Day 108, the missing part of the No 172 and the No 173

Today got off to a late start owing to our trip to Gatwick Airport with our son to take him to a zoo educators' meeting at Edinburgh Zoo. So after we had gone back to bed for a bit it was the 1150 train that I caught to Balham. The Northern line conveyed me from thence to Elephant and Castle where I was able to rejoin the No 172 route we had exited on Saturday.

Back at the same bus stop at Elephant and Castle

London General's EH180 

I duly boarded London General's EH180 at 1239 which headed up London Road to St George's Circus then along Waterloo Road past the station and across Waterloo Bridge to terminate at the Aldwych Drury Lane stop at 1251.

Running around the Imax

At the Aldwych all of twelve minutes after boarding

Disembarkation at the Aldwych

I decided the quickest way to reach the No 173 was to walk to Holborn Underground station and take a Central line westbound to Newbury Park.  I was really lucky with the timing of this being on the platform one minute before a Newbury Park terminating service was due. The literature said it should take 31 minutes but having boarded at 1301 we reached Newbury Park at 1335.

The Great Eastern Railway origins of this station are evident in the
support brackets for the canopies at Newbury Park

Looking down the platform to an approaching Central line train from Central London

After a brief comfort stop as I left the station there was a No 396 outside destination King George's Hospital which was exactly where I had to go. The bus left at 1338 and reached the destination at 1347 just as Arriva T187 was leaving its layover point to commence route No 173. A quick change was thus effected but this made it impossible to photograph the bus before boarding.

Wending our way through King George's Hospital on the No 173

The route took me initially back the way I had just come from Little Heath but there it struck out to the East along Chadwell Heath Lane which later became SE. On arrival at Chadwell Heath the bus route does a strange circuit around a triangle with what was the police station but is now a Wetherspoons pub within it.

What must have originally been Chadwell Heath police station. POLICE is chiselled into the parapets above the windows

 Again heading east for a while I was following the same route I had done before on the Nos 62 and 86. The bus turns south once more when it reaches Whalebone Lane which took us back to the Becontree Leisure Centre and as we entered Wood Lane we joined the No 175 route. The bus then forks left down Heathway and part way along this road the No 174 joins forces along with the No 175 down to the old A13. Here these bus routes part company with the No 173 heading west along Ripple Road and then Alfred's Way just over half an hour after departure at 1422.

Three sequential bus routes on the Heathway Dagenham

Running along the road after Dagenham entertainment centre we pass these statues with Bobby Moore in the middle holding the World Cup

There was quite a hold up as we reached the junction to turn left towards Beckton and underneath the flyover there had obviously been quite a coming together of vehicles.

London General's SE102 has collided with a car underneath the A13 whilst on bus route No 300

Beckton DLR station

The Beckton bus terminus opposite the DLR station

Arriva's T187 at Beckton

It was quite a swift run on to Beckton station where we terminated at 1443. I then crossed the road to catch a DLR train to Canning Town, there to change to a Jubilee line to Canary Wharf and there another DLR from Heron Quays station to Lewisham and homeward.

Day one hundred and seven, most of the No 172.

It seemed like a good way of doing this bus was to utilise it to get to Islington to see a play on a Saturday evening. Therefore we caught the 1750 train to West Croydon in order to catch a train to Honor Oak Park.

Aboard a London Overground class 378-Charmaine already deep in a book!

This train arrived at the latter station at 1720 and then we walked to Brockley Rise where I had passed the turning point of the No 172 when aboard the No 171 earlier in the week.

The next No 172 laying over to run around the corner later.

EH187 with another route that starts from Brockley Rise the P12

EH187 of London General departed from Brockley Rise at exactly 1730 and the route plan on the bus stop suggested the entire journey should take 38 minutes to the Aldwych. This would be ample time to get to the King's Head Theatre for 1900 and initially the bus progressed quite swiftly. We passed the Brockley Jack at 1732 and apart from a brief hold up again at Crofton Park railway station bridge were soon on to Brockley station where we arrived at 1739. Until we reached New Cross garage we were following exactly the same route as the No 171 and although an ambulance was blocking the bus lane just at the A2/A20 junction we still reached the garage 15 minutes after departure. So far so good! Especially as the bus drivers did not exchange this time.

Disembarkation at Elephant and Castle.

