The NUMBER 2 Route

West Norwood Bus Garage to Marylebone Station  

Thursday September  27  2018

Jo was a little anxious that as I was blogging three routes on the trot people (our followers) might think she was dead. Far from it – she may shortly be due an upgraded eye but it just so happens that I had not ridden the original 2009 numbers 1-4 and was keen to rectify this, but she is raring to go.

As was the Number 2 – we barely had time to swop cameras for pens and board the frequent service that starts just outside the bus garage. Jo remembers being quite worried about where she might land up when she first rode this route alone as for North Londoners it does seem quite remote. It starts uphill and from the top deck there is a good view of the various taller London buildings we have acquired over the last years. It also passes close to St Luke’s church, the first of the Evangelists (2/4 today) which now forms something of a traffic island just opposite West Norwood cemetery. Counting as one of the Big Seven the latter is well worth a visit. I see the tour includes some catacombs – the ultimate in spooky experiences.

The inward bound route was much busier than our earlier 68 including a mother and daughter going quite a long way. This southern approach to Brixton has smartened up somewhat since we were last round this way – evidence of gentrification included Brockwell Blend. From this route, as opposed  to routes 3 and 68, it is not obvious that Brockwell Park is nearby as both sides of the road are well built up – the extensive Tulse Hill Estate and  its opposite numbers  masking the access to the park.  Considering they date from 1939 in the sunshine the flats were looking quite sprightly and quiet. The run in to Brixton itself passes the second Evangelist (or the first if you are blessing the bed you lie on) Church, whose clock we found less legible. Developers were taking advantage of the venue Brixton Electric to build some flats called Eclectic Electric. Considering the  large numbers of routes that come through Brixton  we transited  fairly fast – Jo spotted some graffiti (sadly itself graffittied)  on the railway bridge which  told us:  Clapham that way< you 2D Flat White Tepid Colonialist Yuppy, which tells you how the area continues to change.. .

We headed left towards Stockwell and again much had changed – previously the Portuguese pastry shops had taken over from the old second hand car dealerships, now many of these had in turn been displaced , even demolished, in favour of new blocks as can be seen adjacent to the skateboard park which won a reprieve, and  is promised a repair courtesy of the developer building the overlooking ‘luxury’ flats.

We made good progress to Stockwell and its war memorial roundabout – looking distinctly shabby was the memorial to Violette Szabo with the colourful murals peeling somewhat.

We enjoyed the stretch to Vauxhall – many of the older houses are still intact and well maintained and it is easy to see why parts of it are in a conservation area.

We were a bit puzzled by the bus stop named Tate Library (does the Museum keep its books separate from its artworks?) but this in fact refers to  a small Victorian local library named for the man who made his money from sugar courtesy of his slaves..

As we approached Vauxhall  the buildings get taller and more modern, including some that look as though they are clad with random Lego bricks – nasty we agreed – not that we dislike Lego but we’d  rather not have something similar on a building. Still we were cheered by the site of Vauxhall Bus Station where pedestrians and  buses are kept well in order under a wavy canopy – this building in turn is mocked by many but at least it is more cheerful than the gloom that is Vauxhall railway station  which is dark and muddling without the cheerful bustle of Clapham Junction.

We crossed the river with the tide so far out the mud flats looked like a  beach.  The little girl passenger got quite excited and said ‘Mummy, there’s a big river.’ Indeed. Once over I always feel Pimlico lacks  personality , at least the bit you cover between the bridge and Victoria Station , perhaps because the buildings date from so many eras, though of course that is usual in London. The once black-only London cabs were lined up thus exemplifying ‘cab ranking’ in its truest form.

Talking of lack of cohesion, approaching Victoria from this way you are faced with a perplexing jumble of new builds where clearly no one took an overview: there is a red wedge-shaped thing alongside a greeny glasshouse , and they both tower over  some small Edwardian era red bricks  just across the road from the theatre where ‘Wicked’ is still running. In contrast to this the exterior of Victoria station appears self-contained.

