Day 247 A much nearer bus the No 371 from Kingston to Richmond.

 A different route to the usual we caught a No 410 to Wallington Green and then the No SL7 to Kingston station. Charmaine and I then meandered our way to Kingston Hall Road where there was a No 371 resting before taking us to Richmond.

The layover point in Kingston Hall Road

Service every fifteen minutes should take 45

Took the opportunity to look at the
No 514 and 515 services which are
two a day

Bus heading up to roundabout to turn round

London United's 37044 arriving

Charmaine boarding, crisps in hand for the journey

Halifax building society with strange notice
above entrance

The bus was RATP London United's electric bus 37044 and after going around the roundabout and heading back to us departed at 1315. It took us back the way we had come but using the roads rather than the pedestrianised way we had utilised. It stopped at Cromwell Road bus station at 1321 and then made its way to London Road passing the site of Norbiton bus garage. After going under the railway bridge we immediately went left onto Park Road. Initially this is all late Victorian housing but the nearer we got to Richmond Park itself ,there was more inter war and post war developments. Particularly this was the case when the road morphed into Tudor Drive it was then all 1930s housing at the earliest.

Park Road with Victorian villas east of here and more modern dwellings to the west

Typical 1930 or 1950 building type in Tudor Drive

We crossed over the main Kingston to Richmond Road into Dukes Avenue and then went right into Broughton Avenue at 1342. Next we stopped at Mariner Gardens whose dwellings seemed to be of a very similar construction to our own, which means they are Wimpey 1970s built houses. The bus went right into Ashburnham Road and this took us into Ham.

Advertisement for new Ham Community Centre

The Fox and Duck Petersham

We took Ham Street turning left and then went right into Sandy Lane which took us to the main road once more which we then followed into Petersham and on up Richmond Hill.

Warning of Deer cull in November

Richmond Hill took us to the Richmond Gate of Richmond Park and then descent began of Queens Road. After a fair while we reached Marchmont Street and turned right and then right again into Kings Road before turning right at St Matthias church to follow Church Road down to Sheen Road.

Marchmont Road Richmond

We went left at Sheen Road and drove the bus station where betwixt 1408 and 1411 we exchanged drivers. The bus then took us along Richmond High Street to the station and on to the roundabout on the Great Chertsey Road. Here the bus chose the Great Chertsey Road and headed east to reach the Manor Circus roundabout. Turning right the bus terminated at the Manor Road Sainsbury's at 1419.

Journey's End

Charmaine disembarked from the No 371

Boarding the R68

We then walked back to the main road and took a No R68 back to Richmond station. This enabled us after a while to take a train to Twickenham so as to visit a Christmas market before returning and catching the 1533 train to Wimbledon via Kingston. However, the train stopped at Raynes Park but didn't stop after that until Waterloo owing to its lateness. Apparently there had been a message from the guard over the public address system but in these 40 year old trains the sound was so weak no one on our carriage and probably few other carriages too, heard it. Thus we had to catch a train from Waterloo to Clapham Junction and then a train home from there, instead of the intended tram from Wimbledon.