Day 168 Back to Hornchurch for the No 256 and then on the way back we stopped at Stratford for the No 257.

 I left on the No 410 bus so as to reach West Croydon in time for the 1131 to Canada Water. The 1130 to Victoria from Waddon would have just missed it. However, whilst aboard this train it was announced it was cancelled owing to a fault.

The 1131 still in platform, but 1146 indicated as next train

 I had to therefore disembark and catch the next London Bridge train at 1145 to intercept with the Jubilee line at 1204 where I travelled east to West Ham. At West Ham I had arranged to meet Tim and we met up eventually at 1230 where I had planned to meet at 1215. From here it took 28 minutes to reach Hornchurch and from the station we walked down the road to the start point of the No 257 having dropped into a shop on the way for a tuna and sweetcorn baguette.

Current state of Officers' Mess RAF Hornchurch

Plan for the building when rebuilt

RAF Hornchurch Heritage Centre

The TFL website said the bus started at Miramar Way but it was actually further South opposite the RAF Hornchurch Heritage Centre. The bus was laying over in a lay-by just beyond the heritage centre.

Stagecoach 19793 emerging from lay-by

Bus approaching first stop of the route

The Stagecoach bus serving the route was No 19793 from Rainham garage and this arrived at 1319. The bus headed north back past the tube station to the centre of Hornchurch at 1327. The bus continued due north past the library and the Queen Theatre to Emerson Park railway station. Beyond here the bus turned right along Ardleigh Green Road and became the only service through this built up area which I had heard the previous day was causing substantial hold ups on the A127 Southend Arterial Road, owing to the roadworks along it. Just before the road was crossed the bus route joined the No 294.

Bus stop in Gubbins Lane

None of the No 256s we saw had Miramar Way
as destination they either said St George's Park
or St George's Hospital 

Beyond this major road the bus turned left up Gubbins Lane and this took us to Harold Wood station. After this the A12 was crossed and the bus headed left towards Romford along Hilden Avenue. At the end of this the bus swung right up Straight Road. The bus is at this point doing a strange circular trajectory up Noak Hill Road before going right  and then left swapping and re-swapping roads with the routes covering by No 499 or No 294. Finally we came to a halt at 1354 on Whitchurch Road. The bus was booked to take 32 minutes but actually took three minutes more. There were a number of deer by a stream on the left side of this road. However we immediately boarded a No 294 and this did a circuit to pass the bottom of Whitchurch Road and just beyond that there were 15 Fallow Deer at the road side.

Arrival at Noak Hill with a No 294 in front of it

We disembarked at Harold Hill station and caught an Elizabeth line train to Stratford arriving at 1445. 

Great Eastern train passing through Harold Wood station

There was a No 257 resting in the distance but this was not the bus that came to convey us to Walthamstow. At 1450 we were aboard Stagecoach No 12430 of Leyton depot on a journey that is booked to take 44 minutes. 

Tim indicating bus frequency

A No 257 resting in distance but not our bus

Our actual mount to Walthamstow

On way to Maryland there is mural which depicts a No 257 in Stratford bus station

The route took us back to Maryland station  and then up the Leytonstone High Road to reach the Green Man roundabout at 1515.

Here the bus turns left along the Whipps Cross Road which takes us through semi rural conditions with Waltham Forest and then at the end of this road we headed left towards the Bakers Arms along Lea Bridge Road. At the Bakers Arms the bus crosses over into Hoe Street and ran into Walthamstow bus station at 1535 which means the journey took only one minute longer than the booked time.
(The remaining photos seem to corrupt this blog post so I've had to leave them out)


We moved into The Goose for a pint each and then returned home via Victoria line to Finsbury Park and then Thameslink to East Croydon. I then caught a No 407 bus home with our son who had got back from work at Crawley at exactly the same time.

 

Day 167 To Aldgate for the No 254 and No 255 on the way home via Balham.

My original intention was to catch the 1030 to Victoria but just before it arrived an announcement was made about problems causing disruption near Clapham Junction. I thus waited the extra 5 minutes and caught the fast train to London Bridge. Had I gone to Victoria I would have used the District and Circle line to Aldgate but from London Bridge it was easier to walk. The train arrived at London Bridge at 1101 and I walked there via London Bridge, Monument Street, Lower Thames Street, Mark Lane, Fenchurch Street Station, Fenchurch Street and Aldgate where I arrived at the bus station at 1120 where the display said the next bus was in twelve minutes.

