The Number 267 Route

Tuesday 22 September 2009

This was the route that would bring us back from Fulwell Bus Garage to Hammersmith, the 33 having brought us there.  The drivers sitting around the bus garage seemed a little vague about where we might find our bus, suggesting that we take the 33 back!  Our language skills were not good enough to explain why this was anathema, so Mary and I walked up to the crossroads and found the head stop of the 267, boarding at 12.35. London bus maps, though inspirational and free, are a bit impressionist when it comes to the siting of stops.  We were delighted that it was a double decker.

The route did not overlap with the 33 at all, curving north where the 33 had headed south.  We passed through Twickenham with the William Webb Ellis pub  and the Garryowen Club there to remind us of who first picked up the ball and ran with it, and which Club preferred kicking ahead.  Lots of young people getting on and off the bus pointed to the proximity of Richmond College, whose website, I am glad to say, makes clear that they use Moodle for their VLE, as this gives me an excuse to say 'hello Tim'.  We knew we were in west London as there were constant aeroplanes overhead.

The West Middlesex Hospital made the fifth hospital of our day, though the first on this route, and we passed the gateway to Syon Park.  A number of private schools, including Latymer Upper and the Green School testified to the number of prosperous people in this area of London, and there were some handsome properties. 

The Grand Union Canal at Brentford Lock was soon followed by Kew Bridge, and we were back into the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, reaching Hammersmith Bus Garage at 13.25, a much faster trip than the 33 which had taken us to Fulwell.