The Number 225 Route

Thursday 22 September 2011

Happy Birthday to the Little Gooner and James!

Linda and I met at Canada Water, each via our branch of the Overground, and stepped onto our single decker at 09.45, headed for Hither Green.  There is a tremendous amount of new build around Canada Water and Surrey Quays, but still plenty of green space as well.  We passed the China Hat Pub, about which the internet is silent, and then the smart Yellow House. After seeing so many permanently shuttered pubs, we admired its daytime yellow, flowery shutters.

We passed the shopping centre, and then the reconstructed Dockers' shelter, with its handsome mural, clearly one of many in the area.  Transpontine has some great pictures here.  At the end of the nineteenth century, dock workers were employed on a casual basis, waiting here until ship owners or gang masters hired them:  risking accepting two hours of work and thus missing out on a whole day.  Their strike in 1889 won worldwide support, and they were assured of a minimum of four hours work once employed, and a minimum wage.

Our route took us through a mixture of neat cottages, some buildings with smart facades, and modern apartment blocks.

We came to where Lewisham Council is building 'a new future for Deptford Green School'; certainly the buildings look wonderful in the film on the website.  This route passes several other schools, including Addey and Stanhope, as well as Lewisham College.

We went through New Cross quite rapidly, noting the Iyengar Yoga Centre and admiring both a splendid looking playground and the attractive Sylva Cottages, and passing the Stephen Lawrence Centre.  We were especially interested in a row of former lock-ups, each of which had been turned into a religious venue, for instance, the Grace Christian Centre, claimed to be 'building lives and raising prevailers':  we think there were 5 churches here.

Thurston Road is where there used to be a site for Travellers.  There is now no site for Travellers in the borough, and if you dial the number suggested on the website, about relocation, you get a 'number unobtainable' noise.

For a change, we went round the 'other' side of Lewisham shopping centre, glimpsing the market stalls, before heading up Court Hill Road, where a damaged water main (we assume) was providing a water feature which we splashed through.  This brought us into Hither Green, where the Spotted Cow pub is about to be turned into accommodation, and where we saw a number of closed up shops.

The new Housing where Hither Green hospital used to be was clearly a matter of controversy a while back, but things appear to be settled, with the clock tower surviving as the area's logo.  We reached Hither Green Station, site of a terrible railway disaster in 1967, but now a peaceful spot, with a splendid community garden.

We climbed off the bus at 10.15, after a pleasant journey through typical south London views and homes.

The Number 224 Route

Thursday 15 September 2011

It’s some time since we travelled consecutive routes, so  we enjoyed this pair.  We were accompanied by Sue D, which made up for missing Mary.  We had an easy walk from Wembley Central Station, where the 223 dropped us off, to the shiny new Wembley Stadium Station, with its attractive Brent murals. 

Our single decker set off at 12.40 and headed back along Wembley High Street, passing the Triangle Restaurant, which offers East African food.  Sue and I agreed that we had never much enjoyed matoke, though no doubt there are other delights available.

The main eye candy along here is, however, the asian shops, with glowing clothing and interesting sounding sweets and ices:  we thought ‘Kenya Jewellers’ might be a reminder of the 1960s treatment of British citizens of Asian origin in East Africa.  We also noticed a couple of Paan houses, which maybe explained why there were council notices in the high street warning that spitting paan juice was liable to a fine of £80.00. (There is a photo of one of these posters at the end of the 223 blog)

The bus was busy as we passed the temple, with many passengers standing. A few more minutes brought us into Alperton, past the Community School, with its fine reputation and possibly the longest strapline in the world of education.

We also passed Alperton bus garage, and then went over the Grand Union Canal on the first of several twiddles of this route:  this one to serve Sainsbury’s before heading back over the Canal and onward.  The Church of God of Prophecy, originating in North Carolina in the 1860s, has a Community Centre here.  We had a long pause outside it, though we were not clear why as we were not ahead of the supposed timings of this route. 