The next No 254 resting before taking me to
 Holloway

Arrival at pick up point for LT337

At 1132 LT337 of  Arriva arrived at the stop from its resting point in the bus station yard. The display had changed to next bus in fifteen minutes prior to its arrival, so I was a little concerned. Nevertheless we departed smartly turning right and heading up the Whitechapel Road past Aldgate East and Whitechapel Underground stations. There were large numbers of police in the Aldgate East area so I presume there was soon to be a union demonstration, perhaps from the London Hospital.

Whitechapel Road before Cambridge Heath Road turning

After Whitechapel station the bus turned left up Cambridge Heath Road to Bethnal Green, where the Museum of Childhood is closed until the coming summer.

Bethnal Green approaching Museum of Childhood

Continuing north we stopped at the stop just after the Regent's canal where we entered the London Borough of Hackney. This was the nearest stop to Ash Grove depot and here we exchanged drivers for two minutes, from 1154 to 1156. The road changes name to Mare Street at the same point and continues straight into Hackney town centre.

Interesting venue under the railway viaduct in Cambridge Heath

Beside Hackney Town Hall with Hackney Empire
ahead of me

After dipping under the railway bridge I reached the point where I had disembarked from the previous bus and from here onwards I was retracing the same route I had covered on the No 253. So up Amherst Road, right into Dalston Lane which morphs into Lower Clapton Road following this left to pass Clapton pond and on to the roundabout. Straight over this took us into Clapton Road and later Clapton Common which delivered us to Stamford Hill Broadway at 1228.

The original Clapton Tram depot

A No 253 coming the other way

Stamford Hill Broadway at point of crossing the A10

A No 254 closely followed by a No 253 going the same way

From here we continued on the A107 straight over the A10, the road now called Amhurst Park until the end where we turned left onto Seven Sisters Road to Manor House and on then to Finsbury Park. We took Isledon and Tollington Road to reach the Holloway Road which after crossing the bus took the left fork and terminated at the first stop in the Caledonian Road at 1246.

Passing Manor House

Final arrival in the Caledonian Road
Holloway

This looks likely an old bus or tram depot opposite where the bus terminated

To get to the next bus in Balham required me to find the Northern line and at the same stop where I alighted both the No 29 and No 253 would take me to Camden Town. So the first one to arrive, a No 29, was taken at 1251. I took the first southbound train which was a Charing Cross branch train to Kennington and changed there for Balham. This route should have been quicker but I had no way of knowing. I didn't have to wait long for either train and at 1335 I emerged from Balham Underground station to see a No 255 waiting.

Just had time for this before boarding bus

I quickly took a photo of the front of Arriva's ENL58 and noted the timetable said the route should take 38 minutes. The bus left at 1337 and swiftly turned left along Bedford Hill to reach the Balham High Road but soon swung east along Old Devonshire Road and then Weir Road to turn right down Radbourne Road to almost reach the northeast corner of Tooting Bec Common. 

Typical late Victorian or Edwardian dwellings in Balham

Since leaving Balham High Road this bus is the only route to cover this area until Emmanuel Road runs into Thornton where the bus turned right and made for the A23 at Streatham Hill railway station. Into Streatham High Road at 1352 I was now covering a road I had previously covered on 8 different bus routes. This number thinned to 7 as we took the A23 Croydon fork at St Leonard's Church and continued to decrease once we approached the borough boundary at Hermitage Bridge Norbury. Climbing up Norbury High Street the bus took the right called Stanford Road and this took us after a brief sojourn in the London Borough of Croydon into the London Borough of Merton. Here the housing is inter war years rather than the late Victorian and Edwardian styles of Balham and Streatham. The bus headed right to the end of this road before turning left into Rowan Road and then went in a straight line towards the centre of Pollards Hill and having passed the library we terminated in South Lodge Avenue at 1420. The bus therefore took 43 minutes.

Journey's End at Pollards Hill

Pollards Hill is rather isolated from the area to its south with the only practical way to get home the No 463 bus which luckily arrived at 1423. It is quite a tortuous route and it was after 3 pm before I walked through the front door.