Passing Grosvenor Place and the small gardens we could see it was nearly lunchtime by the number of people enjoying the sun ... and their lunches. Lunch al fresco in a London green space always strikes me as truly democratic as your hard-hatted  builders are just as likely to be  relaxing as the  junior bankers. Jo couldn’t resist pointing out the Queen’s trees to our other passengers, which is just about all you can see of Buckingham Palace gardens even from the top deck.

There is building too at Hyde Park Corner - another  Grand Hotel . We did not remember our visit to No 1 London  (the Dukes of Wellington residence) with great fondness as we found it a dark and rather fossilised  experience.

Park Lane, in spite of its bucolic name, is really rather a heavy duty road, so we only just glimpsed the several memorials along here – the rather over ornate Queen Mother gates, the by contrast nicely simple 7/7 posts, and then the Animals at war. More building at Marble Arch – a whole corner is under construction.

This route barely trifles with Oxford Street before heading down Gloucester Place – the houses round here are most attractive so it is not surprising that there was at least one blue plaque to be spotted. More arresting was a yellow diversion sign but the Number 2 kept to its course and turned left to leave us by Marylebone Station. Such faded grandeur I always think: dignified, still functioning, quietly getting on with being a station and not shouting about it like King’s Cross.

Our trip from modest outer SE London to costly Marylebone had taken 75 minutes.

PS This is a far cry from my ‘school bus’ 2A which did the Marylebone to Finchley bit….

The NUMBER 1 Route

Tottenham Court Road to Canada Water Bus Station

Thursday September 13 2018

Though our arrival at Tottenham Court, via the 176, had been disrupted by some kind of ‘event’ further along the Strand, the Number 1 seemed happy in its skin and starting from where it is supposed to.

Firstly a shout out to Costa on New Oxford Street who kindly opened their toilet for us (no purchase necessary but always our preferred choice) and there we were with but a 3 minute wait for our starter bus, this time fully equipped with note books, pens and cameras. (Should we be moving onto tablets?)  Our photography skills as bad as ever, even more so on the move, but lovely sunny September weather made us very happy to be on our way though our combined families think we are deeply deranged. Quite a lot has changed personally since 2009 and the ‘first time round’ : Linda has moved house and borough (Lewisham to Southwark), Jo does lots of voluntary work, and we have between us scored three grandchildren but lost a mother and brother in law, both of whom had joined us as guest passengers the first time round…

But the real changes of course are in London, the city that never stands still. 

So off down Oxford Street the No 1 came in at just under two minutes so then hovered a bit along the way. The first surprise was the standards on the lampposts announcing the arrival of ‘Midtown’ when I thought we were travelling from the end of the West End through Holborn and on. We don’t normally link to the Daily Telegraph and no, we haven’t gone soft in ten years, but I thought this was a suitable summary of what’s happening 

We are all for restoration and upcycling , which is what has happened to Centrepoint (under which this route lurks while it waits) and further along we passed the Post Building

A former sorting office – we wait with baited breath for the affordable homes. If you peer to the left (we were of course on the top deck front seats) you can just see the British Museum – as in our previous Project.

The Number 1 passes alongside Bloomsbury Square past St George’s Church (available for worship and concerts apparently) and the Swedenborg Premises.

From upstairs it is easier to admire the ornamentation on the older buildings and the odd niche statue such as that of John Bunyan in Kingsway where it adorns a chapel. We had of course visited the Baptist Museum. From here on, and right over to the south side of the Thames, there are multiple buildings belonging to King’s College London. Spreading out from their original foundation next to the river by Somerset House they now have premises along Kingsway, round Aldwych, including Bush House, and along the Strand 

They have continued the tradition of putting up posters of famous alumni/ae and clearly have enough to cover a few more blocks!  We weren’t aware of Wellington’s role in the college’s foundation but it seems it was quite a colourful one. Prime Ministers duelling: whatever next?

