The Number 65 Route

Friday 15 November 2019

This was the middle leg of a three bus day.  Having arrived at the Cromwell Road Bus Station in Kingston, we had been set to walk to Brook Street, whence the 65 departs, but the bus driver we consulted assured us that he could take us the two stop required on his way out of town, which he duly did.  

So we were on board this nice clean bus by 11.20, and passing along the shops of Eden Street and the art work made of toppling telephone boxes, as well as Pryzm which, as you would expect with a name like that, is one of a chain of night club type venues

The station had a large bauble outside it, and is just opposite the King's Tun Pub.  This proves to be the witty name of a pub formerly the Empire Theatre, rather than an original Inn name.

Now we headed out along the A 307 to pass Kingston College, as well as spaces where splendid new developments may appear in due course. We noted that the cycle track was very narrow, but that in places there was a chance to use the pavement, which was broad and clear.  The Queen's Head Pub was the next we saw, on a journey with a startling number of such places.













As we travelled towards Richmond, we noted a number of election posters, all for the Lib Dems rather than any other party.  We passed Kingston Academy, with its recently pollarded trees.  Having opened in 2015 as a new school, it is now about to take its first 6th form.

Coming into Ham village, we were delighted to see that the Ballet Boutique had a picture of a boy in the window, a refreshing change from a lot of pink tutus. Ham Common, as glimpsed through the drizzle, was looking pleasantly green, and we liked the Inn sign of the New Inn.  This 18th century building used to be the White Hart inn, so were weren't entirely clear why the sign should depict some a coach and horses and a man in 18th century clothing:  but it was a pretty sign, anyway

Tudor Lodge Dental Surgery is indeed housed in a little lodge on a corner of the common, and then the route takes you into Petersham, with the Fox and Duck pub.  This was built on the site of a much older pub in the mid 20th century, and did not look particularly inviting, whereas the Rose of York looked well cared for and attractive (see what I mean about pubs on this route?)

It seemed as if we might head up Richmond Hill, but instead turned left to parallel the river, rather slowly because of road works, appropriately, you might think, the business of Thames Water.

Into Richmond town centre, we noted Richmond's Brewery stores, as well as a coffee shop called 'Kiss the Hippo'.  This is a small chain of specialist coffee people, but they don't seem to explain their name, though we do know one person who would be delighted to do as it suggests.

Coming past Richmond Station, we were encouraged to see road signs pointing towards Ealing, which is the destination of this route, though we still had some way to go.

We came along Pagoda Avenue, with tantalising glimpses of Kew's pagoda, and travelled the length of the gardens, passing the Lion Gate and the more used Victoria Gate, noting the greenhouses and research labs which occupy this side of the Gardens.  The original Maids of Honour Tea Shop is here;  if you want to make your own instead of visiting, here's Delia Smith's recipe.

Kew Green is dominated by the traffic headed for the bridge, but St Anne's Church is attractive, and the river was looking grey and picturesque as we crossed it.  

Huge numbers of new-build apartments are going up north of the river, where presumably there is more space than in the protected areas of Kew and Richmond.

Over the bridge, we turned left to travel parallel to the river, passing the former pumping station, now London's Museum of Water and Steam, which we visited in August 2016.  I can warmly recommend the play area in the back courtyard, where the various pumping and damming gadgets ensure maximum child dampness in record time.



We also passed the Musical Museum, as we entered Brentford, and were unable to remember why we had not visited this one during our exploration of London's Museums.

Now we turned right, to leave the river and head along Ealing Road, to pass a pub with an elderly Guinness advertisement on its side wall, and past the Princess Royal Pub as well, this one named (judging by the portrait on the sign) for the daughter of Queen Victoria, rather than the present one.

After we had reached the flyover for the A4, the next pub was the palatial Ealing park tavern, which has the Long Arm Brewery next door.

Linda and I share a very limited knowledge of Assyrians (according to Byron, they came down like a wolf on the fold, their cohorts gleaming in purple and gold);  but in fact they are a people who have suffered from being in that bit of the Middle East where Iraq and Iran and Turkey and the Kurds all meet, and so many of them are now British; we passed the home of the Assyrian Society of the United Kingdom.

There were lots of road works along here:  gas, we thought because of the warnings about not smoking, but of course the subsoil of London is so honeycombed with pipes and such that it's probably sensible to avoid any risk.  The works did not seem to be labelled, whereas the fibre optic people always advertise themselves largely.

St Mary's Church is huge, and not entirely beautiful, but its dour outlines were softened by trees just beginning to turn.  We came past the University of West London.  According to their street banners, 98% of their students are in employment or further study within 6 months of graduating.

Maintaining the pub theme of this route, we passed The Red Lion, boasting its links to local brewer, Fuller, and then The Grove, before coming to Ealing Green and Ealing Green College, just across the grass from our road.

As we came into Ealing itself, we noticed the high quality of goods in the charity shops.  FARA is one that helps Romanian children;  after the horrors revealed at the fall of the Dictator in 1989, these issues have fallen out of the headlines, but there is clearly still a need for support in Romania.

