Elmers
End Station (Elmers End Green ) to Plumstead (Woolwich)
Wednesday August 28 2019
This short planned trip, while Jo was off
blackberrying , was going to be so easy – a quick train to Elmers End and pick
up the 54 in the large car park that adjoins a huge Tescos. However that was
not to be: a six week gas works seems to have disrupted several routes and the
trams, with few pointers as to where I might find the nearest 54 – walking in
the wrong direction twice I found some folk up by Beckenham Crematorium (no
jokes please) who kindly pointed me back in the right direction – to Elmers End
Green, where there were some more road works but also a 54.
Today was a day for ‘Shopping Parades’ with
Elmers End still retaining a short one and between there and the more generous
ones of Beckenham the 54 passes Croydon Road Recreation Ground and the newly
listed David Bowie bandstand
and this route will bring you right to the entrance of what is a very ordinary
municipal park.
Beckenham still has a village feel but it
is a well provided for suburb with a listed cinema , an extensive High Street,
some old established pubs, and a central Church and churchyard somewhat
enhanced as a sitting area, plus well-served station and trams (when they run).
Because it was a Kent village the
through streets are quite narrow for this the only double decker that comes
through but today there was little to detain us so we were soon passing the
range of residences that border the road leading gently downhill to Catford,
and for this stretch the 54 is the only route.
I was rather taken with the bus stop name
‘Stumps Hill Lane’ thinking it might be something to do with tree stumps – the nearby
Beckenham Place park is well endowed with trees and shrubs – but it may have
more links with its other end (a private road) which abuts the Kent County
Cricket Ground. Some rain at this point
made the park even less visible, which is a shame as it has had a major makeover.
The big crossroads with Southend Lane marks
the start of Catford – this area has seen some major rebuilding – mainly bland blocks
replacing sprawling pubs. Homebase
remains a constant, though it has never been the same after some Australians
bought it and over-invested in outdoor furniture and fittings, forgetting perhaps
that most Inner London garden owners have to choose between a dining set, a
paddling pool or a barbecue, not all three.
As we approached the Catford hub that is
the Town Hall complex many more passengers boarded for the run straight ahead
to Lewisham – the next major centre along here. Catford now seems to have at least three rival
(night) clubs , which I suppose counts as the night time economy.
It was a little ironic as the smell of
cannabis grew stronger as we passed the fake trees with their little messages
pleading for cleaner air , but I think they were referring to a more
environmental aspiration.
Talking of air quality the driver(s) left
their engines running while they changed over at Catford Bus garage earlier ; a
slightly more leisurely experience than usual .
More unknown than lost in the world of
rivers, the 54 had been following (and crossing ) The Ravensbourne River since
Beckenham (and the poor little Beck too), and this was the case as we passed
Lewisham Hospital, scattered over several differently aged buildings, and the
parish church of St Mary’s, making it the second parish church of the day.
What used to be Lewisham’s premier
swimming pool has disappeared since the Project last came this way and the space
is now taken with some innovative homeless family housing units homeless family housing units
that went up quickly and will I suspect, in the way of these things, be around
for longer than anticipated.
On the next corner there has been some
demolition and the former Pool Hall is also fenced offperhaps indicating some kind of 'master plan' for this end of Lewisham.
Lewisham, unlike the previous
shopping clusters, lacked the cohesion of the Parades we passed back at the
start of the trip, mainly due to much more severe bombing and destruction and
somewhat hasty rebuilding. However the
lively market stalls in front do compensate for this and certainly bring in the
shoppers.
The 54 takes a more familiar route
round the back of the Police Station and up towards Blackheath thus avoiding
the increasingly confusing (railway) station area . Once past the Bowling Alley (and how many of
those remain in the UK?) things become strictly residential again, with a bus
stop named ‘The Squirrels’ being very memorable, and the attractive St
Margaret’s Church and its extensive graveyards.
Blackheath has no qualms about
calling itself a village though there are enough bus routes that serve it. I assumed Pizza Bianco had set up in the
former Bank (o). The 54 emerges at the top of the hill and gives a good view
across Blackheath – there are now too many roads and too much traffic to
imagine it as a hangout for highwaymen but it is still a sizeable area of open
space. The 54 does not head down to the river but calls in at the Blackheath Standard,
a local bus interchange, and continues to Charlton. Though Blackheath managed
to preserve many of its larger older houses Charlton must have been in line for
more bombing as there are several high rise blocks of social housing so several
more passengers boarded. Charlton
Village has a historic pub and Charlton Place
which seems to be a combination of historic house and community resource,
situated in a park. This part of the
route duplicates that of the 53, which unchronologically I am due to ride to
ride next week, but about which you will already have read.
Close to Artillery Place a bus stop was
closed due to a Bellway Building work contraflow, but it did not detain us for
long at this time of day so soon we were heading down to Woolwich and the river
flanked by new buildings on both sides, some completed and some yet to get
above ground level.
Woolwich has certainly smartened up since
the original Project.
What I always thought of as the Building Society Square is in fact named after General Gordon and I am not sure what the very ethnically diverse residents of the Royal
Borough would make of the invader of China and Sudan. The eponymous Building
Society is now ‘mixed use’ with eating on the ground floor and a mixture of homes
and offices above. The square has been landscaped and seems well tended.
Half expecting the bus to sneak on to
Plumstead (though the front and the announcements clearly said Woolwich) I was
a bit slow to get off earning a baleful look from the driver. According to the
bus stop the additional three stops are peak times or possibly non peak times
only.
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