Not the Number 306 route

Well, now, here's a bit of a puzzle.  A modest web search indicates that there used to be a 306 running between Crystal Palace and Blackheath, until 1996;  but then again, there seems also to have been a 306 running between New Barnet and Leavesden.  Both these areas count as London nowadays;  suffice it to say, however, that there is no such route in the TfL world now but, as it our habit, we feel we should mark its non-existence.

And I thought I would take the opportunity to have a little moan about pub names.  You may have noticed it as a thread in some postings:  some pub names are strange and wonderful;  some are run-of -the-mill.  But it seems little enough to expect the pub website to explain the name.  And yet few of them do: too busy describing the food and the quiz nights.

Sometimes you can work out 'who' from the sign:  here's The Duke's Head, and it's clearly the Duke of Wellington;  never mind the uniform, just admire the nose, the reason he was called 'Old Hookey'.  And a lot of Queen's Heads can be identified from a sign.

Wetherspoons does the right thing by its pubs.  You can always find a couple of sentences offering reasons for the name.  I should like to appeal to other pub chains, and indeed publicans, to do the same.  How can you run a pub called 'the Change of Hart' or 'the Bald Faced Stag' and not be curious about it?

Just a suggestion...

The Number 305 Route

Wednesday 7 March 2012

A really unpleasant day, as far as the weather was concerned, might have put us off, but it didn't.  If the photos make you wonder where you washed the sleep out of your eyes in the shower this morning, you can relax:  it's just that rain and steamed up bus windows make a very poor environment even for Linda's skilled photography.

Linda, Mary and I met at Kingsbury Station, the Jubilee Line having done its duty.  We patronised the facilities of the station, and had a brief conversation with a charming station attendant.  He has not been watching 'The Tube' on TV, since he experiences it for real every working day.

Just round the corner from the station was stop C,  and so we were onto our single decker and bound for Edgware shortly after 10.00.  Kingsbury, dating from the time of the Saxons, has what one might describe as a 'real' name, unlike neighbouring Queensbury, which grew up as London grew, and was given the name to match.  The houses were substantial, mostly semis, and a number had hardened their front gardens to deal with the whole car issue.

We turned left into Stag Lane, to pass the Health Centre, as well as the Brent Sikh Centre.  This brought us down to the Peacock's with the attractive murals, which depict market stalls of the traditional type.  The shop is still, we thought, open, and we can only hope that the new owners maintain both it and its outer decoration.

As we came along Burnt Oak High Street, we were impressed to see a real fish shop as well as a number of other food outlets.  A church had as its wayside message 'perhaps there is a God, perhaps his name is Jesus'.  This apparently straightforward message could, I gather,  be seen by some as verging on the heretical.

There was lots of lovely blossom, trying to maintain that it was spring, despite the wintery weather, and we admired it as we travelled through the Watling Estate.  We thought that people who had bought their houses had mostly decided to get their cars off the road, but it seemed an attractive area, with plenty of green verges.  Travelling along Deansbrook Road, we spared a thought for the helpful commenters on our blog who put us right when we get our rivers and street names wrong.

 John Keble Church is not the most attractive building we have ever seen; it is an Anglican church, Keble having stayed within the Church of England when other Tractarians moved across to Rome.  He wrote a number of hymns, including 'Blest are the pure in heart'.

Along Hale Lane, we were briefly the only people on the bus, but were joined by a couple more as we crossed the Dean's Brook and headed downhill.  There would have been a view, but it was too misty and wet for that.

So we turned into Edgware bus station - one of our favourites - just after 10.20, after a short but pleasant ride through mainly residential north London streets.

The Number 304 Route

Routes that do not exist are going to come thick and fast from now on, but we feel we should mark the gaps, to prevent our readers thinking we have not been thorough.

The only 304 we can find anywhere in the London area is the one that runs from St  Albans to Hitchin, and is a Hertfordshire bus.  This website refers to it as ‘the rare 304’, so I’m glad it falls outside the project’s remit.

The Evening Standard on 1 March had a brief story about someone who has completed all London’s bus routes in just 60 days, so perhaps we should make clear that we are not in a rush.  One day a week is what we choose to spare from our other activities and responsibilities, and we like to look around, take the photos, and share, via this blog, what we have seen.  But we do congratulate Mr Black.

The hiatus in bus numbers enables us also to say a formal thank you to Tim, who does clever things on the blog which his mother and aunt would find difficult (despite Tim’s mantra, which is ‘try looking in “help”’)  He put in the counter, the index and the link to the tfl site which people find so useful, and he recently made the whole thing look pretty, and made a little bus appear on the tab.   

