaching Harold Wood.
 |
| St Mary's Lane at first the No 347 bus is alone |
 |
At crossroads in Upminster with the
back of a No 370 going left |
 |
| Crossing over the Southend Arterial Road |
 |
Cockabourne Court after crossing the
Cockabourne bridge as we entered Harold Wood |
The change came at Harold Wood station, where the No 347 continued north to intercept the A12 and turned left here to run to Gallows Corner Tesco's. It made a brief connection here again with the No 346 but then it separated again and returned to the A12 where it crossed the Gallows Corner intersection and headed straight along Upper Brentwood Road or the A118. This road took us through Gidea Park and then to Romford where we terminated outside Lidl after doing the usual route around town at 1550.
 |
| An old ambulance in Gubbins lane |
 |
Once again in Tesco's bus turn around with a No 499
ahead of me |
 |
| Arrival at Romford station |
 |
| Journey's End with LIDL beside us |
I then repaired to Burger King for some food and then took the Elizabeth line and London Overground home. This time the wait at Whitechapel was a good deal longer than my outward trip so didn't get home before 1830.