From the garage the No 172 takes the A2 route rather than the way the No 171 travels through Peckham. This route becomes the Old Kent route and at 1758 I was back at the the Old Kent Road Tesco where I had disembarked the No 168. Beyond here the bus took the New Kent Road after the Bricklayers Arms junction. By the time we had reached the Elephant and Castle it was 1810 and given we needed to catch the Northern line to Angel Islington and then walk quite a way to reach the theatre, I decided we needed to alight and finish the journey another day.

Day 106, two in south London the Nos 170 and 171.

After a break for invigilating the English and Maths GCSE resits for the sixth form I was able to sally forth from Purley station at 1145. From here I took the 1148 to East Croydon and changed for the 1200 fast train from East Grinstead to Clapham Junction. At Clapham Junction I transferred to platform six where a Hounslow roundabout train at 1218 took me to Barnes. Finally I boarded a No 265 bus to Roehampton Danbury Avenue arriving at 1240. The bus stop at which the No 170 originates is three bus stops down Danbury Avenue and I eventually arrived ready to catch the bus at 1250, having already missed two buses enroute.

The first bus I missed as I was waiting to
cross into Danbury Avenue

The next bus I missed coming up Danbury Avenue 

The bus terminus, will that No 170 wait for me?

Phew yes it has, SE 209 of London General

London General Dart SE 209 departed soon after at 1252 to return back to where I had alighted earlier but the bus heads up the road towards Putney Heath in a similar way to the No 85. The Green Man was reached at 1302 but from here the bus turned right up to Tippits Corner to turn left down West Hill {the A3} into Wandsworth. Initially the bus shares the road with the No 39 and No 493 but by the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability it is the only route which runs straight into Wandsworth.
There were some roadworks at the point just before the Wandsworth one way system but this didn't retard movement of the bus for very long before we were up and running around to Wandsworth Town Hall and then on to Clapham Junction station which was achieved at 1319, just under half an hour's journey. At Arding and Hobbs the bus turns left to run along Falcon Road under the railway tracks before turning abruptly west past the northern entrance to the railway station where we caught up with the previous bus on this service.

Autumn leaves on the London Plane tree whilst we wait in Plough Lane

The bus driver was therefore asked to wait once we had turned right into Plough Lane by the Waylands Estate. We waited from 1324 to 1327 before moving on and turning right into York Road and then left into Lombard Road past Battersea Heliport and into Battersea High Street. At this point 5 minibuses from Thomas Day schools went by-were Prince George and Princess Charlotte on board? I couldn't tell because the windows were all blackened. The road eventually reaches Battersea Bridge Road and it was quite a slow chug across this giving me time to photograph the high astronomical tide which had flooded Venice that day.

High Tide 4.08M at Chelsea at 1415, this was 1345, the next tide was the highest at 4.35M

Approaching high tide at Albert Bridge

The bus turned right at the end of the bridge along the Albert Embankment before taking a left past the Chelsea Physic Garden, National Army Museum and then the Royal Hospital Chelsea war pensioners hospital. The extension of this road took us to Buckingham Palace Road just South of Victoria Coach |Station and the bus then turned up the said road to end in Victoria railway station bus station at 1352.

SE209 has arrived at Victoria bus station

Bus leaving to layover before returning to Roehampton

After a brief comfort stop I sought a means to get to Elephant and Castle to board a No 171 to Catford bus garage. It transpired there were two options: the C10 or No 148. I chose the No 148 since when I caught this in its correct position in the list it was diverted down Vauxhall Bridge Road because of 'Extinction Rebellion' protesters outside parliament.

I don't tend to use the middle arch of the Southern side of Victoria where I noticed this map of the pre-grouping LBSCR

I was interested particularly in this section of the map. East Southsea only existed from 1904-1914, and why are the Isle of Wight railways on there when they were independent concerns?

I found the bus stop in Victoria Street and duly caught a London United 'Borismaster' at 1207.

The approach to St Thomas's Hospital with yellow sign stating Westminster Bridge is closed

Victoria Street was clear but we still couldn't follow the correct route as Westminster Bridge was closed so we were diverted left just before Westminster Abbey to cross over Lambeth Bridge. This time though the road was clear to St Thomas's hospital and we regained the normal route at the southern side of Westminster Bridge and reached Elephant and Castle at 1429.