Jo, who likes to preserve the integrity of London’s cycle lanes, is not very happy with the bollarding (new verb, sorry) of Waterloo and other bridges in the wake of the terrorist attacks as they do push the cyclists further into the roads and mess with the bus stops. When they first appeared, within weeks of the attacks, they were said to be temporary but unless someone comes up with a more cunning alternative, this is how it’s going to be.  The King’s campus adjacent to St John’s, one of the 4 South London Evangelist churches, had a small protest camped outside. It seems the dispute, over unfair working conditions for the privately employed cleaners, ongoing since early 2017, has not been resolved – here’s hoping for some firmer legislation for the benefit of gig economy employees.

The Number 1 follows a well-travelled route past Waterloo Station , the Old Vic ( under new management since we last blogged this way) and actually quite swiftly past the South Bank University, also with new building works behind, to Elephant and Castle. The pavements have been widened to accommodate in part a rather bizarre cycle route and the road layout radically changed to eliminate the notorious double roundabout. Whilst the work was ongoing the traffic was a nightmare: on the whole the new layout works well, but the bus stops along London Road are still a bit challenging – so many buses, so little space… 

‘I want a photograph of the vertical wall’ I said to Jo who promptly replied that all walls are vertical and either I wanted the vertical garden or the green wall which has been lavish throughout the difficult (for plants) summer . It adorns the Bakerloo exit to the Underground. We continued to make good progress to the Bricklayers Arms, now very firmly in Southwark, and in fact the Number 1 skirts the route of the ‘lost river’ Neckinger, which we have both walked. 

After turning off Tower Bridge Road the streets do narrow and the bus options decline rapidly; having said that it was never busy upstairs and for most of the trip we were on our own. Espied from afar the Hartley jam factory is now flats and Bermondsey shows many signs of gentrification – cafes and bike repair shops for example. Densely populated as it is, and with much of its older housing stock, round here Southwark does have its green spaces such as Bermondsey Spa Gardens and then, on past South Bermondsey station, Southwark Park.

I have included a photo of a tree as we must have been thumped by at least four overhanging branches and leaves once we were south of the river, proving perhaps that in spite of its populous nature Southwark is pretty green . As we swept past the Seven islands leisure centre we noticed it had been spruced up and indeed the swimming pool has had a £1m+ refit.  Historic buildings are fewer round the Docks, for that is indeed what Surrey Quays are, but we noted the Dock Offices are still in use re-purposed for Education.

We had, I think, lost most of the passengers through the busier streets of Rotherhithe’s local shops so by the time we pulled into Canada Water Bus Station we were among the small group heading for the   This very handsome station certainly brought housing and commerce to the area and there has been additional building including the rather excellent library. This seemed a good place to finish our first expedition.

Underground/Overground.

We have always had a small but attentive following for which we are grateful – we realise bus enthusiasts are not necessarily the same as museum lovers but hope the latter will give us a chance. 

Back to the buses

Thursday  13 September 2018

For a number of reasons, we are planning a return to the buses:

• we have visited pretty well every museum in London.  A few remain, open rarely, or only at weekends; a few are closed for refurbishment; but on the whole the Project is complete.  Some museums have been great; some have been...well...dull, but from now on we shall visit them in a more ordinary way, when there is something we want to see.

• it's coming up to 10 years since we travelled - and posted - the first of our 549 bus routes
• many of the routes have changed since then: the building of the Olympic Park (remember that?) diverted several; others have been shortened or altered to adjust traffic flow

• the buses have changed: some for the better, like the hybrid versions; some very much for the worse, like the grim Roastmasters introduced by a former Mayor of London whose name escapes me, paid for with Londoners' money

• the infrastructure is changing and affecting bus travel; we shall watch with interest as the West End Project unfolds; if the current Mayor begins to deliver on his election pledges on cycling (come on Sadiq, only 18 months left) we may find the Holborn gyratory being redesigned and the growing Cycling Superhighways are likely to affect bus routes too

• Then there is the Elizabeth Line.  We had thought we might spend a few outings travelling the line and exploring its new stations; but, unsurprisingly it is not merely over budget, but also delayed for a year, so there will be disruption there too. And HS2 is beginning to affect streets around Euston.

