PS

PS You may remembered that in an earlier post  I had speculated as to why some of our bus posts had received significantly more visitors than others and whether this was to do with the popularity of the route or our account of it.

PLCD, a follower who travelled the X68 with us, has kindly forwarded an impressive spreadsheet (compiled from information made available via City Hall) of TFL’s most used routes, which covers everything from standard number and letter routes through to disability and school services.  Additionally PLCD has compiled comparative data over the last few years showing the rise and fall of different routes.

Obviously use of certain routes is dependent on the frequency of the service, the capacity/size of vehicle and whether it is 24 hours or not - the 4-per-day 507 is never going to make the ‘top ten’.

However here is the Top Twenty ranking for 2013 (descending order – most used first):

START POINT	ROUTE
Oxford Circus	25
Euston	18
Trafalgar Square	29
Edmonton Green	149
Clapton	38
White City	207
Romford	5
Stoke Newington	73
Romford	86
Wood Green	243
Golders Green	83
Waltham Cross	279
Friern Barnet	43
Oxford Circus	12
Whitehall	53
Harrow Weald	140
Aldgate	254
Hackney Central	253
Brixton	109
Queens Park	36

 

Why is that biscuit tins, money boxes etc never get the routes quite right??

TRAMLINE Number 3

New Addington  to Wimbledon  

Wednesday February 26^th 2014

It was to be an ‘easy meet’ at East Croydon Station as the end destinations of this tram route are somewhat tricky, and it felt pretty much like early Spring today as the assorted and failed photos of trackside daffodils and crocuses will demonstrate.

There was no pausing at  New Addington as basically the tram we had arrived on departed within very few minutes so you will have to take my word for the fact that this is the main hub for the many residents of this very large development of social housing, much of it actually planned before the Second World War but badly needed thereafter. 

We just about glimpsed the rather random sculptures of birds and a bear before speeding off downhill.  We noticed that the tram really takes advantage of gravity and speeds up on downhill gradients. So it was that we made it to the bottom of the hill, passing Fieldway and King Henry’s stops to serve the whole estate, to the Addington Village Interchange.  On the way down there is an excellent view of the surrounding countryside and the Addington palace/house on the horizon. Delightfully there were signs of spring everywhere with crocuses before the birds got to them and daffodils – everything very early this year especially after last year’s interminable winter.

The tram slowed down to climb the next hill, Gravel by name so presumably gravelly by nature, and through the wooded and shady Coombe Woods.  Off to the left there was an alley bordered by trees almost looking like one of those old and long established poplar alleys  so beloved of the French, leading I think to the Royal Russell School which seems to be in the middle of the woods.    

We speeded up again passing  Lloyd Park in all its glory -unsurprisingly it forms part of the same woods as those round Coombe and Addington. The Coombe end land was owned at the beginning of last century by the Lloyd Family and the elder brother left part of the lands for later public use.  The public certainly use it as there seem to be links for runners, birders and even military style boot camps who presumably exist alongside one another?

Once through the tunnel and past the Sandilands Junction we were back on the familiar route into Croydon – a tram of two halves as Jo said, meaning one group of passengers taking it from Addington into Croydon and fewer boarding it in central Croydon for points west to Wimbledon.

Going in this direction is fine for East Croydon station and the shops, but less satisfactory for West Croydon which is round the one-way loop the other way…progress is always slower through Central Croydon and the timings must be quite crucial for the trams not to run into each other.  Having had a relative who was in charge of the smooth running of the Vienna tram system back in the Sixties, I know that one small glitch somewhere can throw the system majorly and we the children were at the rough end of his temper when he had been up all night after some car had wedged into the tramlines, or even worse a de-railment.  This is not so likely with the better designed and more modest Croydon system so all passed smoothly as we left the busy bits behind and headed out via Reeves Corner and Wandle Park, which was looking slight less wet and flooded than last week – it is a low-lying area so no surprise that the next stop is called Waddon MARSH.  I had not realized, as the tram view is very much the back of things, that we were running alongside and then crossed (under ?over) the Purley Way at the point where it is lined by a series of commercial outlets , most famous of which is the huge IKEA.  The road, really the Croydon by-pass has a long history of industrial use and of course the IKEA chimneys, now with their Swedish colours, were once part of one of the power stations 

An anxious passenger checked with one more familiar with the area and she confirmed that Ampere Way was the correct stop. I had thought that this was the UK’s first IKEA but that honour went to Manchester.  The nearby gas holder (the LWB always love a gas holder) also hints at the history of the area. From Therapia Lane the route was new to us and the first noticeable sight was the considerable tram sheds to the left.

