Monday 14 January 2013
The 499 is not an easy route: it goes from the Heathpark Estate to
the Gallows Corner Tesco, neither of which is particularly convenient for other
transport links. AND it does a
little twiddle around the Heathpark Estate, returning by a different route from
the one it arrives by (if you follow me).
But we LWB can cope with this kind of challenge, and so we made our way
to Romford Station, well served by trains on the Shenfield line from
Stratford: and you don’t need us
to remind you that Stratford is easy for those lucky enough to live near the
Overground.
Thus it was that Linda and I (Mary being in
Devon for the village pantomime) came out of Romford Station to find two stops
for the 499 opposite each other and, Linda having risked her life to see which
direction the first of them would take, we were off towards Harold Hill at
10.18, ready to tour the whole of that part of the route, and then head back and on
towards Gallows Corner.
As we came out of Romford, we passed new but
unoccupied offices, something that
we have seen across London: and
yet they keep building them. We also came to the new housing called ‘Reflections’
which we have watched grow from a hole in the ground. Many are now occupied, but the protective fencing and the
Tayor Wimpey signage suggests that the development still has a way to go.
We did not turn into the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital, though we have been on buses which did, and went on to pass the large
circular objects across the road from Romford’s enormous cemetery. My A-Z calls this a gas works and in
1994 there seemed to be a plan for a mixed development.
Certainly they do not look much like gas holders now.
Passing through an area of decaying retail
and business premises, we came to residential properties of all kinds: flats and semis, almost all of which
had hardened front gardens. Then,
turning left rather than crossing the railway, we were into Chadwell Heath,
with a large parade of shops and a Post Office. Here lots of people got on, perhaps having collected their
pensions. We also admired the
vets’ large frontage and noted what had clearly once been social
housing on our right, as our driver kindly waited for a lady who had been
shopping in Morrisons. Then we
dived along Marston Avenue and reached the shops in Stansgate Road, where the
destination of the bus was changed to Gallows Corner. Here we paused for about five minutes, plenty of time to
note that several of the shops had found it impossible to make a living; and we
set off at 10.37. The block of
housing around here are named for some of the heroines of women’s rights: Emmeline Pankhurst, and Ellen Wilkinson. There was also a block named for Mary
McCarthy, but we cannot guess which one it is: novelist? Bloomsbury group member? Here’s a list
to choose from
Our return route to Romford was much
straighter: indeed, we briefly
shared the road with the number 5 bus, cause of our first ever visit to
Romford. We are pretty sure that the 499 is our last, at least as far as the project is concerned.
Rush Green had banners announcing the
reopening of its football stadium which looks like an exciting development for football enthusiasts.
Now we were back into a residential area of
the kind that has a service road,
pretty plaster work and even a segregated cycle track for a while. Some people were having building work
done (possibly solar panels, we thought) by PolishBuild.com. We were repeating our outward route,
and were soon at Romford Station, heading past the Liberty Shopping Centre and
the café with the family statue outside. Romford also has the Mercury Centre and certainly, on a day
like this, indoor window shopping would have had its attractions. Along Main Road is the Redeemed
Christian Church of God for all Nations.
It says that it runs a school for autistic children, but it looks to be
a bit insecure at the moment.
As we went north, we came to more
prosperous areas and passed Marshalls Park School, an ‘improving’ school but one which might be wise to think
about the readability levels of its dark backgrounded website. This is mainly bungalow territory, with
mostly parking spaces instead of front gardens. We noted the fine tropical planting as we turned
right along lower Bedfors Road, and lo! We were in countryside, or at least an
extended green area. Linda was disappointed that no horses were to be
seen, but we thought they might be snuggled down somewhere, avoiding the cold. We were headed downhill, and did not
stop for quite a stretch. When we
did stop, it was to lose our last fellow traveller. Though we picked up a few
more in Noak Hill. I was relieved
to see rather a good looking convenience store, since this bus is infrequent,
and not everyone owns a car (though admittedly it is hard to believe in this
part of Essex. We noticed that not
everyone has houses which are well insulated: this kind
of light sprinkling of snow really shows up who allows expensive heat to leak through
the roof and who doesn’t.
Down hill towards Harold Wood, we were
again in mixed residential areas, until we came to the striking MyPlace
building and its accompanying shops.
A young woman got on board with one of
those enormous buggies. Already
slowed by the fact that she did not have an Oyster Card (why pay £2.40 for
something which could cost £1.40?) she found she had to retreat and go through
the exit doors as the machine was too large for the corridor between the
seats. Linda thought she was not a
habitual bus user.
We have commented before on the Pompadours
Pub. I still do not know whether
it is named for a high class courtesan or a hairstyle, though I have been
wondering from time to time since we passed this way in 2011. This is an area that flaunts its
‘patriotism’ and I am not prepared to link to some of the websites I got
offered when googling pubs in the area.
I can only think that some people never go into hospital or indeed have
their prescriptions dispensed, rubbish cleared or streets swept.
By now we were getting very cold: as Linda remarked in Heaton Avenue, it
was more heatoff in our bus.
Still, we were almost there, as we came back into Straight Road, which
we had left to twiddle through the housing. Then it was left at a derelict pub. This seems to have been the Bow and
Arrow, and as long ago as 1997 there were plans and protests about its future,
and nothing is happening on the site
now in 2013
Thus we reached the mega Tescos of Gallows
Corner at 11.25 (pic 14). The
carbon footprint of the store itself may be small (pic 14) but it is only visited by two small
and infrequent buses, so I expect that the many cars compensate.
It was one of these infrequent buses, the
347 from Ockendon, which whipped
us back to Romford Station, much faster than the meandering 499.
Sadly, when we offered the 499 driver a card, he said he did not understand English, so we spared him the opportunity to study the blog.
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ReplyDeleteFor some reason you mention Essex. Dunno why, none of this route is in the county. Hardly surprizing since it's a London Bus.
ReplyDelete