Day 166 Having delivered the wife to a London theatre the opportunity was taken to go to Euston and catch the No 253.

 Or so I thought! Once at the bus station it was evident that no buses were using it as works for HS2 had closed the bus station at least for the weekend. There was a very helpful guy on hand to explain where I needed to go and so I 'hoofed' it to Mornington Crescent Underground station which was where the No 253 was currently terminating and departing from.

The map explaining all the changes

The bus stop E where I should have boarded

The first stop north which the No 168 serves but not
the 253

The second stop I missed

The third stop not being served

There were three stops en route I missed and it took me the best part of fifteen minutes to walk up Eversholt Street and beyond Mornington Crescent station where it was indicated the route was starting from Camden High Street.

A No 253 waiting to terminate beside Mornington Crescent Underground station

The route in purple should take 51 minutes

The No 253 approaching along Camden High Street

Boris Bus LT540 of Arriva

There was quite a wait but eventually Arriva's LT540 arrived picking me up at 1507. There were some road works in the High Street and to compound that one of Metroline's fairly new double deckers on the No 134 had broken down, so it was 9 minutes before we reached Camden Road. The route we followed from here I hadn't used since doing the No 29 in the Autumn of 2017 but was almost a straight line along Camden Road to Holloway at the The Nags Head where Parkhurst Road becomes the Seven Sisters Road.

A strange building for a methodist church in Finsbury Park

This road then took us through Finsbury Park at 1532 to Manor House. From here I was on new ground as the bus took Seven Sisters Road a bit further, before swinging right into Amherst Park parallel at least at first with the New River. 

The New River curving away from Amhurst Park

From Holloway onwards I will be repeating this journey on the No 254, although it has a different starting point. The bus then ran into Stamford Hill at 1542 and over into Clapton Common which eventually leads to Clapton Pond. From the Pond, which was reached at 1556 we repeated a number of other routes past Hackney Baths. We  travelled down Cricketfield Road, Pembury Road and then left just before Hackney Downs station to terminate prior to reaching Hackney Central Station at 1606. The journey took 59 minutes instead of the booked 51, all of which was lost in Camden High Street.

LT540 departing to lay over at Hackney Central

Stop says towards Cambridge Heath
but No 253 goes no further.
Normally bus stops say or other
 buses terminating here if a bus terminates
at that particular stop.

To return home I climbed up to Hackney Central station and then used the walkway to reach Hackney Downs station. I just missed a train to Liverpool Street but only had 15 minutes to wait for the next one from Chingford at 1628. At Liverpool Street I just about managed to fight off the desire for a pastry as they smelt so inviting, but at £6 were rather steep and caught the Circle line to Farringdon and then the Thameslink to East Croydon.

Day 165 another foray to the far east for the No 252 but at least it was a much brighter day than on Wednesday

 I just realised I would miss the London Bridge train so caught a No 410 bus to West Croydon in order to take the London Overground at 1046 to Canada Water. From there I changed onto the Jubilee line at 1117 and took the train  to West Ham to change again to the District line eastbound at 1129. The first train was for Barking and I took this and then alighted at the terminus and boarded the following train to take me to Hornchurch where I arrived at 1159. The No 252 actually stops at the Underground station but I thought I'd walk into town to the starting point as I had already been sitting down for an hour and a half. 

My bus laying over on the SW side
 of the Hornchurch town centre triangle

It took about 10 minutes to walk and I found that the bus doesn't start from where it was laying over but on the northern side of the triangle of roads in the town centre.

This is the fifth time I have called at this bus stop 
with the No 248 only the previous week

Stagecoach 10168 approaching

The bus departed at 1216 and comprised Stagecoach No 10168. It immediately returned me back to the Underground station and took me past it and onto the airfield estate where it soon became the only bus route. Much of the open airfield is Hornchurch Country Park but the domestic area is currently an almost finished estate of houses. Once we had wound around the area we came to some traffic lights where the bus turned right and a little way up the road passed RJ Mitchell Primary School on the right, the name recalling the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire.

