The Number 36 Route

Thursday 9 May 2019
This is a really remarkable route, going all the way from New Cross Gate in the south east, to Queen's Park in the north west. We set off at 11.20 from the stop near the bus station, in very 'April-y' weather for May:  first sunshine, then heavy showers and then more sunshine. This meant that even Linda's camera skills were tested by the rain on the windows.
We turned left to travel along Queen's Road, past the Hatcham Liberal Club and the magnificent, pinnacled Fire Station to reach the railway at Queen's Road, Peckham.

There is, of course, new building going on here, and you can read all about Peckham Place here.

We came into Peckham, where the High Street remains completely closed to motorised vehicles while they do something major to the gas works.  It was with wry amusement that we noted that they have picked this period to do other roadworks in the streets along which the buses are diverted.

The Kentish Drovers Pub is a Wetherspoon's.  Whatever you think about the CEO's views on current national and international issues (well, THE issue) you cannot help but admire the chain's approach to the history of their pubs: not just to the drovers who brought meat on the hoof to Smithfield, but to the area surrounding the place.

We also spotted that Persepolis was open (on the way down it had been closed: perhaps something to do with Ramadan?) It's a shop and cafe stuffed with good things.

The Harris Academy chain has one in Peckham, and we passed Oliver Goldsmith primary School as well, making it easy to decipher the nearby blue plaque, though this website does not mention is living in South London.

Next we came to Camberwell, with its historic Arts College and the site of the former Mary Datchelor School.  This is clearly still an issue with local residents, who would like some kind of school to (re)open on the site, and nothing much seems to have happened since we were last this way.

Once we passed St Giles' Church, we were heading along the Camberwell New Road, pretty Straight, and passing both the Abellio Walworth Depot and the Go-Ahead bus driver training facility., as well as the Hermit's Cave Pub. Not being a Wetherspoon's, it has no history details on the web, so I speculate that a local art student painted them a sign with a hermit looking out of a cave, and it all went from there.

The next significant landmarks were Oval Station, and the Kia Oval, home, as the many banners say, of T20 cricket. The one day international against Pakistan on Wednesday was ruined by rain and hail and all the other horrible weather, which is a pity.  Of course other sports do not allow themselves to be rained off (look at day 1 of the Women's Tour de Yorkshire, for instance).

As we continued westwards, I drew Linda's attention to CS5, a cycle lane pretty well worthy of its name: segregated, and going behind the bus stops to avoid friction.

So then we came into Vauxhall, where there are some interesting (but unidentified) pillars with metal people on top, as well as a bus station which Linda and I quite like, and a fine view of Spies-R-Us across the river.

We crossed the river, noting how very low the tide was, and came past the Jugged Hare Pub, formerly a bank, but now a pub and restaurant. They don't seem to serve jugged hare, which is as well, since I think hares are protected anyway? I always thought that Mrs Beeton's famous recipe began with the words 'First catch your hare' but intensive internet research proves me wrong.

We were soon at Victoria Station, an area noted for musicals, since both Wicked and Hamilton are on in the vicinity. The 'works' in the bus station are still ongoing, but fortunately this route does not go in, but trundles on, past  Grosvenor Gardens and the Queen's back garden.

We reached Hyde Park Corner without difficulty (not our recent experience) and went up Park Lane, with a distant view of the memorial of the victims of the 7/7/05 bombings.

At this stage the camera gave up its recording facility, so I must report without visual confirmation that the fountains at Marble Arch were looking pleasant in the sunshine, and the Edgware Road was less clogged that it has often been. From here we zigzagged around to get to Northumberland Terrace, Paddington, where we were pleased to see that the Crossrail works were making slow but steady progress, even if 2021 seems a long way off. In a way its claim to be the Culture Line seems to be rather a frill, since the art works will not be visible until the place opens.

Anyway, we went left along Bishops Bridge Road for some way, before wiggling to get to the Harrow Road, parallel with the Canal and past the huge Sir Naim Dangoor bit of Westminster Academy. We passed the Science Photo Library (you might enjoy their pictures since this post has failed to provide many!) We then did some more wiggling to get into Queen's Park, noting a Blue Plaque for Norman Wisdom on the way. You can watch a bit of him if you would like to.

The last moment of the trip was a sad one:  the Falcon Pub has been closed for some time, and there seems to be a local contretemps about using the site for housing. Still, here we were, at 12.40, eighty minutes after leaving New Cross Gate.