• We had thought of visiting cemeteries but, as they say in Game of Thrones, winter in coming, and anyway, there are good books about London's cemeteries such as the one by Darren Beach.  The same is true of London's many monuments and memorials.

• And finally, our logoed hoodies are still in good condition!

We intend, as far as possible, to travel the routes in the other direction this time.The project may be harder to plan, because TfL has abolished its paper bus maps, saying that you can find the information on line.  This is true if you are planning to GO somewhere;  but looking for a bus that will start where another finishes is less straightforward.  Still, we shall do our best, and you can begin by reading about the Number 1 route any day now,

Croydon Airport

Airport House, Purley Way,

Croydon, CR0 0XZ

Sunday September 2 2018

This is a Museum, run almost entirely by volunteers, which only opens once a month hence our Sunday visit. Linda’s photos were taken by plane enthusiast Roger and we were also joined by Mary J, who has lived in nearby Sutton for all of her life.

The Museum offers both free flow and guided visits and we opted for the latter – our guide had clearly been a plane lover since child hood and spoke with undiminished zest of early air travel in general and this airport in particular.

There are three interlocking strands to this visit: the historic and very decorative buildings, the history of the airfield and the evolution of British Imperial Airways which is closely tied to that of the airfield.

The buildings you see today were completed in 1928 and as such were designed to offer the intrepid traveller an experience somewhere between the luxury values of travelling by liner, and the convenience of going by train. We were told that it was the first PURPOSE BUILT civil airport in the world, pioneer of such now-standard features as the separation of arrivals and departures and of freight and passengers, not to mention a succession of purpose-built control towers. The date of completion reflects the favoured style of the times – ART DECO – though like much of that inter-war construction the materials are not all that they might seem. It is essentially a brick building covered in some kind of composite painted white – not even Coade stone as you might expect. The third storeys were added in later years. At its busiest the airport had several hangars and outbuildings, now demolished. The very presence and success of the airport also generated related industries for Croydon that supported or were part of air travel – this in turn encouraged employment and an expansion in nearby housing – all in an area that was once fields…

I may sound a little dismissive of the building but in fact in late summer sunshine it looked lovely with just enough embellishment to give it a ‘modern but classic’ air. Once inside the Thirties style continues with wooden panelling and a welcoming reception desk. Unlike today’s airports where the emphasis is on encouraging  you to spend money by reducing seating capacity this , the world’s first purpose built airport lounge offered congenial seating and just one kiosk – a prototype WH Smith’s selling what is had always sold.  The original wooden banquettes have been replaced by leather look sofas.

To understand  exactly why it is here we were reminded that during the First World War the Germans were sending over Zeppelins, which could fly at great altitude for up to 20 hours non-stop, enabling them to drop bombs on English targets, though their navigation was not always precise. When bombs from one wandering Zeppelin killed civilians in London, public and Parliament demanded visible countermeasures and the Royal Flying Corps established a presence at Croydon (largely ‘window dressing’ as it took time to develop effective anti-Zeppelin measures). Subsequently, it was recognised that as the threat came from the east Croydon was not the best centre to combat it and the airfield then became a base for training RFC pilots who departed for the front after very few flying lessons, many never to return. There was also an aircraft factory.

Come the end of the conflict, airplanes, and the pilots who survived weren’t going anywhere so the airfield started hosting novelty flights then as peace and commerce re-established themselves civil aviation took off in all senses.  While the fields remained – at that point aircraft took off and landed into the wind on grass – the building went up.   