A much older double decker on the same route number on Airfield Way with road on left leading to other roads all named after world war two airfields

One of many RAF relevant place names we
passed this one named after Sir Hugh

Just after the school the bus turned left signposted Elm Park station where we arrived at 1229. Beyond the station the bus turned left along Elm Park Avenue and only after a brief spell where there had been other bus routes the No 252 forges its own path again. The bus turned right at the lights at the end into Harrow Lodge Park and this road continued until we reached Roneo Corner where I had been last week on the No 248 to Cranham. The bus from here ran into Romford as the No 248 had exited Romford and we headed for the station where the bus driver was exchanged betwixt 1243 and 1245. 

I had followed a route from Collier Row to Romford station on the No 247 but this bus doesn't use the same route and after going around the ring road as far as the Brewery returns to take Mawney Road once again as the sole user of a road. This road crossed the A12 and the bus continued across this thoroughfare heading straight on as the road is renamed White Hart Lane. 

The junction of White Hart Lane and Collier Row Road

At the end of this road the bus turned right into Collier Row Road and the bus terminated at the shops just before the main roundabout in the settlement at 1306. The bus timetable said the bus ought to take 45 minutes and it took 50 so was fairly close to schedule.

The Collier Row shopping centre where the bus goes
ahead to turn around the roundabout and heads back on the opposite side of the road

I returned on a No 247, as this was a quicker route back to Romford and then caught an Elizabeth line train to Whitechapel and London Overground from here back to West Croydon. I spent some time at Stratford admiring the view en route so didn't get home until 4 pm.

Day 164 to North London for the No 251 on a cold and murky day.

At 1030 I left for London Victoria from Waddon and by 1144 had reached Arnos Grove tube station having changed from the Victoria to the Piccadilly line at Finsbury Park. Arnos Grove is one of Charles Holden's very distinctive 1930's buildings for the Piccadilly line extensions and is the start point for a journey by bus to Edgware station on the Northern line.

Arnos Grove Piccadilly line station

The final stop for the No 251 coming from Edgware

There are bus stops outside the station but the No 251 doesn't service these, although it does layover there. The first stop is actually on the opposite side of the road. 

Bus laying over for no more than 5 minutes

DE21064 approaching the start point

All the buses are dirty after nine consecutive nights of sub zero temperatures which have meant that the winter maintenance teams in Enfield and Barnet have been out spreading rock salt and clay on the roads. Thus it was impossible to take photographs of the journey once inside the bus. The extensive low cloud caused by slightly less cold air invading from the northwest meant it was very gloomy and once we were on the higher parts of the journey around Totteridge and Mill Hill it would have made for very foggy shots at best.

The bus headed at first mostly in  a northwesterly direction from the station straight across the New Southgate roundabout, up Oakleigh Road South and then as it crossed the railway lines out of King's Cross in a little kink, this road became Oakleigh Road North. This brought us to Whetstone where we crossed almost directly over the A1000 at 1200 to pass Totteridge and Whetstone tube station as we descended to the Dollis Valley and the Dollis Brook. The opposite side of the valley was a higher climb and we entered the cloud base as we reached Totteridge Village and Common where there were lakes which were frozen. After passing Hendon Wood Lane, the bus took the left turn down Highwood Hill. On a sharp bend we should have stopped at a stop called Holcombe Hill but there were road works leading to Single Alternate Line Working and thus we had to go on to the next stop which rather upset one of the passengers as it was a long haul back up the hill to where she would have preferred to alight. Eventually having descended out of the cloud as we drove along Lawrence Road we reached the A1 at the roundabout by Mill Hill Broadway. We left the bus station here at 1222 and took the left initially before following the route Nos 114 and 204 to Burnt Oak tube station. We turned left onto the Edgware road and then ran up that to the junction with Edgware High Street and terminated at 1237 at the Underground station. The journey according to the timetable at Arnos Grove said it should take 46 minutes and it took exactly 46 minutes. I was quite surprised given how rural the route was between Totteridge and Mill Hill that the bus was as busy as it was but a good many people got off at Mill Hill.

 Once more disembarking at Edgware station

For the next bus I would have needed to get to Hornchurch so I decided it might be easier to go home and leave that for another day. I caught a Northern line to Euston then walked to St Pancras and took a Three Bridges train to Norwood Junction where I changed for home arriving at 1500.