The Number 134 Route

Monday 30 March 2009

This was a bus that we did very near the start of the project (with the 6, to be precise) and so to come back to it and blog it now is a reminder of what a lot of ground we have covered since then.

No sooner had we stepped off the 460 and crossed the road than the 134 rolled up: so much for exploring the delights of North Finchley.  Actually, the 134 is a fairly frequent service, especially if one is waiting for a different bus in the centre of Camden.

Friern Barnet Town Hall had magnificent magnolias outside it and, as we crossed the North Circular, with its almost stationary eastbound traffic, we had magnificent views of Alexandra Palace.

Passing a remarkable number of places where we could have had our nails done, we sailed through Muswell Hill, spotting the Blue Plaque for Peter Sellers  and on through Highgate to Archway (again) and the Whittington Hospital, where Mary did a Medical Anthropology course when she was a student.  Down the hill and under the Archway, past Tufnell Park and into Fortess Road, where we saw another Blue Plaque, this one for Ford Madox Brown.   

The Kentish Town Road was slow.  A young man at the back of the bus was preaching into his mobile phone - about how God knows everything and all nature’s gifts should be free – for almost the whole journey.  Through Camden, pausing opposite Sainsbury's, we headed along Bayham Street, one of many streets where Charles Dickens is said to have lived.  Down Hampstead Road, and we reached the Euston Road at UCH, which feels like the family hospital since Chloe was born there, and they sorted out Jo’s broken wrist, among other events.  

On along Gower Street, we noted the vermin embellished balconies of the School of Medicine and Tropical Diseases, to Tottenham Court Road and the end of our journey.  This is a bus that Jo usually hates, as it stops before getting to the West End if you are coming from Camden.  But the whole journey demonstrated that it is a really good route, and after coming all the way from North Finchley, it's not surprising that it wants to stop at Centre Point.