From here on the tram speeded up through Beddington, home of the sludge beds, and then cut across a section of Mitcham Common to join again with a rail line at the Junction.  After the peace of last week we had a rather over eager announcement system warning of ‘Sudden Stops – Hold on Tight’ and frequent reminders about having valid tickets/cards to travel . The stops are not controlled and access is pretty easy  and frequent as this article shows.

After the Mitchams, Belgrave Walk promised  something more ‘classy’ but actually delivered a random range of small industrial units.   Phipps Bridge stop did proclaim its proximity to one of London’s National Trust properties.

From Croydon onwards the intermittent companion to this tram is the River Wandle, giving its name to a park and tram stop  and becoming visible from the tram at different points; here was another one.  This used to be a working river, mainly for the textile trade, but has been radically restored and cleaned with this one of the better places for glimpsing it. Morden Hall Park offers a combined experience of parkland and some industrial heritage.

From Dundonald Road it proved to be a very short hop to Wimbledon Station which offered a rich range of options – tram, train and tube. The Tram Route 3 had proved to be a pleasant and green experience skirting as it does some of the larger and better kept green spaces  of South London.

In contrast to bus journeys where stopping, and therefore what you see is dependent on traffic and other  variables, the tram goes too fast between stops to make any meaningful observations, but the distances covered are quite impressive. 

TRAMLINE Number 2

Beckenham Junction to West Croydon (and back)

Thursday February 20^th 2014

Jo has explained that we had started the day dry and with a PLAN and finished wet and bailing out due to the peculiar nature of the trams.  Buses they are not, obviously. They are however very quiet, warm, accessible (each journey had at least two buggies, wheelchairs etc) and clean. (We watched two cleaners board, pick up the very little rubbish and get out at the next stop and whilst waiting for the next tram clean the station, such as it is. The stops are rather miserable, the shelter is not very  sheltering , the seat mean and wet and the information scanty. Jo will already have explained about combining Routes 1 & 4 as there seemed to be no way of telling them apart.

(We were looking in the wrong place according to our last comment!)

Meeting at Beckenham Junction was fine and two trams were waiting as we arrived, one pulling away almost immediately. We boarded the second to warm up and spent about five minutes reassuring an infrequent and somewhat slow traveller that this was indeed the service for Croydon, West Croydon we said. Apparently our reassurances were not robust enough and he moved down the tram and started asking some-one else.  It seemed fairly clear from the layout that this first section of track was former railway, running as it did over the still functioning tracks. The first sight of any significance were the generous allotments, as being alongside trams and tracks seems to bother the potatoes not one jot.

Still feeling like a train rather than a tram past Avenue Road stop there was something of a cutting before we passed the Beckenham Cemetery and Crematorium located close to Birkbeck stops and stations.

According to Wikipedia  this could have been another exciting/confusing  junction with the option of a link to to Crystal Palace but that idea died in 2008. 

The next bit of the route feels very countrified where, even at this time of year when the trees are bare, there were no houses visible (thus far we had peered   into people’s back gardens of mainly post-war homes) but through to Blackhorse Road the tram seemed to be cutting a swathe through thick blackberry bushes  which even if they fruited would not be accessible for picking from this side. However someone has found a way.. It is a most agreeable green ribbon.

One of the station adverts (there is not exactly much to see at these stopping points) was a poster announcing ‘Cats have taken over at Battersea Dogs’ Home’ which Jo said would guarantee her non-support. Blackhorse Lane was the next stop after the aptly named Woodside and this is not to be confused with last week’s Whitehorse Lane on the X68. After Addiscombe it was pretty much standing room only though a voice could be heard asking whether the tram went to Croydon – still.

Another curve, cutting and junction brought us to some of the better off and well established parts of Croydon. Some detached  homes, mostly semis, and pleasantly modest height blocks of flats line the route through Addiscombe.  What distinguishes this part of the tramline from most trains (Mortlake springs to mind as an exception) is whizzing across a road junction while the traffic is held on a red light – most satisfying.  By Lebanon Road stop we were close enough to the road and pavements to see the daffodils were flowering and then it was EAST CROYDON station where many folk got off, even more hastily as they saw an inspector get on.  Of course compared to both buses and trains at most stations access to the Tram stops is free of ticket controls, so this is the obvious point for them to board and well – inspect.  Having negotiated the big road crossing at Wellesley /George Streets we continued down, the only vehicle to do so as the next stretch forms part of ‘pedestrianised Croydon’.  It has to be said that having often walked here the silent tram bearing down on you comes as something of a shock. Going along Church Street this is very much the older parts of Croydon with what must have been the shopping streets, including the quite jolly market, before Mr. Hitler reconfigured everything.