We also very much appreciate the kindness of the 63 regular, as Linda mentioned on the ‘301-not’ post:  logoed hoodies, logoed notebooks, music about buses, what more could a wife, cousin or sister desire?

The Number 303 Route

Thursday 2 February 2012

This was the middle bus of a three bus tour of North West London, or at least a narrow part of it, stretching only from Queensbury to Borehamwood.  The 303 was the middle leg, from Edgware Station to the superstores at Colindale.  In fact, we spotted what was to be our third bus as we waited.

The day was really, really cold, and Mary, Linda and I were glad of the shelter of Edgware’s Bus Station for our brief wait.  We were onto our single decker shortly after 11.15.  The bus was quite busy from the start, as we turned left, past The Raiway Pub and St Margaret of Antioch church.  She led a busy life, what with being swallowed by a dragon, regurgitated, then beheaded and becoming the patron saint of childbirth, but her church and its graveyard make a peaceful oasis before the left turn into the busy Edgware Road. 

 We also passed ‘Venus Hair and Beauty’ which advertises in Arabic as well as English, and specifically offers marriage hardos.  Linda told us, since we passed several, that nail salons are the only form of business actually growing (pardon the pun) in the high streets of the UK.  We had time for this sort of conversation because the traffic was at a standstill as far as the eye could see: when we crawled to the offending spot, it proved to be miniscule road works but with three way traffic controls.  We were interested in the name of the Change of Hart Pub, but can find no explanation of the odd name (swap my fallow for your roe?)  Searching did turn up a slightly shady period from 2010. 

After passing the usual numbers of available offices, we crossed the Silk Stream, admiring the springlike catkins, which cheered our chilly day. The small rivers of Middlesex are well served by their websites, as we noticed one bus (and over a year) ago with the Dean's Brook.

We took a quick turn  around  Edgware Hospital before heading along Deansbrook Avenue (the Deansbrook and the Silk Stream do meet one another!) Through an area of much improved former public housing, we came to Lyndhurst Park, before reaching Mill Hill Broadway Station, and the nastiest bus station in London, gloomily lurking under the motorway. Then we looped back the way we had come, travelling parallel to the railway for a while.  The Grahame Park area was all built up on the site of the old Hendon Air field (perhaps I should say aerodrome), and after Barnet College, we came to the RAF Museum and then a branch of Middlesex University.  

Once again, the route twiddles into the residential area and shops of what we think may be called New Hendon Village  - unless that is merely the newest flats – before heading back to reach Colindale Station.

Then we passed the NHS Blood Donation HQ, recently in the news about transplants from cancer sufferers  and the Newspaper Library.

We then speculated briefly about the name of  the New Chandos Pub. (I can find no explanation: Did it replace the Old Chandos? Did the Duke of Chandos – he of the portrait of William Shakespeare – appear forever new, like Dorian Gray?)

Back onto the Edgware Road one more time, we turned right to reach the Colindale Asda at 12.00 noon. An interesting ride, we thought, showing how buses loop towards and away from the main thoroughfares to serve the communities around.

The Number 302 Route

Tuesday 26 October 2010

After our LOOOONG wait for the 114, which had been how we got to Mill Hill Broadway, Linda and I also had a bit of a wait for the 302, climbing on board at about 12.30, bound for Kensal Rise Station.  We headed back along Lyndhurst Avenue, retracing our 114 steps, past some allotments, and then noticing the Dean’s Brook running through some green spaces.  We have said a lot about London’s rivers in the past, but I have never come across a website as thorough as this one. 

As we ran along Orange Hill Road, Linda remembered that in her schools days there had been two Grammar Schools named for the road.  Now called Mill Hill High School, they are again selecting their intake. 

We rapidly reached Burnt Oak Town Centre, with its Watling Avenue Market, many Halal meat shops and CSC Beauty World, specializing in Ebony Hair.  We also passed the Peacock’s on the corner with its sweet murals. (We should perhaps go back to see whether the murals have survived the collapse of Peacock's....)

 Then we were back into residential areas, along Stag Lane, with handsome hedges and also some thatched cottages.

The Meera Nursing Home occupies several substantial houses and we also passed the Brent Sikh Centre and Kingsbury High School.

We enjoyed the green spaces of  Roe Green (deer, not fish, as Linda patiently explained to me: in justification, I have to say that I was beginning a really beastly cold) and Fryent Country Park.

Then came the biggest surprise of the ride.  As we approached Neasden, we saw a massive container lorry, containing ‘Bergbauern Milch: Echt, Gut’ from the Berchtesgadenerland.  Are we really importing milk from South Germany?  If so, why? It wasn’t a German number plate, but that's containerisation for you.  The web has not helped me here.