The Ace Café had, as you might expect, a number of motorbikes parked outside it, unlike the sad former Route 66 pub.  By the time we had reached that, though, we had been over the Grand Union Canal twice more, with a little twiddle over the North Circular.  

We passed it twice, as this bus goes around and back to serve a little green area off Iveagh Avenue, before retracing its steps.  We briefly wondered if the pauses were for the driver to remember which twiddles he had done and which were yet to come.

Those yet to come included the enormous Asda, which we completely circumnavigated, before heading into and out of the Central Middlesex Hospital.  We crossed the Canal yet again, and admired the tiled mural on the bridge.  Soon we knew we were coming towards Willesden, as the Church proclaimed, in Portuguese, ‘deus e amor’ There ere also many Portuguese and Brazilian butcher and other food shops.  We also noted the SickleCell Society HQ  before we arrived at Willesden Junction Station at 13.35. 

The Number 223 Route

Harrow Bus Station to Wembley Central Station

Thursday September 15th 2011

Jo and Linda today were accompanied by Sue – a family member up in London for a belated birthday treat, though bussing round Wembley seems a strange choice of treat (there had been other outings in case you think us cheapskates). She could of course use her Wiltshire Freedom Pass, which made us wonder how TFL recouped the money. Our attempt at meeting at Baker Street had turned into something of a French farce – by which I mean Jo and I were chasing each other up and down escalators with the barrier personnel going ‘she went that a way’ – but we eventually boarded the newly spruced-up Metropolitan line train to Harrow on the Hill, a good choice as the line splits after here.

But to the buses… This was our first journey starting at Harrow Bus Station, though we have passed through several times – and very nice it is too: classical music, lots of informed officials, and close to both the train station and shopping centre. We had time to appreciate this as we had just missed one of the three-per-hour single deckers, and eventually boarded at 11.30, by which time there were several passengers keen to get home with their shopping already done. I heard that familiar clatter as a boarding passenger dropped her stick while showing her pass – having travelled with my 92-year old mother, I know that it is pretty difficult to juggle pass/bags/stick and then stagger to your seat. Fortunately most of the passengers were of the same demographic and therefore tolerant.

Through Harrow, where the range of shut pubs (poor old Fat Controller), derelict offices and offices to let remains pretty unchanged. As far as I can see this route does a detour (detours were to be theme for the day) in order to call at Northwick Park Hospital which meant a couple of roundabouts, giving us the chance to spot  The Plantation Garden centre, which calls itself London’s largest, and Harrow High tucked in under the roundabout.

After the hospital the bus means business, and heads along Kenton’s High Street and then strikes through the heart of residential Kenton, where most of the passengers were headed. By now we were in a ‘Hail & Ride’ section. During our visit to Brixton Garage the Manager there told us he thought they would be phasing out ‘Hail and Ride’ as it was abused by both drivers and passengers. We could not see this ourselves, though perhaps it was hailed more frequently than established bus stops. The houses were pleasant, and we noticed a Lake District Theme creeping in with Roads named for Coniston, Windermere and Rydal and a pub also.

An inter-war estate built on former farm land, this is very much an area where people will depend on this bus route to take them places, and they seem to have an active and alert Residents' Association.  A newer property was named for Coleridge – one of the Lake Poets I suppose though I am puzzled why a band  hailing from the North East should name themselves after the North West’s most famous area?


Having served the South Kenton part of the Preservation Area are we moved on to Preston Park, which has both a pub and station named for it. From the hillier bits of this route we could glimpse distant views and the now not so distant Wembley Arch.  As regards the Arch it is very Alice through the Looking Glass as the closer you get the less you see of the Arch while on a fine day you can appreciate its entirety from South London!

Where the 223 rejoins other bus routes at Forty Avenue we had a good sight of the Ark Academy at Wembley Park Station (Built 1923), an altogether more useful station on the Jubilee Line. This is such a new school that they are only now admitting their second intake of year 7 pupils who will be sporting the same shade of red as the front gates.