The Reception area and the stairs are adorned with photographs of the airport at its busiest and most famous. One of the most celebrated pilots was Amy Johnson who flew solo starting from here to Australia.  Less well known is that she attempted to fly West across the Atlantic (previous crossings had all made the passage West to East because of the prevailing winds, and even today the  time difference crossing the Atlantic is significant). There is a telling photo of a failed take off with her short-lived husband looking less than pleased with the resulting plane damage – he was short lived as a husband that is, it having been a case of marry in haste and repent at n leisure...

Another interesting photo shows the line-up of  overseas planes  with their national insignia including  Lufthansa’s swastika tail symbol sitting happily next to a Dutch plane – not so two years later.

From something like 2,000 passengers in the first year of operation numbers rose to over 120,000 by the mid-1930s but transporting mail remained for a long time the most lucrative part of the business. Also the number of passengers could be eclipsed by the number of sight-seers – over 100,000 turned up at the airport to welcome the return of Amy Johnson.

One piece of aviation history that Croydon can NOT claim is the famous ‘Munich’ photo of Neville Chamberlain emerging from an aircraft in 1938 holding aloft his famous piece of paper: that flight landed at Heston airfield.  Heston appears as well as Croydon in ‘The History of Aviation’,  a large mural by William Kempster commissioned for Heathrow and unveiled by the Queen in 1969, which is on loan to Croydon till the end of the year.

Interspersed between the large size photos are a variety of historic advertising and promotional posters offering everything from tea in the air on a jaunt down to Brighton or ‘weekly trips to India & Australia’ – the latter taking three weeks, with multiple overnight stops. These were all the proud boasts of Imperial Airways whose home turf this surely was. Early aircraft were barely-converted bombers left over from the War, and even later purpose-designed biplanes retained features such as open cockpits for the pilots even if passengers travelled in comfortable (?) cabins. Advertisements pointed out that aircraft with 4 engines were naturally safer than those with only two.

As we admired the control tower from the outside m our guide explained  how primitive early aircraft control was… From the pilots’ points of view their navigation was determined but what they could  see  and hopefully recognise from the air – prime landmarks being  the coast, the River Thames  (you’ve gone too far)  and the railway. A favourite route from Europe was to find Brighton and follow the railway line to East Croydon then some-one had helpfully stencilled CROYDON in the grass. Of course this makes night time navigation near impossible and for those pilots heading over deserts they would have to hope for a handy camel trail to guide them.. As for predicting the arrival of any plane as the chaps in the top floor radio room were expected to do, this involved taking three radio bearings and plotting them with string on a map and triangulating the result, by which time of course the plane would have moved on. There is an example of this for you to try.

There was also a flight simulator  but not surprisingly this was being monopolised  by other visitors.

The radio room has been reconstructed and is very atmospheric and on the way back down you can admire (astound at) the rickety nature of the basket weave chairs passengers were seated in. On the other hand the menus were pretty luxurious.

So what happened to bring  Croydon Airport to a halt? Well, not surprisingly 1939 saw an immediate halt to all commercial flying. As Croydon was eventually deemed to be too far south and west for combative flying it again became a training base and remained as such throughout the war.  Fighter Group 11 were however based here for a while and there are suitable tributes to them.

Come 1945 and the new order in Europe and the World: commerce started up again but Croydon was considered too small, with no scope for building the permanent runways now needed for modern long-haul aircraft, so with  more space needed in 1951 Heathrow – then some marshy fields – was set up, and the rest of its story we know. Croydon continued in use for small-scale short-haul flights until 1959 (the last flight by a De Havilland Heron is commemorated by the mascot aircraft in front of the building). Imperial Airways meanwhile morphed into BOAC  (the non-European arm of what was then the national airline)  and flew as such until privatised by Mrs. Thatcher into the British  Airways we have today.

Imperial’s insignia – a winged globe which hangs in the reception / waiting lounge – was removed and only discovered many years later in a dusty hanger corner at Heathrow but was rescued and donated to the Museum where it hangs today.

Pride in early flying and pilots , early aircraft and innovative technology and design and respect for the pioneers are what makes this museum visit  well worth finding the time to  experience.