Over the North Circular, we had to do a little loop to face in the right direction, and soon were passing Willesden Bus Garage

We came to Willesden Green and the New Testament Church of God, a large organization of mainly Caribbean and African groups.  Next came the Islamic College forAdvanced Studies  and the Willesden Green Library Centre, before we made our way along Staverton Road and into Sidmouth Road.  Here the houses were well maintained and substantial, and we noted the cinema labelled ‘I am a Cinema’.

Almost before we had time to notice, we were under the railway bridge and at Kensal Rise Station, at just after 13.10.

The Number 301 Route (Not)

As far as we can tell the only actual 301 seems to have been green and run round Hertfordshire at some stage. There does not ever seem to have been a London Bus answering to this number.

Instead we present our 
FAQs

What is our card?

63 Regular aka Technical Support designed a LOGO (which you see on the blog page). It is also on our hooded sweatshirts and the cards we hand drivers as we disembark at the end of the key route. We have had them since Christmas 2009 but did not think it fair to hand them to drivers of Routes in the 300s and 400s, as they would have needed to wait years to see their routes blogged. We also give them to members of the public who look at us quizzically as we take photos of gasholders etc.

Do we do routes both ways?

No, except for the 215, which we needed to get us back from the Lea Valley Camp Site.

Linda has ridden the 329 both ways for technical reasons.

Jo is genius at devising a ‘daisy chain’ of routes usually with minimal walking between them – as the routes get more suburban this may get more difficult. But we try to avoid too much duplication especially on the same outing.

Do we have a favourite route?

Yes, but we are not necessarily going to tell you. We try to be polite about most areas we visit as some one lives there and loves it and will defend it to the hilt.

Do you have a favourite route?

Most people we have met have a sentimental attachment to the routes of their childhood or ‘first jobs’ or even their school buses. Think about it.

Do we ever get off to visit places or people?

Not on the whole, though sometimes we get turfed off early (see the 38, for example).

We are more likely to make a note of the interesting thing and make a specific visit as a separate excursion.

Do we stop for lunch?

No, we try to be through by 1.30 to 2PM but if it’s a longer day we tend to take sandwiches to eat en route.

Don’t we need comfort breaks?

Of course! We often start at stations with built-in facilities and have been known to ask at stations, if they are not immediately obvious. Otherwise usual places such as shopping centres, the occasional pub or Costa.

What if there are substantial changes in a route between our riding it and its getting posted?

This happened with the 159 – in the interim, the route got extended from Marble Arch to Paddington – so an impromptu Rules Committee decided we should ride the extra bit, and we did.  However, we have not bothered if a route changes from single to double decker, (the 78) or from bendy to upright  (12, 18, 38 25 and 207, 436 etc all went by Christmas 2011) – we are not here for the technology!

In fact in the three years we have been riding the buses the Number 38 has just reached its third incarnation with the launch on 27/2/2012 of the new ‘Routemaster’.

We do not hold a nostalgic passion for the old  Routemaster. Having commuted to school on one there was a certain joy in hanging off the back platform along the Finchley Road and living to tell the tale but on the whole improved safety, comfort, visibility, warmth, access and stability of the current models is preferable. Techies will notice that we are not much bothered by the bus company or bus model. As long as they are red and clean. We are impressed with the ‘hybrid' ones that run partially on electricity or good will or something. (They have green leaves on them and deliver fewer particulates> pollution to you and me.)   

How many of us have to ride a bus for it to be valid?

As long as at least one of the three key LWB is present, it counts but we enjoy it more when two or more of us are there.  We also like company – friends or family – as will be seen in several posts.

Do we read or respond to the ‘Comments’ readers leave?

On the whole we appreciate gentle comments which give additional local information – we are passing through many areas with which we are not familiar at bus speed, so may well omit local sites/sights or get things wrong. We do not assume we are experts on London or even London Transport. If people are confused we may answer and we delete most advertising that sneaks through.

Why does the quality of photos vary?

You try taking a picture through often-dirty glass in a speeding bus on a rainy day and results will be poor. You should see the ones we delete. We often line up the camera to take a choice shot and some passing lorry gets in the way. We do the best we can and the better shots will be on double decker routes in moderate sun (too much and it starts reflecting).

Aren’t we bored yet?

Not yet, though we must admit the charms of certain repeated stretches of common routing – Elephant & Castle, Edgware Road, and Hounslow to Southall – have worn a bit thin, and stretch our creativity to remain lively ‘en blog’.   Happily, there is almost always something new to keep us interested.