‘Making the Most of Each day’ could easily be the school’s motto but seems to be that of the Preston day centre supporting the more mature members of the community.

Brent Borough, where we spent most of this trip works hard at regeneration – this can be seen in all the new buildings round Wembley Central, in its hanging baskets and also schools and support services. We tend to think that the recent history of this area started with the Empire Exhibition in the 1920s and building of the original two towers stadium but apparently Wembley Park in the 1890s was the location for a project to build London’s very own  Eiffel Tower.

We had the most glorious sunny September weather for this trip but actually this makes photos even trickier because of the reflections so I have included a selection of what the Americans call Public Service posters, some old some new. Before the days when everyone carried their own electronic entertainment about with them posters were an ideal way of catching people’s attention, and they still can be. The London Transport Museum does a splendid one :

‘HELP the driver by signalling clearly to stop the bus – Part of your war effort’ which I cannot reproduce for copyright reasons (but you have a look on their website)

The 223 did one more loop along Empire Way and round the back before rejoining the High Street and letting us out by Wembley Central Station after a 40 minute trip.

The Number 222 Route

Tuesday 22 June 2010

Having arrived at Hounslow Bus Garage, Mary and I decided to return to the east via the west: from Hounslow, buses go to places like Staines and Twickenham, rather than eastwards.  So we set off to go to Uxbridge, in order to catch a bus back to White City, leaving at about 11.50.  Some might think that is a roundabout route:  but this would only be people who have never visited Hounslow Bus Station.

The 222 is a single decker bus, and very warm on this beautiful sunny day.  We hoped, in passing, that Linda was getting the same weather in Wales.

For the first part of the trip we repeated the 81 route, passing the Treaty Shopping Centre, which apparently also houses the Paul Robeson Theatre. While I haven’t found out why it is called the Treaty Centre, Paul Robeson did spend some years in London, avoiding the racism and McCarthyism of his own 'land of the free':  though whether he lived in Hounslow or not is information that has eluded me. 

Aeroplanes  barely clearing the tops of buildings meant that we were circling Heathrow as we headed back along the Bath road, crossing the River Crane.  According to Wikipaedia, the bogginess of the ground under the river is the reason that the Piccadilly Line comes above ground for a short distance on its way to Heathrow:  and you thought it was especially so that you could use your mobile to check your flight.

Every lamp post had a ‘no third runway’ sign as we came to Sipson.  The gardens we could see looked pretty, so we were sorry that we weren’t in one of the double deckers that also serve the 222 route, though Mary was doing a fine job with the camera.  Sipson has some narrow village streets, and the Plough Inn was looking charming;  were it not for the airport, the green areas around would feel quite countrified.  

As we entered Cowley we went over the River Pinn, making its way to the Grand Union Canal. (PS on Saturday 26 June 2010, Andrew and I walked the 12 miles of the Pinn's Riverside walk, called the Celandine Route, from Pinner to –big disappointment – a locked gate preventing us getting onto the Canal towpath.  On the whole, the walk is good:  surprising miles of green parks, riverside and the occasional golfcourse.  There is, however, quite a long road section to get round  RAF Uxbridge.  You can download some slightly outdated instructions from the Hillingdon Borough website, though of course they may have updated them by the time you read this) 

Drayton Hall, the council’s imposing offices, brought us into West Drayton where we should have liked to hop off and visit Hydrodragon, importers of jade and marble statues. Their website has lots of lovely pictures for your pleasure.  

Then over the Grand Union Canal and into Yiewsley, noting not just the big retail park but also the Packet Boat Marina and pub.

We knew we were close to Uxbridge as we came to signs for Brunel University, and for a while we  travelled parallel to the River Colne. Although there are still some nineteenth century houses, the centre of Uxbridge is dominated by the Pavilions Shopping Centre, which we circled to get to Belmont Road and the end of our trip, after about an hour.  From there it was no distance to our next bus.

