The NUMBER 67 Route

Dalston Junction Station to Wood Green Station

Friday November 21 2019

Fortunately we remembered in time we had ridden the 66 a year ago, along with the Number 5, so could contemplate meeting at Dalston Junction – very handy for both of us – and a staff member was kind enough to let us use their loo.  Actually the 67 starts from a quiet little space at the ‘other’ exit of the station, of whose existence I had not known until today.  The bus itself was a grubby Boris type and we set off at 9.42.

The busy road junction that separates one bit of the Overground from the other is bordered by food outlets so you could eat yourself silly just changing lines...  Signs POINT to Gillet Square which has a ten year long history of public consultation and building but this public space now seems well integrated into this increasingly populated part of Hackney, with the nearby Ridley Road market still operating , but as this article .explains gentrification comes at a price.

Most of the stalls, like many of the shops that are not part of chains, are what Jo and I call ‘Arrival City’ services – businesses set up to cater to their own recently arrived communities but gradually broadening their customer bases.

The Princess May primary school looms in its old Victorian buildings.  It too has an enterprise side-line with regular car boot sales at the weekends.

Heading steadily north on surprisingly traffic-free roads (we’re talking Inner London here) we made good progress.

More commerce is available at 'Beyond Retro' a several-storey emporium with outlets round the UK and Sweden.  Whatever happened to rootling around in charity shops and coming up with a ‘find’ – this, complete with mail order, surely removes the fun and challenge?  However I confess to sneaking a peek in case what I had still in my wardrobe might feature.

The Azizye Mosque was a cheering sight on a dull rainy day with its wealth of Iznik style tiles; apparently used mainly by the Turkish community which is long established in this part of London , its interior looks equally spectacular and saved a former cinema from demolition 

Just before we reached Stamford Hill, the home of another religious group, the Haredi Jews, we passed the old Police station now converted into flats and something blander and newer calling itself SAFER STREETS.  Stamford Hill expanded rapidly in Victorian times and there are several handsome blocks of flats.  Unlike the Peabody Trust, the Guinness Trust who have dwellings here, maintain their heritage and a very nice website.

After a long stretch going due north the 67 takes a sharp left at a huge church onto St Ann’s Road – is the church St Ann’s?  Well no actually it is St Ignatius. The buildings seem to spread down the road, and this is accounted for as it was originally a Jesuit Foundation so needed nearby accommodation too.  The church is still active and we noted a banner pointing to a knife box in memory of two presumably parishioners who were stabbed.

This whole stretch, where the 67 appears to be the only route, is known as St Ann’s and has a mixture of mainly post-war housing and a range of community facilities both council, religious and voluntary.  Like the rest of the route the exchange of passengers was steady.

As we passed Plevna Crescent, Jo thought this might commemorate a battle though siege might be more accurate – it was a decisive 1877 action in the Russian/Romanian allies’ fight against the Ottomans

According to British diplomatic historian A J P Taylor:

Most battles confirm the way that things are going already; Plevna is one of the few engagements which changed the course of history. It is difficult to see how the Ottoman Empire could have survived in Europe ... if the Russians had reached Constantinople in July; probably it would have collapsed in Asia as well. Plevna ... gave the Ottoman Empire another forty years of life.

So there you are.

The bus has to drive round a small park, the Chestnuts. where the autumn colours continued to be strong but probably for the last week.  By contrast Jo spotted a very robust Nespole tree in some-one’s front garden – this has become something of a family joke.  It is very (too?) easy to grow from the fruit stones and Linda distributed a number of little rooted plants to friends and family who are now complaining of overly excitable trees dominating their London patches – the one thing these ex-seedlings fail to produce is the lovely fruit of course.

The large building site next to a very run down St Ann’s Hospital indicated a ‘sell off ‘ but this link indicates that within two years there will be replacements and additions to the outdated facilities.

though I do not think we shall be passing this way again to see the completed hospital.

Very soon we have rejoined Route 41 down Blackboy Lane heading towards Ducketts Green and Turnpike Lane , with our latest load of passengers, replacing those who got off for the Piccadilly Line, boarding for the bus to deliver us up a short stretch of High Street and to the bus and train hub that is Wood Green.

We emerged into drizzle which fortunately did not last long and after trying to take the next route on the wrong side of the road located the head stop for the 243, which proved to be one of the longer (in time) routes overall.

The 67 however had stayed within its 40 minutes of NW trajectory mainly through the heart of Hackney and Harringay and their very diverse and both settled and more recently arrived communities.