We - Linda and I - were on our second bus of the day when we boarded the 65, at 11.20, at its head stop at Ealing Broadway station, and were enjoying a beautiful sunny day for our trip. Ealing Broadway was busy with traffic and shoppers, but we were able to glimpse the Blue Plaque for Lady Byron, a remarkable woman who managed to walk out on the most romantic poet of the 19th century having failed to convert him to her virtuous way of life.
Soon after South Ealing Station we passed the Assyrian Society of the UK, a group which represents the Christians of Iraq, who speak Aramaic (like Jesus) and who have been persecuted by just about everyone. (Until now we had only known them as the people whose cohorts were gleaming with purple and gold.)On a lighter note we found a hair dresser called 'Angels; which offered half head highlights for £50 and full head for £60: as Linda said, it made the full head look a bargain.
We admired Ealing's handsome hanging baskets, along with other signs of spring as we reached the river at Brentford, and saw signs for the Thames Path as well as the Musical Museum. We were under the Heathrow flight path, of course, but were insulated from the noise inside our bus.
The standpipe tower at Kew Bridge Steam Museum was the next landmark, and then we crossed Kew Bridge to follow the long wall of Kew Gardens. At this stage an inspector boarded, the first we have had for many weeks, though we have had inspectors on bendy buses. We reached South Kew, and passed the grounds of London Welsh Rugby Club and then Falcons Preparatory School, apparently based in an old fire station, with its strapline 'Boys will be boys, ours lead the pack'.
Richmond is very smart, and we admired shops and houses as we went past Richmond Rail Station before popping round the Bus Station and heading on towards Ham. The Poppy Factory and the Star and Garter Home led us to the spot where the Capital Ring crosses the Thames Path and then on to Ham Polo ground and Richmond Golf Course, at which point we passed into the Royal borough of Kingston upon Thames.
On this visit we passed Tiffin Boys' School, well separated from the Girls, and with the motto 'faire sans dire' which looks to cynical ex school teachers like me to be a good working rule for school students. We passed the two bus stations to reach Brook Street at the end of our trip at 12.15. The sunshine and clear signs of spring made this a very pleasant tour of some of the smarter bits of West London.
65 is an interesting route. The end of route becomes Chessington, World of Adventures during the night. The usual practice is if the night route differs from its day counterpart, it will be N-prefixed. Just don't understand why TfL doesn't call it N65 in this case?
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