The Number 221 Route

Turnpike Lane to Edgware Station

Thursday September 8th 2011

Mary and Linda, today’s busketeers (a name given us by the Great Wen) were so engrossed in their conversation about books about Mao and the Great Famine that when a bus with 21 on its front rolled up at the very comfortable and spacious Turnpike Lane Bus station we boarded it eagerly. Then shock and horror as the bus announcement told us we were heading for Enfield Lock (Island Village). ‘No no, we’ve just come from Enfield, we’re on the wrong bus, please let us off'. Of course the driver could not as he was pulling out of the bus station and opening doors at non-permitted points is not allowed.


We hung on till the first stop along the High Street heading to Wood Green and got off the 121 saying, ‘This would never have happened if Jo were here.’ We also saw the 221 (we were a mere100 numbers askew) sailing past, as the two routes do not share a bus stop. We walked the five metres and settled down to watch the destination count down board telling us we needed another 13 minutes. That proved pessimistic and we soon got on our correct 221 but of course our cherished top deck front seats had been taken, as this was clearly a popular route.

Leaving Wood Green Shopping centre (possibly for the last time on our travels) we headed straight ahead and north towards Bounds Green. This road is surprisingly green and leafy and as there were not too many ailing brown-wrinkled Chestnuts the adjective ‘green’ still applied to the trees – it’s been a wet late summer so autumn will be later.



As we approached the junction with the North Circular and the accompanying road works now in their second year we were slow enough to catch the tall obelisk and drinking fountain erected in 1880 to the memory of one Catherine Smithies, who founded an animal charity later merged with the RSPCA.

Ahead was a large gas holder and industrial estates/retail parks, the sort that back onto railway lines, so we followed the tracks up to New Southgate Station, conveniently near the corner with Friern Barnet Road and the start of our journey west. Interestingly by now we had caught up the 221 in front (the one we failed to catch originally) and in the end overtook while it was terminated at Finchley. (I mean terminate in the bus route not Arnie Schwarzenegger sense)

The main gem along here is the former site of Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, built originally to replace the Bethlem (Bedlam) which was then renamed the Friern Hospital, though still a mental health resource. There is a recently published biography of Nikolaus Pevsner, that chronicler of the ‘Buildings of England’ and not really a very nice man, who turned up at the door, or more accurately the gate, of the Italianate building saying, ‘I am Professor Pevsner.’ ‘That’s a new one’ said the unimpressed doorman. Now in the process of being turned into private apartments  it generated a conversation about the treatment of the mentally ill and those with learning difficulties.

If ever a bus station was calculated to send passengers into a depressive decline it would be that at North Finchley where we shortly arrived. Opened in 2004 it is completely dark, situated as it is at the foot of an unedifying tower block. Once through Finchley this route really comes into its own and follows a series of winding lanes through very attractive areas of North West London. We swept off the main Ballards Lane down Alexandra Lane from which we had extensive views as far as Wembley (we’re due there next week) and lined with pleasant spacious suburban homes and gardens. Next we dipped to the valley of the Dollis Brook and climbed the other side of the valley (sounds a bit grandiose but there are serious gradients here). We then followed Lullington Garth and Frith Lane where a young woman got off in proper wellies i.e. black and muddy not pink polka dotted and worn with a short flimsy skirt – the latter very nice but not for riding which is what the passenger was clearly intending to do, as we passed the London Equestrian Centre and then Finchley Golf Course . It only needed Waitrose to complete the picture and there we were, having used the Holders Hill roundabout to turn right to head up Bittacy Hill and call in at Mill Hill East Underground station – that little spur on the Northern Line.

The 221 does not go up to the top of the hill which is the oldest part of Mill Hill but still continues to pass large and spacious homes and gardens making NW7 very green, and actually also well provided with communal facilities- Copthall School  and the spacious playing fields, and a clutch of churches side by side at the foot of Pursley Road. By following Bunns Lane, named for a former farm, this route manages to go under not just the A1 Barnet by pass but also, having taken us along Mill Hill Broadway, under the M1 via the second darkest bus station at Mill Hill Broadway. I have previously voiced my disapproval of this station so today I say nothing. Lots of people got on and stayed on as we followed the last Lane of the trip – Hale Lane – back along its various bends, over the Deans Brook to where it turns into Station Road and Edgware Station, train and bus.

