Crews Hill (Rosewood
Drive) to Enfield Town (Cecil Road)
Thursday December 19th 2013
Today was an adventure for both of us. We met at a very busy
Highbury & Islington and then caught a train which took us to Crew’s Hill,
a place of which we had never heard until this week, in just about 30 minutes.
For once some accurate map reading meant that we found the very narrow footpath
that parallels the railway line and emerges into a pleasant hilly residential
development, where the preferred Christmas decorations seemed to be icicle
lights hanging from garage eaves. It was bright and sunny so we had to imagine
them twinkling away later in the day. The area was pretty deserted (the station
unstaffed for starters) but we found a man raking his front gravel (which tells
you a bit about the kind of housing) and asked after the bus as we could see no
stop. He waved vaguely across the road and said it stopped about there (or
where we wanted) so we settled down on a garden wall to wait 20 minutes or
thereabouts for this once an hour services (and then only between 11 and 3),
hearing the faint but steady noise of the M25 – that’s how far out we were.
(‘Pretend it’s the sea’, said Jo).
Sooner than expected the bus appeared and we asked if we could
board and got chatting to the very charming driver, name of Sam, who confessed
her W10 is known as ‘Sam’s bus’. She had already waved at two local residents
and when a third boarded she asked how the ‘re-decoration’ was going; it
transpired this passenger had suffered water damage in the recent storm and the
decorators were even now putting the finishing touches to the repairs. Her
handbag, and that of the 4th passenger jingled with those sturdy bells the
police give out to senior citizens with handbags. That and nearby house front
Santas and Snowman added to the Christmas cheer.
Sam told us how much she enjoyed this route and how friendly
everyone was (in part I’m sure to her own friendliness) and she certainly
missed people if they did not ride for a while. She brings the bus up from
Northumberland Park where it is based, but it spends its nights outdoors, at
the Go-Ahead garage, meaning it can be pretty chilly when she picks it up.
Still it is very petite 1-door bus and once underway warmed up quickly. We left punctually at 11.05 .
Even the modern A-Z shows this area to be full of nurseries (the plant kind) and some piggeries, which we had seen from the train and sure
enough Clay Hill proved to be a fertile (pun) source for
Acers, which my other half cannot resist, multiple deaths to
the contrary, and Mediterranean plants which I love but they too sulk in our
neat London clay. Talking of Clay the route follows Clay Hill and passes the
entrance to Whitewebbs Wood and Park.
Interspersed between the Garden Centres and Riding Stables
there had only been one proper bus stop since the start of our route, but we
had steadily gained in passengers, all of them Freedom pass holders. On the
whole we kept moving which made photography a little tricky but here’s one of
the Fallow Buck, a pub actually on the route.
Soon after passing this we saw a sign advising us that it
was ½ mile to the New River, which features from now on along this route. The bus seemed to take something of a loop
possibly to serve an Ambulance Station (but not for long
according to this) or maybe just to be able to use the roundabout to turn left.
By now were in a far more built-up area which street signs indicated liked to
be known as Carter Hatch. There was even a sign to Ponders End which we know from
our previous riding of routes is but a stone’s throw from Brimsdown; though Jo
had threatened me with a trip home from Brimsdown this was not the way to go.
We slipped into Enfield Town, the bus now over half full and
slowed by traffic for the first time, and after passing the station came to a
dignified halt between the Civic centre and a large Argos Store. Here we said
good bye to Sam, who could probably rest for 15 minutes or so before heading
back on the 11.50 so she proved to be the only vehicle on this route – a bit
like the 146, another rural ride.
We had enjoyed our country outing and smooth ride and took
the opportunity to look briefly at the Civic Centre’s little exhibition to
celebrate 400 years of the New River, and then looked down at the real thing,
here called the Enfield Loop as it was ‘straightened out’ in the 19th
century. Both river and path have received some TLC during the course of our
Project and we can remember on one of our first trips here how green and weedy
and neglected it looked compared to today’s altogether fresher presentation.