The Number 193 Route

Tuesday 5 July 2011

My first bus left me at Queen's Hospital, Romford at 11.00 on this sunny morning.  I was on my own - the first time since the Number 2 - because both my companions were on holiday.

There was a 193 getting ready to depart, and so I was on board the single decker and on my way to County Park Estate without a moment's pause.

We looped round the apartments being built by Taylor Wimpey, and then headed round the edges of Romford, passing The Brewery shopping centre with its cinema.  Romford also has large car parks, not particularly beautiful.

 
The bus was forced to divert around some major road works, something which has been the case every time we have been through Romford.

After we had passed Romford Station, we headed out along South Street.  We had a change of driver - the new one had to adjust the seat upwards as she was not very tall.

Meanwhile a young mother with her buggy realised that she was going the wrong way if she wanted to go to the hospital, so got off to cross the road.  This left me time to smile at the signage outside Professional Music Technology:  PMT....

The Old Oak Pub had closed down, but the residential areas were well maintained.  Most of the front gardens had been converted to hard standing, although there were also cars parked along the road as well. We passed Frances Bardsley School, now over 100 years old.  As we approached Hornchurch, we entered a Hail and Ride section, through mostly bungalows.


In Hornchurch, we passed the Queen's Theatre, where Eliza once acted many years ago, and then made our way around closed roads and a huge building site: the talk on the bus was of a block of flats which had collapsed, with a suggestion that the RSJs had not been placed properly, but I don't know if this is what had happened.

Hornchurch seemed to have even more restaurants and eateries than the last time we passed through it;  but we also passed the Police Station and Hornchurch Station on the District Line.

Soon we were back into residential areas, with many bungalows.

We were held up by a builder's van, unloading materials for home improvements, just opposite a traffic island and a parked car.  Our bus driver inched her way gingerly past.

Now we came to the edge of the green belt, along Central Drive, and turned into and out of a small shopping area.  Havering has planted its gardens on the assumption that climate change will lead to drought.  As we passed Havering Sixth Form College, I was the only passenger, through a second Hail and Ride Section.

As we came to the end of the route, in Essex Gardens, I noted that Havering also plants attractive roses.  We arrived at 11.45, and the bus immediately headed back:  I stayed on board as there were not many transport options in the County Park Estate.