Stop D at Elephant and Castle
 the same stop I had alighted from

London General's EH171, appropriate for route No 171

We must have just missed a No 171 as I had to wait until 1438 for London General's Enduro Hybrid EH171 to pick me up at bus stop D. This route initially followed many I have taken heading along the Walworth Road to Camberwell Green which was reached at 1454. The bus here took Camberwell Church Street which meant again I passed Trotters Reliant Robin outside the Peckham Best Western. The bus reached Peckham library at 1502 and continued from here past Peckham bus station and Queens Road Peckham station to arrive at New Cross bus garage. Here a change of drivers was expedited very quickly and we were on to New Cross Gate. At the next stop I heard but couldn't see a youth being thrown off the bus but the schoolkids on the other side of the bus seemed quite concerned as to what was going on. From New Cross the bus route finally heads off into new land on its own. Instead of taking the A2 or the A20 which I have on other buses, this bus takes Shardloes Road which is signposted Brockley and at Vesta Road I saw a sign to Brockley Nature Reserve. A little further up this road we reached Brockley Cross and then dipped under the original LCDR railway line from Nunhead to Lewisham to come to rest at Brockley station at 1528. From here the bus takes Brockley Road and this joins the No 122 route just prior to the cemetery. This was a part of the journey which was very slow owing to roadworks ahead on Crofton Park station bridge compounded by the school crossing patrol of the neighbouring school.

School crossing patrol in action with cemetery to the left and
roadworks ahead

Just past this were signposts to Buckthorne Cutting Nature Reserve at the Brockley Jack and progress subsequently became much swifter up Brockley Rise where we passed the starting point of the No 172 back to Aldwych. Mental note: don't do that bus at school chucking out time!

On the South Circular a No 171 heading for the Elephant and Castle 

Soon we were at the South Circular and at 1550 we turned left and into Catford then around the one way system to come to rest at Bellingham Catford garage at 1608. Exactly 90 minutes had been taken which precluded any thought of my doing the No 172 as it was already getting dark.

Despite the operator of the No 171 being London General, the service finishes at a Stagecoach operated garage. A typical result of the randomness of bus deregulation

Journey's end with Catford Garage behind

A view of EH171 as I wait for a No 54

Thus I caught a  No 54 to Beckenham in order to catch a tram to Wandle Park which took me an hour and twenty minutes. Had I not then taken a train to Sutton I would have been late for what turned out to be a cancelled PRG (Patient Reference Group) meeting at Sutton Town Hall.

Day One hundred and five A busy day to start November with six buses and six trains caught and five tubes in order to do the Nos 167, 168 and 169

So the morning of the 1st November saw me catch a 10am train to West Croydon, then London Overground to Canada Water, Jubilee line to Stratford and finally a TFL rail class 345 to Ilford where I arrived at 1116. I walked from the station to the No 167's starting point at Hainault Street but as I approached one left. This gave me the opportunity to take a photograph of the remembrance display at Redbridge Town Hall.

Redbridge Town Hall 

Hainault Street bus stop where I had already been past on four
other buses

Stagecoach Dart No 36286 arrived at exactly the time appointed, 1141: it being a 20 minute frequency.

Stagecoach Dart 36286 at Hainault Street Ilford

At 1146 exactly half an hour after arrival I was back passing Ilford station and the route followed a number I have used in the last year back to Gants Hill Central line station at the A12 roundabout. The bus crossed straight over the roundabout into Cranbrook Road where we continued along the same route as the Nos 128 and 150 to Barkingside arriving here at 1201. At the roundabout at the north of Barkingside High Street the bus took the second left along Fencepiece Road and into Chigwell. Here the bus leaves the Greater London area and comes under Epping Forest District Council, a sub-division of Essex. By this time apart from school buses this is the only bus route that serves the area. How many locals use the bus is open to question given the size of the houses which were often gated and had four BMWs mixed with the odd 'Roller' or Bentley in front of them.

The green at Chigwell

The bus passes Chigwell station and then turns right along a parade of shops before swinging left along Chigwell Rise. After passing more massive houses the bus ran into a very rural area which apart from wher we crossed the M11 was mostly fields and trees. Climbing out of the valley we reached Buckhurst Hill station which was where I has previously caught a No 167 on the occasion of reaching Debden to catch the No 20 many moons ago. From Buckhurst Hill at 1217 the bus heads north through suburbia to reach Loughton station from the north where the bus terminated at 1225.

Autumn leaves in Essex

Loughton station with a No 66 of Arriva Herts and Essex which will go to Waltham
Cross in addition to my resting No 167.

From this point I boarded a Central line tube train bound for Northolt and transferred at Stratford to a London Overground train headed for Richmond at 1300.

