The Number 58 Route

Thursday 26 September 2019


Our journey today began in the splendid bus station of Walthamstow Central: easily accessed by the Victoria Line, clear information (and a staffed information point), useful facilities and classical music. How different from Euston (where the taxis have a new huge space) and King's Cross, where the buses merely loiter in the road.

We came out of the bus station at about 1.10, and turned right to pass yet more evidence of Waltham Forest's new-found commitment to cycling, in the shape of fine secure parking by the railway, with a green roof

There is a great deal of new building going on, including The Mall, which seems to be about retail, and The Chain, which is a huge part-Council residential scheme. Later we came to the  former Essex Brewery, now inhabited apartments.

We also saw signs to the Walthamstow Wetlands, which used to be called Walthamstow Marshes.  There's a very good walk from here down to Liverpool Street, much of which is surprisingly green!

We were not enjoying the lovely weather of our previous two trips, but the rain mostly held off.  We came past the Methodist Lighthouse Church, with its appropriate tower, as well as the very smart new Kelmscott School named, we take it, for the William Morris connection.

Traffic was very slow as we came down to Lea Bridge Road, because they are doing some roadworks. We wondered if there was any part of London where roadworks are not occurring. One of the many churches along this route is the Potter's House Christian Fellowship, an import from Perth, Australia.  It takes its name from Jeremiah Ch 18 vv 1-3 (if you're interested) when God suggests that the prophet should visit the potter and see him squashing and remaking pots which are turning out wrong, something that God intends to do with his creation.

Speaking of church matters, we next passed Etloe House, rather a fine and listed (II) building, where Cardinal Wiseman, Archbishop of Westminster, once lived.  It is now apartments. We noted with interest that some of the bus stops along this route are still the old red request stops, a distinction now redundant since buses only stop when you ask them to at all stops.

Some pretty little almshouses also drew our attention.  We could not see their name, but I think they are probably these.
So we had reached Leyton, and passed the fire station, as well as admiring the hanging baskets and green spaces. The banners of this borough were cheering Leyton Orient's great success in returning to the Football League, but there were also some which declared 'Culture as a bond'

When we passed what had clearly been the old Town Hall, but was now labelled Leyton Technical, we assumed that it must be a school of some kind.  Wrong! It is a place to eat and drink.  But Leyton Library still has books.

We noted excellent cycle parking at Leyton Station, too: as at Walthamstow, the borough has clearly made good use of the £30,000,000 TfL money.

While some pubs are doing well, the Lord Rook pub was being converted into smart apartments. The Holly Tree, on the other hand, seemed to be having renovation work done.  




But the most interesting ex-pub we saw was The Woodgrange, as we came into Upton Park: no longer a pub, but still with its Tudor type carvings above the doors.

Coming into Forest Gate, we noted the war memorial on the pavement near the police station: too low to get a photo of,  but you can see one with this rather disturbing news story

We also saw a group of more modern looking almshouses (or at least retirement homes) these with solar panels on their roofs.  Amongst the many churches of this route, we noted the 'Salvation of the Living Rock Revealed'.

There are many hotels along this route, though we were not able to work out why this should be. 

Now we reached the area of Upton Park noted for its British Asian traders, and we ogled the sumptuous clothing and jewellery on display, as well as the various food outlets and the pretty pavement.

We also liked the name of the Turkish restaurant which called itself 'Turkuoise.

Queen's Market was looking quite quiet, but building was going on steadily at 'Upton Gardens', where West Ham used to play.  The video on the sales website (attached to the second picture) certainly makes the area look wonderful. There was no mention in the sales material about the former occupants of the site:  perhaps to attract supporters of other football clubs?

We've always wondered about the whole Boleyn thing, but it seems that archeologists are discovering remains from at least the right period, even if Anne was dead before the monastery which used to occupy the site was dissolved in 1538.

The next landmark is of course the 1966 statue, which the borough has embellished with excellent flowers. The we turned left into the Barking Road, passing the Who Shop, where you can apparently buy all things connected with the Doctor (I had thought it might be the pop group) . It was looking a little uninviting as we nipped past, but after all, who actually goes into a shop these days?

The flats on the left have pretty metalwork plaques of flowers and trees, together with a message about how Chlorophyll can help save the climate and thus the planet.

We passed Klipout, which proves to be a trampolining venue, and also the Kuramoh Louge. This baffled us with a sign which read 'live point and kill catfish'.  The explanation is that it is a pan-African restaurant, which does indeed sell catfish which you choose before it is killed and cooked.

Passing the enormous Town Hall and Library, as well as Newham College, we came to our terminating point at Central Park, having enjoyed an interesting tour of this culturally diverse part of North East London.  It was just after 2.20, 70 minutes after setting off.  One can cover a lot of distance in an hour if one avoids the middle of London!