The Number 396 Route

Thursday 13 September 2012

 Mary and I got to Ilford quite easily, but finding the bus stop took a little more effort, and a couple of very helpful passers by.  Still, we were off by 10.20, on what was scheduled to be an 18 minute journey to Little Heath and the King George Hospital.  Linda was on holiday  having, we hoped, a lovely time.  The weather was wonderful, though it had been a bit chilly to start with, and we were only sorry that it was a single decker, as the views are bound to be restricted.

Setting off along Ilford’s High Street, we were interested to see a shop called ‘Bodgers’, reflecting that their standards must be high to compensate for the unfriendly connotations of their name.

 Coming past the station, we admired Redbridge’s fine flower baskets, though we were moving to fast for Mary to get a perfect picture.  We also like the Great Spoon of Ilford, whose floral decorations were truly magnificent.  I can’t remember when I read some research that suggested that customers, all other things being equal, with choose a flowery pub against a plain one, but am quite prepared to believe its accuracy. 

 We headed out of Ilford, and passed Valentine’s Park, still with its encouraging Olympics banners, and then Valentine ‘s Mansion, now available for general use having been acquired by Redbridge Council in 1912 and made beautiful with the assistance of lottery money.

After this, we were in suburban housing, broken only by visits to Gants Hill Station, and Newbury Park Station with its remarkable concrete canopy. 


We were also amazed by William Torbitt Primary School 

whose building could well be mistaken for a town hall.

Now we travelled along the A 12 for a few minutes, before turning off to Little Heath, where we passed Redbridge College   We hoped that they had not been too affected by the sudden change in GCSE English grades.  We also hoped that this will have been sorted out fairly by the time you read this post. 

Anyway, this brought us into the attractive grounds of the Hospital by 10.54, not much longer than the advised time.