The Number 43

Friern Barnet (Halliwick Park) to London Bridge Station

Thursday June 6 2019

Having finished my previous route at Archway I travelled five stops on the Northern Line to get out at that very quiet station Woodside Park and walked from there to Friern Barnet  For once TFL had come up with a sensible back streets route and this being Barnet the walk was entirely salubrious.

I had walked past the Dwight School and noticed it was not supported by Barnet so of course Google confirmed it as independent school – I saw mainly boys in a small playground facing the street but they had gone in by the time the bus passed. Nearby is Friern Barnet Town Hall – a rather handsome curved building dating from 1938, now flats apparently.

This just about concludes the short westward bit of the route and from now on it is decidedly north /south, so at times we were into the sun (when it wasn't raining). Just before we crossed the North Circular there was a deserted car showroom – a sign perhaps of declining car sales, though a large Tesco had set up next door. A patch of grass near by the ever busy A405 declared itself Doggy Day Care – presumably pets minding traffic noise less than people??

Once over the North Circular the passengers were quite numerous and there was an open library (Barnet having shut the one that used to be named as the start of this route though the community has kept it running), this one rather more modern than many. There followed a steep climb out of Barnet borough and into Muswell Hill in Harringay borough – with the rain and the narrowing roads progress was slow though there is a 20mph limit anyway, in keeping with many of the other local authorities. 

Muswell Hill. Ignoring the property porn aspect of this siteit does capture far better than I could from a moving bus on a rainy day, the surprising hilliness of the area. Red brick Edwardian homes certainly dominate and while some of the shops have modernised the Broadway demonstrates the heyday of local shopping centres with its grand parade and detailed plasterwork on the cornices.

Once we had climbed to the top and negotiated the roundabout we were continuing to head south passing many of the independent shops of Muswell Hill with their Thursday shoppers. Leaving commerce behind and threading its way between Highgate and Queens Wood the bus passes a small and somewhat scruffy cottage with a plaque for Peter Sellers’ childhood home.

Once up at the top it was Highgate Station where most sensible people heading for London Bridge got off and onto the Northern Line.

Having reached one of the higher points in North London the only way was down and down the Archway Road we went.  Unfortunately due to a very misty day the Shard was not as clearly visible on the horizon as it should be but certainly coming down this route offers you one of the protected views of St Paul’s as well. 

This approach offers a grand view of the eponymous Arch as the bus heads downhill; at one point there were some school age children hovering near the middle, which must be very tempting if your route home takes you across the span. On the right was pub named for the suffragist and peace movement founder Charlotte Despard – on the whole I associate her more with the Battersea area but I suppose having done time at Holloway prison gives her a local link?

The Archway traffic re-organisation is quite impressive and on the whole has given some more protection to pedestrians and cyclists.Aldi had a newish supermarket near the station and two window cleaners were smartening up the exterior – on balance hanging from a cradle may be safer than teetering on a ladder?

Having negotiated Archway there was nothing for it but following the entire length of the Holloway Road, retracing much of the recently ridden 17. The Holloway Road throws everything at you: a large cinema venue, small shops, larger supermarkets and a couple of rail and underground stations too. One of the surprises was a Marks & Spencer closing this week and somewhere offering Triples table tennis – this is evidently a thing and you can attempt it on the Holloway Road.

More serious was the exhibition Journey to Justice at the Resource for London centre – by the time you read this it will have closed but maybe you will catch it somewhere else?

Also closed but now re-purposed as a Wetherspoons Pub is the former Coronet Cinema but you can see some of the former glory here. The front retains a good font.

Also worth a mention, or possibly to be avoided if you are allergic to puns, is the Piebury Corner Pie shop alerting us to our imminent arrival at the continuing roadwork show that is Highbury & Islington. The Central Library, which I take to be Islington’s central library, has some rather splendid statues of Spenser & Bacon who would certainly fit the category of Dead White Brits.

Talking of decorative statuary or plaster work the Hen & Chickens on the corner does well.

Unsurprisingly Upper Street had changed little since we were last this way though today I just managed to catch a wedding at the Town Hall and it seemed to me the parish church of St Mary had grown some scaffolding since last we passed, making a civil wedding the more attractive (photographic) option.

We actually made good progress past the Angel but once we turned into the City Road things somewhat ground to a halt not helped by wide vehicles straying into the bus lane . I think our model of bus may have had one of those automatic beepers if you get too close (pedestrian or vehicle) and it was working overtime down this stretch, certainly time for us to go 'in and out of the Eagle', nearby which we caught up with the previous 43 (possibly broken down). Old Street has its very own set of roadworks too and the nearby workers were spilling out in search of lunch.

Close by is Wesley's Chapel offering an oasis if you want some peace.

Passing Finsbury Square and Moorfields was at walking pace.

By now the camera had gone on strike and I was more than a little distracted by my fellow front seat passengers evidently tourists but as he had been to London before there was a certain amount of ‘mansplaining’ going on – not always accurate – ‘That high wall must be a Museum‘  he said ‘No I think it may be the bank for the whole of the country’ she opined.

'We are heading for the monuments'  – no just the one. And of course that common error – we are going to London Bridge and SouthWORK bridge . Their destination appeared to be the Shard which of course you see less of the closer you get.

The river views were good enough and reduced them both to silence as they headed off – one stop early and I stayed on till the 43 bus, with the same driver as we started with, trundled into London Bridge Bus station some 95 minutes after we left Barnet – what a marathon to drive/ride/blog and doubtless read if you even got this far?!