My abiding memory of this area along Hale Lane is the summer vacation I spent working at the Rawlplugs Factory – the little brown sticks then were made of oxblood and fibre so fairly messy and smelly and, while the product in its modern plastic form survives, the factory has long gone.

Edgware Bus Station was a bright and clean treat after the dark and gloomy other ones on this very cross-country and at times almost rural route through some of the wealthier parts of North West London. Bit of a false start but we made it in the end. Not a five lane road but a route with five Lanes and not a few hills.

 

The Number 220 Route

Willesden Junction to Wandsworth

Friday August 26th 2011

An early start was planned to enable us to complete 4 bus routes and still do our thing for the Bank Holiday weekend – what was not planned was the dreich weather which accompanied us on most of our routes today.



Willesden Junction is a significant train/Underground and Overground hub so popular for changing but few people get out as there is little to see/do in an area dominated by railway lines and sidings and rail-linked workshops and outlets (Royal Mail for example) which support these. Although there is still a quite handsome Willesden Junction Hotel and Pub  it is sadly no longer open for all of the above reasons I imagine – little passing trade – though one site seemed to indicate it was a restaurant. Nearby there is a more strangely named pub ‘The Shawl’ looking much livelier.

The bus takes all the obligatory one-way tours through Harlesden, complete with clock, and a variety of interesting-looking eating places: Jam Dam Bakery, Corcovado and the Rose Garden offering both Afghan and Persian (sic) menus, with some appropriate decorations on the outside.



By the time the bus reaches Scrubs Lane it is the only route offering a service. Our view even from the top deck was severely hampered by weather and condensation so we probably missed the likely view of open greenery – the road again crosses many railway lines and the right hand side of the road is filled with industrial units and more rail-type workshops, scrap metal etc with few Thirties-era buildings. Along the left hand side are a series of cemeteries which segue into one another – the RC Cemetery, the West London crematorium and finally the Kensal Green Cemetery. Once over Mitre Bridge there is even some green space not surprisingly known as the Scrubs. (HMP Wormwood Scrubs is on the 7 family routes...) If you like steam trains here is a short film of one passing under the Mitre Bridge.But nothing so exciting today.

After passing Burlington Dane’s School, quite a historic school now in its 1936 buildings, considered state of the art  at the time.

The route along here is busy with passengers and serves many public buildings, most notably the newer bits of the BBC, followed quite swiftly by the Westfield Shopping centre which we now need to call Westfield West. Shepherds Bush Green, like everywhere else, was damp today – we wondered whether the Ginglitz café on the Green had taken over some former toilets?? Wiki tells me it is a small venue for comedy and bands. As well as the new library the facade of the old library remains.

There are some fine mansion blocks down the Shepherds Bush Road = the Grampians and the usual run of independent shops – Hair Apparent and Paws by the Green.

By now the 220 had delivered us to Hammersmith and today a trip to the upper level of the bus station (really a mezzanine we thought, but perhaps that’s a bit posh for a bus station). The numbers 9 & 10 bus routes seem a long way behind us. Today the exit onto Talgarth Road was blocked (repairs?) so we did the whole tour. Hammersmith Bus stations and adjacent undergrounds are wonderful for travellers but the one-way roundabout that the stations have become do little for the Hammersmith residents who must feel they are permanently trying to cross the road and surrounded by traffic? The Sacred Heart High School seems resilient with its red brick façade.

On down the Fulham Palace Road which very soon, having passed the Charing Cross Hospital and the Guinness Trust Buildings, gets very upmarket, but not able today to spot any yummy mummies as it was too wet. The 220 which was clearly getting a little ahead of its time-table, loitered close to Lillie Road and we spotted the Fulham Palace Garden Centre exhorting us to buy clematis, to which I would say, ’No thank-you,’ as I am not a fan.