As always, a substantial number of eateries also lined the street.  Whatever 'Hustle' used to be, it is becoming a Bombay Eating House and is nestled next to a Persian restaurant.

We admired an art work outside the fine church, suggesting that we 'make life go with a swing and a smile', and loved the bright colours of some of the trees, particularly a splendid maple.

We reached Ealing Broadway Station at 12.40, a slightly longer journey time than that advertised, but after all, we had come a long way, and been slowed by several contraflow traffic lights at road works.  It had all been very enjoyable, anyway: a route I would recommend!

The NUMBER 64 Route

Thornton Heath Pond to New Addington (Vulcan Way)

Friday November 8 2019

Well the last time we rode this I may have been closer in age to the route number than I am now but we and the Number 64 just keep going…  This time (we have been trying to reverse the direction we  journey  in case anyone cares) we met at Thornton Heath Station and rode down Brigstock Road to the disappointing Thornton Heath Pond – I have lived in South London for 40 years and I still peer hopefully at the dismal roundabout hoping for a patch of water…  Of course there was one here once and even an earlier heath but the post-war building boom that characterised Croydon meant the roads got wider and the pond area smaller until the water dried up so in 1955 it was covered over.  We tracked our 64 turning round and missed it at the bus stop but this is a very frequent service and the wait was negligible.  Being opposite the University Hospital Croydon (formerly the Mayday) there were plenty of passengers but upstairs was fairly empty.

We were interested to see the number of hotels along this stretch and not just small B&Bs – do they expect relatives of long term patients to stay?  It seems a bit distant to be a tourist hotel, but perhaps the prices make up for the distances from Central London.

The somewhat anonymous area between Thornton Heath and West Croydon has recently been reborn as the Broad Green Village, which needs as much imagination as the Thornton Heath Pond. 

To be positive this stretch is  improved since our original project when we were travelling during and after the 2011 riots.  Certainly there are quite a few new builds along the London Road including the Harris Invictus Academy which must have its entrance well hidden.

Croydon High Street is pedestrianised and therefore the buses must choose a different route through – for us it involved several sharp turns to get from West Croydon to East Croydon stations tracking off past Jury’s Inn and into a hinterland full of new and not quite completed blocks  – mainly residential we thought.  Croydon is already one of the most heavily populated boroughs and there is a BOX Park too…

Leaving high rise Croydon behind, the 64 heads up Park Hill which (for once) is an accurate description as there is both greenery and an incline, bordered by mainly older houses.  Croydon’s leaf blowers were in full spate today.

The bus then takes a right by a hotel calling itself (ironically perhaps) South Park and offering both Indian and Chinese ‘cuisine’ so hedging their bets boldly perhaps?

The next stretch of the route along Croham Valley (possibly a dry valley as I can find no evidence of a river running through it) proves to be scenic on a fine-ish autumn day – an older part of Croydon rich (in all its senses) in private schools and care homes whose owners often take over properties now too large for any one family to maintain.  One of these – Old Palace – is a private girls’ school but part of it was once the Archbishop of Canterbury’s summer residence, though Canterbury never struck me as that urban. Perhaps they wanted to be somewhere where you did not run into other keen eyed church folk??

The garden autumn colours were pleasing and a clump of bright Nerines caught our eyes – shame about the name though.

By the time we had been through Selsdon village,  all ready for Christmas with its decorations, and on past yet more golf courses and schools it was clear we were approaching the Addingtons old and newer. To the left  was the original village complete with pretty parish church  and as we went up the hill New Addington to the right, but first we had to divert slightly to the Tram Interchange, that form of transport being the quickest way in and out of the huge housing estate that is new Addington.  There were different phases of building ng with some homes going up just before the war but the bulk came in the Fifties to help house those displaced by Croydon’s many bombs, and with some afterthought dwellings later still.

This route takes care to reach all sections of New Addington enabling you to see that what is remarkable is what is missing – there are a few parades of shops, one or two community centres looking like afterthoughts but nowhere you can earn a living or do a job; even the trams which get you to East & West Croydon stations arrived quite late.  As Jo said, Milton Keynes did it better. Schools and health provision are a bit sparse.

We were a bit puzzled by signs for CALAT but this proves to be a resource for Adult Learning and Training .

The 64, which is so frequent we lost count of the number we saw going in the opposite direction, pushes on beyond the final Tram terminus to the very edge of the Green belt – we passed a couple of ‘ploughed fields’  - to Vulcan Way, which proves to be a rather desolate strip of industrial units including the ultimate, a vehicle pound to where untaxed or badly parked cars are towed. This may well have been the first sign of employment prospects but it felt very remote.

Needless to say we were the only passengers left on the bus and we were lucky enough to dash across the road and immediately board the little 130 as our getaway vehicle….

I believe New Addington was due to have some regeneration funding but perhaps it’s so vast that what was on offer had perforce been spread rather thinly – but we saw little change in the New Addington we had first visited nearly ten years ago, except possible enhanced public transport.  Still we had a stress free journey entirely within the borough of Croydon and had been able to enjoy some fine autumn colours.