Are we boring?                       

 That's for you to decide.

O yes, and here’s a picture of the Blog’s birthday cake, complete with three candles. The other pictures for this particular non-route are a further selection of Little Gooner’s photos of Legoland London.

The Number 300 Route

East Ham Station to Canning Town Station

Wednesday 29^th February 2012

The alert amongst you will note the deliberate mistake above – the route 300 actually starts at the Wordsworth Health Centre, stops also at Plashet School before arriving at East Ham station. We need to confess we had boarded the bus before we noticed other passengers already seated. And we stayed on. This is our 300^th bus route – minus three non- or no longer existent 200 routes – and also nearly our 3^rd anniversary, plus it’s Leap Year Day so we decided to break our own rules (the one that says we start at the beginning and stay on till the end) and continue. So there.

(PS I wanted to have animated balloons float across the page of the blog at the mention of the anniversary but my computer skills are insufficiently developed for this – besides, the other LWB vetoed it.) 

East Ham station is a much quieter beast than its West Ham relative, serving only two lines, but we did admire the proud Station Parade built in 1938, which much postdates the station here since 1858.

The bus was busy at this point with shoppers and others needing the route to get them home to the back streets of East Ham. With the one-way system round the High Street we had the less interesting back route along Ron Leighton Way and Pilgrims Way. Ron was the Labour MP for Newham East but I am not sure where the Pilgrims might have been heading?

We always enjoy passing Newham Town Hall and you can contrast our picture with one taken soon after it opened in 1901. The tower is indeed distinctive and the plasterwork has lasted. The bricks you will see did not come from London.

It was just as well were in the mood to look at buildings and construction as once the bus turned off down Park Avenue there was little to relieve the streets of homes, compact semis and terraces with a marked lack of any shops, pubs or even churches. No wonder these folk need the bus to get to services and commerce. I do include a fine example  of cladding – someone has clearly spent quite some cash on covering up the fine London stocks with Cotswold cladding plus replacement windows – the latter are slightly more understandable as drafty windows are a pain.

The rows of houses give way to newer estates, then the bus passes the cemetery, which is now a nature reserve for East Ham , before eventually diving under the busy and elevated A13 to deliver us suddenly into the very different world of Docklands.

If it's Alpine Way it must be the Beckton Alp. (Jo remembers walking here and watching skiers come down the slope plus taking a hot chocolate at the chalet style cafe) 

   

This may only be Beckton but now the range of housing was interspersed with several supermarkets and additional transport links including the DLR, all combined at Beckton Bus Station , and quite some green space, where we spotted early blossom and  daffodils – sure signs of Spring.  After Stansfield Road  and the  Newham City Farm the bus follows the line of the DLR stations Royal Albert, Prince Regent and Custom House. The Prince Regent (the Prince later known as George IV) had to do a bit of ‘subbing’ while George III lapsed into an unfortunate episode of madness. Not surprisingly the Business Park is called ‘The Royals’ with docks,  roads, stations and offices named after assorted specimens of the breed.

It does get a bit predictable so when there was a sign to the Will Thorne Pavilion I thought he might be a local cricketer but ‘No’ said Jo, ‘he would be much too busy leading 30.000 gas and other workers in strikes to play cricket’ so here is a link to a local resident and activist who was respected by Marx and Engels.

At this point our camera, clearly inspired by local history, staged a little strike of its own and could not be reactivated till we had again crossed the A13 to approach Canning Town via Plaistow and the Barking Road, passing two glimpses of the Greenway. The Greenway is a cosmetic green covering over the Great Northern Outfall Sewer, which a few brave tourists have visited – those of delicate disposition (or eating their sandwiches at their desk) may wish to skip this evocative description. 

 By now we were back to the ‘arrival city’ shops that characterise this and many parts of London, though I suspect the Dolls House shop has been here a while longer.

By now the bus was busy again and delivered its passenger load to the stainless steel hub that is Canning Town bus station.  If anything the road works at Canning Town have increased in size since we were last here and there has certainly been something afoot for 2 years. My theory is that the diggers, dozers, dumpsters and other working vehicles, having been left unattended at night, have bred and resulted in a feral overpopulation of vehicles all running happily amok. 

This was never a  direct route as we could have just followed the Barking Road to get from one end to the other. Instead we took some twists and turns off the more usual routes but it was interesting enough to show us some of both East Ham and Beckton behind the scenes, and to appreciate the very different feels to two neighbourhoods probably 100 years or so apart in the planning and building.  The 300 takes about 50 minutes to come this far and our guess was that much of the local community would be stranded without it.