At this point I realised we were NOT crossing Hammersmith Bridge but heading on down to the rather more serviceable, considerably less beautiful Putney Bridge. Just before the bridge approach we were amused to pass a ‘history lesson’ namely a series blocks called after a variety of 19th century politicians – Shaftesbury (good deeds) Salisbury (Prime Minister), (Churchill (father of, we think), Roseberry (Derby and PM) and Granville (long term Liberal Party leader but never actually PM, apparently).

While we were still puzzling on that we crossed Putney Bridge – given the by now even heavier rain visibility was poor but the river looked quite angry and swollen.

The first thing which caught our eye as we crossed the river was a banner slung across the corner building:

“Say NO to the Sewage vent outlet in Putney’. As the 4 inner London boroughs (K&C, Westminster, H&F and another) are already exporting their rubbish collections to East London and Crossness they are obviously hoping the sewers can empty there too – clearly their view of SE London is that it’s good enough for dumping but the SW Londoners don’t even want to sniff it as it passes?


By now we were on the last leg of our trip along the quite narrow Putney Bridge Road bordered by Wandsworth Park and smaller older properties interspersed with some pretty pubs – we are of course very much in both Fullers and Youngs’ territory though the Hop Pole belongs to Shepherd Neame. One more turn to cross over the Wandle and down Ram Street past the now deserted Young’s Brewery – their website covers their history from founding to selling.

The 220 hurries across the South Circular and finally tucks in behind the Southside Shopping centre (very much the dustbin end we thought) and not a very fitting finish for a stalwart route cutting a substantial swathe through inner north and south west London.

The Number 219 Route

Monday 26 October 2009

Linda and I spent a little time around Clapham Centre, including the by now traditional use of facilities in Debenhams, formerly Arding and Hobbs, before finding a bus stop with no clues except the number, but were reassured when the bus rolled up, ready to start, after about five minutes.  Another single decker, more's the pity, but we headed off past St Mark's Church and the edge of Spencer Park where the Memorial stands for the Clapham Rail disaster.

We zoomed along, with Wandsworth Common first on one side and then on both, autumn colours vibrant on this lovely sunny day. We passed the Wandsworth Saturday School, part of a network of private tuition places around the Home Counties, and then, more interestingly, a Blue Plaque for Thomas Hardy, who spent three years here in 1878-8. Here are some poems, if you're in the mood. 

After Tooting Bec Station and the King's Head Pub (Henry VIII in later, fatter years their choice of head:  hard to believe he was ever the best sportsman and handsomest Prince in Europe) we enjoyed slow traffic along the Upper Tooting Road.  I say enjoyed because the sari shops were glowing with autumnal colours ready for Diwali, and the jewellers and food shops were pretty colourful too.

Next came Tooting Broadway Station with its statue of Edward VII,  erected 1911, the year after his death.I wonder if they had to move it while they built the station (opened 1926)

The Wimpey new build of St George's Quarter seems to have come to a halt, and we swept on, past various Nelson and Trafalgar references in street and pub names, to reach Colliers Wood Station, and then follow the River Wandle for some way (did Nelson really fish for trout in it as the reference sites seem to say? It was his brother who became Earl of Merton, by the way. There's a good biography of him here if anyone doesn't know about him)

Meanwhile a young woman with two dogs had been on the bus, politely asking if she could move to the back.  The retired greyhound behaved like a perfect lady throughout, but the younger boxer was deeply nervous and miserable,  Eavesdropping revealed that he had only been on a bus three times before, and the first twice she had had to get off as he was panic stricken, so mere whimpering was a great improvement.

We passed both the Polka Theatre and the New Wimbledon Theatre (Pamela Anderson to be the Genie in Aladdin this Christmas!) before looping round the Shopping Centre (called wittily Centre Court) into Sir Cyril Black Way and the final stop at 12.15, just 40 minutes from Clapham.