The Number 53 Route

Monday 2 September 2019
So, Autumn is here, though you wouldn't have thought it as Linda and I headed out on yet another blindingly blue and sunny day.  We did not notice at first as the head stop for the 53 is under the railway bridge just north of Lower Marsh, where it was dark and gloomy.  But just after 10.00, we were out and heading eastwards into the sun.

St George's Circus used to be the home of the Feminist Library, but I see from their website that they are about to move into Peckham. Meanwhile, we were moving to wards Elephant and Castle, and from there along the Old Kent Road. 

This route takes one over the flyover thing, which most buses skirt, and so affords fine views towards the City. And soon we reached the huge supermarket where the 168 terminates. Outside it there seemed to be an artwork with a snail (we think!) propping up a chrome plaque, but I have been unable to find anything about it on the internet:  I have found a lot of debate about public art, mind you.

We carried on going straight, so that we bypassed Peckham, rather than going through it, and hurried along towards New Cross Gate. We made such rapid progress that we were not surprised when our bus paused twice 'to regulate the service'.

This was, by the way, a bus going to a whole new level of announcements. As well as telling us the next stop, the nice lady-recording told us what services had 'same stop' interchanges, extolled the wonders of the 53 and N53 as a 24hour x 7 days service, and mentioned frequently that 'for our safety and security we were being recorded on CCTV'. If I'm honest, we found her a bit boring after a while.

This is an area with a serious amount of social housing, so the bus became quite busy, as we passed New Cross Bus Garage, and the mammoth Sainsbury's by New Cross Station. We also passes a borough plaque commemorating The New Cross Fire of 1981. You can read here what was being said 20 years on; another 20 years have passed with no clear answers being found.

A number of the buildings were in use by the kind of church for which south London is , including the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry and, later, the Redeemed Christian Church of God Victory Resource Centre.  But we also spotted Sandy's unisex salon, specialising in plaits and weave-ons so, in Deptford, bodies as well as souls are catered for.

Here, there were road works and contraflow traffic lights, but at least they were for infra-structure works and not new-build apartment blocks. Linda pointed out that we were near the HQ of the new mega-sewer, but we didn't think these little trenches had anything to do with that.

The great expanses of Blackheath now stretched on either side.  We had views of the Ranger's House, as well as the entrance to Greenwich Park closest to the Observatory. 

But even more interesting were the remains of the fun fair which had presumably been there of the August Bank Holiday.  A young voice behind us on the bus said, hopefully, 'perhaps they're setting up', but it was clear that they were heading away.  We were amazed at the enormous dwellings, some the size of a cargo container.

The Blackheath Royal Standard was the name of a bus stop, though we saw no sign of the smart pub for which it is named, and the chatty tannoy did not elucidate. I feel that if the buses are going to talk to the passengers all the time, a little tourist information might come in handy.

The next former village is of course Charlton, and we glimpsed Charlton House in its park.  Mostly, though, the area is dominated by large apartment blocks, both old and new.

Almost immediately we were into Woolwich, with the central Square (named for General Gordon of Khartoum fame) looking handsome and polished.  The last time we 'did' these routes was just after the riots, and the place had looked very different then.

The route turns left at the charming Woolwich Arsenal Station (from where you can get a train to St Pancras, should you wish to) and from there wriggles through a lot of narrow residential street. In one of these we had our second pause to regulate the service.

We admired the property which, we thought, was the Lodge of Plumstead Park, as well as other homes with 'Dutch' gables.  This time we did see the pubs for which the stops were named, the Ship and the Star.  

At this stage, I pointed out to Linda that though the 53 departs from 'Waterloo', it returns to 'County Hall', a concept which no longer exists, really, since it is now an Aquarium and a large hotel.

This was the end of our journey:  we rolled up close to Plumstead's tiny station at 11.10, having enjoyed a trip through the many villages which have come together to form South East London.  We can only hope that we shall have more lovely sunny days like this one.