The Number 305 Route

Wednesday 7 March 2012

A really unpleasant day, as far as the weather was concerned, might have put us off, but it didn't.  If the photos make you wonder where you washed the sleep out of your eyes in the shower this morning, you can relax:  it's just that rain and steamed up bus windows make a very poor environment even for Linda's skilled photography.

Linda, Mary and I met at Kingsbury Station, the Jubilee Line having done its duty.  We patronised the facilities of the station, and had a brief conversation with a charming station attendant.  He has not been watching 'The Tube' on TV, since he experiences it for real every working day.

Just round the corner from the station was stop C,  and so we were onto our single decker and bound for Edgware shortly after 10.00.  Kingsbury, dating from the time of the Saxons, has what one might describe as a 'real' name, unlike neighbouring Queensbury, which grew up as London grew, and was given the name to match.  The houses were substantial, mostly semis, and a number had hardened their front gardens to deal with the whole car issue.

We turned left into Stag Lane, to pass the Health Centre, as well as the Brent Sikh Centre.  This brought us down to the Peacock's with the attractive murals, which depict market stalls of the traditional type.  The shop is still, we thought, open, and we can only hope that the new owners maintain both it and its outer decoration.

As we came along Burnt Oak High Street, we were impressed to see a real fish shop as well as a number of other food outlets.  A church had as its wayside message 'perhaps there is a God, perhaps his name is Jesus'.  This apparently straightforward message could, I gather,  be seen by some as verging on the heretical.

There was lots of lovely blossom, trying to maintain that it was spring, despite the wintery weather, and we admired it as we travelled through the Watling Estate.  We thought that people who had bought their houses had mostly decided to get their cars off the road, but it seemed an attractive area, with plenty of green verges.  Travelling along Deansbrook Road, we spared a thought for the helpful commenters on our blog who put us right when we get our rivers and street names wrong.

 John Keble Church is not the most attractive building we have ever seen; it is an Anglican church, Keble having stayed within the Church of England when other Tractarians moved across to Rome.  He wrote a number of hymns, including 'Blest are the pure in heart'.

Along Hale Lane, we were briefly the only people on the bus, but were joined by a couple more as we crossed the Dean's Brook and headed downhill.  There would have been a view, but it was too misty and wet for that.

So we turned into Edgware bus station - one of our favourites - just after 10.20, after a short but pleasant ride through mainly residential north London streets.