The first of the class 378 London Overground units, the freight train behind
was pulled by two 52 year old class 86s of Freightliner

The London Overground would take me to Hampstead Heath where I would find a No 168. En route it was noticeable at Highbury and Islington how times have changed on the North London line since the Broad Street days of the 1970s. All four platforms had a train in them simultaneously and the station thronged with passengers and that at 1315!
I found the No 168 quite easily just down the hill from the railway station although finding bus stop D wasn't quite as obvious. It was located near to the emergency exit from the Royal Free Hospital.

The bus terminal for both routes No 168 and No 24

Our No 168 'Borismaster' LT808 of Metroline approaching from its
layover point

Belsize Park tube station

The bus headed up the hill and soon turned left down Haverstock Hill to run past Belsize Park underground station. This road becomes Chalk Farm Road as we ran into Camden Town past the Roundhouse theatre. At 1349 the bus reached Camden Town station and then ran past Euston railway station into Upper Woburn Place at 1400.
From here the bus continued south past Russell Square tube station into Southampton Row and on to Holborn Kingsway. I had been reading about the Evening Standard's campaign to reduce single use plastic and other things to help the environment and all the way down Southampton Row there were signposts advertising this.

Banners hoping to reduce single use plastic in Southampton Row

Approaching Theobald's Road

Something I have been doing for many years-not buying
 fruit that is in plastic bags. If I want an item of fruit and
 its only available wrapped in plastic I refuse to buy it 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The bus continued around the Aldwych and over Waterloo Bridge to reach the Elephant and Castle at 1432 and then down the New Kent Road. There was a small holdup at the Bricklayers Arms roundabout which meant it was 1442 when the bus terminated at Old Kent Road Tesco, although the bus stop was called Duncton Road.

My LT808 about to turn left off the Old Kent Road

In order to reach the No 169 I had to get myself to Barking which required me to find a No 381 bus in order to get to Canada Water underground station. This required quite a walk along the Old Kent Road to find Peckham Park Road but when I got to Malt Street the map suggested I was walking the wrong way. In fact I wasn't, but  just in case walked back the other way, to the next bus stop where I then realised my mistake. I found the correct bus stop at 1505 and had reached Canada Water by 1530 to take the Jubilee line to West Ham. At West Ham I took the 1543 C2C line to Shoeburyness one stop to Barking.

The No 169 that I missed heading for Barking station

Stagecoach No 10198 arriving to convey me to Clayhall

Once again when I had found bus stop that I needed- lettered D I just missed a No 169. However, unlike the No 167 it was a ten minute service, so didn't have to wait too long.  Nevertheless with darkness looming taking photographs was going to be difficult. The next bus arrived at 1609 and once again it was Stagecoach operated but a double decker, their No 10198.

Bus stop D in Barking

The bus passed Barking station at 1614 and took the second left at the roundabout just north of Barking station which is Fanshawe Avenue. This road became Ilford Lane as we crossed the stream (Loxford Water) and into the London Borough of Redbridge.
On arrival at Ilford Sainsbury's the bus then does a circuit owing to the one way system and then returned me back to the opposite side of the road from where I had caught the No 167 five hours previously.

The darkness made for difficult photography from the bus, this being Ilford Sainsbury's

However, from here the bus turned left past where all the bus layovers are made for buses terminating at Ilford, which I had hitherto not seen and beyond this we passed the northern side of Ilford Traincare depot along Ley Street. There was quite a hold up at the roundabout here as a result of single line traffic working but once past this the bus made good progress to the A12 Eastern Avenue.
Here the bus crossed into Horns Lane and back into Barkingside and I rejoined the No 167 route once we had arrived at Barkingside magistrates court at 1655. From there the bus ran up to the roundabout at Fulwell Cross where we caught up with the previous No 169 Stagecoach 10309 that I had just missed. This bus has its hazard lights on and it soon became obvious the IBUS control had told the driver to head back to Ilford. My bus however then took the first left down Fulwell Avenue and the bus continued for quite a while down this road until we terminated at The Glade at 1707.

Stagecoach 10198 on arrival at The Glade

Terminal bus stop at Clayhall The Glade

I discussed why I was taking photographs of the bus at the terminus with the driver and I then rejoined his bus until it reached Barkingside station. From there I took the Central line to Oxford Circus and then the Victoria line to Vauxhall with the intention of meeting my wife at the Rose Community Centre Battersea. Having caught the No 156 and walked to the community centre I found it closed and it was evident she had already left for home. I therefore caught a train from Battersea Park and finally returned home around 8PM, a full ten hours since my earlier departure.