Hayes End (Kingsway) to Hounslow Bus Station
Thursday July 18th 2013
Having missed our weekly outing last week (work and other
family commitments taking up all spare time) we thought we should press on and
complete two H buses this week, as Hounslow was beginning to lose its charms.
Our previous route, the H28 had left us at the Bulls Bridge Tescos and the
original plan had been to walk along the canal to Hayes and Harlington, find
some other sort of bus and then get lost looking for the H98 start. In the end, after a certain amount of
faffing we called a cab from Tescos and a rather surprised driver delivered us
to the resting place of the H28, tucked away in a corner of Hayes called Wood
End. Extravagant yes (Linda never takes cabs) but not in the scheme of things
when you think we have spent about £10 over a more than 4 year period, so this
has been a really cheap hobby. It was hot and we had started later than usual
due to Linda’s detour back to Feltham YOI – see the postscript for the H26.
Another excuse? We had been rather traumatized by getting lost trying to follow
the Crane, and did not want a repeat trying to follow the canal.
Hayes End, or possibly Wood End as it seems to be locally,
was a spacious residential area with a triangle of (by now parched) green
adjacent to which the buses had a stand. We were really pleased to see the H98
was a double decker and were about to leap aboard when the driver explained he
was not going anywhere as he had broken down and while we were chatting the
single decker behind drove off without us. We asked why some were single and
some double and he told us he had started this morning on a single decker,
which had broken down, so they (Hounslow Bus garage) gave him a double decker.
We said they were unlikely to be giving him a third bus by which time another
single decker rolled up and let us sit on board while the driver had a 6 minute
break. From this you can see it is a
pretty frequent service, though also not busy at mid-day.
Leaving the residential area with its intermittent parks,
floral roundabouts and other delights behind we drove away from what clearly
used to be country lanes to join a straight dual carriageway, bordered by some
shops and other civic buildings such at Hayes Police Station and handily close
Uxbridge County Court for quick dispensation of justice (or not).
The bus turned right off the main road, passing down the
rather pleasant Church Road complete with Church Green and a distant view of St
Mary’s Church – apparently the oldest building in Hayes, which was largely
farmland or brickfields until 20
th century manufacturing firms set
up shop here and the housing followed.
The
Fountain House Hotel
had some sort of plaque, which we could not see but it probably relates to its
earlier history as a school where the totally unqualified (in teaching terms)
Eric Blair aka George Orwell taught.
Much more 21
st Century is the
Holmesgate Place development. And I can see anyone
moving there would need the H98 to get to more important transport links.
As we joined Botwell Lane there was some traffic queuing but
the driver let both doors open to cool the bus, which made it a more pleasant
ride than our previous 1-door only trip.
As well as St Mary’s we had passed a chapel and then came one of those
really recognizable RC modern churches that seem very typical in the suburbs
all round London’s fringes, this one dedicated to the Immaculate Heart. Hayes
Town has probably been spruced up; the roundabouts were newly paved and cobbled
and there was an exuberance of hanging baskets and quite a few local shoppers
as well. Traffic is managed too with a bus only lane taking a service road
behind and crossing over the Grand Union canal. Here is where the various
lighter and heavier industries developed and flourished as this part of outer
London offered a choice of routes from the West into London: road rail and
canal. Just past the bridge there is a large building labelled YMCA though from
this
website it seems more about
local Youth work rather than cheap accommodation??
At the station – Hayes and Harlington – more people got on
and the smell of coffee was very evident, not surprising as the Nestle factory
is just nearby, though unfortunately for Hayes not for
much longer.
The railway station’s name implies it serves both localities
though I would have to say it seems nearer to Hayes but sure enough the bus,
having crossed over the M4, then arrives at Harlington Corner, and much slower traffic along the
Bath Road. Being on the main road we saw little of what remains of old
Harlington save for the White Hart. The proximity of the airport means there is
that mixture of bargain accommodation – Travelodge, Premier Inn – airport
parking and warehousing type facilities.
Although a Red Route, traffic seemed very slow today and combined with
the heat led to a kind of torpor in your author which meant that after several
trips in this area it took till today to twig that Cranford, as in Cranford
Technical College is named for the River Crane.
Once we left the slow moving main roads behind this was in
fact a very pleasant approach into Hounslow – residential with enough shops to
serve the locals and the usual sprinkling of schools and places of worship.
They also have the only other Mornington Crescent outside of Camden, the
Northern Line and Radio 4. This route calls at all the key Hounslow stops:
tube, shops etc and is one of the few routes to finish at the Bus Station –
actually more of a garage with stops than a true bus station.
This is a long route combining old lanes with major arterial
roads and as a result the times given on the bus stop – 32 minutes is way off
the mark as today we took 50. And so we say goodbye to the H routes from Harrow through Hatton Cross to Hounslow...
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