We passed the back of Centrale – the other shopping centre – and sure enough arrived at West Croydon where we did not pause for long (I hope our Beckenham Junction passenger got off OK) and then followed the one-way system round along Wellesley Road and past the now quite venerable Whitgift. Then it was back up to East Croydon.

We noted that the tram goes more slowly through the built up areas, giving time to spot shops or notices, and fairly whizzes along  once ‘out of town’, especially on the straight bits, and so it was we retraced our journey, as far as Arena stop by which time it was definitely raining in an ordinary rather than deluge kind of way. Nearly a full loop had taken us about 40 minutes of smooth quiet transit, but we did rather miss the bumps and grinds of the buses. 

PS I expect most of you have by now seen Geoff’s record of our last BUS trip as launched on the Londonist website; we were pleased with his straightforward account and grateful for his robust defence  of our travels;  certainly one of our more positive media encounters. It was also great to meet some of our followers and we are grateful for corrections. I will at some point add some information from a ‘use of buses’ list.    

Croydon Tram Routes 1 and 4

Thursday 20 February 2014

Well, trams are baffling.  Linda and I naively imagined that something that has only four routes and runs on 'predestinate grooves' (as the limerick says) would be easy and straightforward.  But the handsome trams of Croydon do not display their numbers, just their destinations; even the information notices on the stops don't talk in route numbers.  And the routes seem to loop round rather madly anyway.


We had got to Elmers End tram stop, which is conveniently next to the railway station if you want to go to, say, Catford. Our intention was to travel the Number 1 route, a circular journey which would loop us round and back to catch the Number 4 Route from Elmers End to Therapia Lane.  (I do hope you're keeping up)


So we climbed onto a tram at 11.10, only to discover that it was actually a 4 not a 1 (or rather that it was going to Therapia Lane, since as I have said, the route number does not appear to have any currency)  Of course the 1 may transmogrify into a 4 at some stage, but we are simply too used to buses which tell you what they are and where they are going all the time.  So this is a brief account of the 1 AND 4 tram routes.

Tram stops are rather bleak on cold, drizzly days like today, but the trams are smooth and comfortable (though ours had an intermittent squeak)  They travel rather too fast for photography, and the start at least of our journey was through the kind of cuttings that we associate with railways.  As Linda said, not like the urban trams of Vienna and such places.

Once we came to Blackhorse Road, the number of passengers increased:  shoppers and half-termers with buggies and shopping trollies.  We are impressed with the accessibility of the trams, with their doors level with the platform and no need to 'mind the gap'.  An adult wheelchair user got on with no trouble at all.  We always enjoy the ramp going down on buses, but this system is much neater.

Residential properties of all kinds sit very close to the tram, including some quite new flats which seemed to be having maintenance work done on them;  and there were always lines of cars waiting when the traffic lights favoured the tram.  A sharp right turn meant that we did not go through a tunnel, which we imagine may be to do with the railway system, not the trams.


Once we had passed Lebanon Road, we were in amongst the tall buildings of central Croydon, and came rapidly to East Croydon Station.  travelling along George Street and Church Street felt very close to the stops and other premises, as well as the shoppers and wanderers.

We noted that the Carers Support Centre is part of the Whitgift Foundation, and we also came past the end of the street where Croydon Market is held.  The colourful stalls were cheering, but the rain and speed meant that we could not get a clear photo.  We passed the Forbidden Planet Shop, where exciting things happen on Friday evenings.

There is now a pleasant little garden at Reeves Corner, a gentle reminder of the devastation of the riots of 2011, and as the tram went under the overpass, we admired the daffodils and yellow crocuses on the embankment. 

The New Life Christian Centre is here, and soon afterwards, the Pitlake Arms.  We could not see if it has recovered from the difficulties which afflicted it this time last year.  The Wandle Arms is also here, as we were coming to Wandle Park, and could see the river and the pond.  The river seemed to flowing quite calmly within its banks, unlike some rivers across the country. There is a stop for walkers and other park users, closely followed by a stop for the Waddon Marsh Retail Park, where we noted Kiddicare, which seems to be a more dashing version of Mothercare.  Next, of course, we came to the high chimneys of Ikea, and reached Therapia Lane, where our tram terminated, at 11.30.


So whether this was a 1 or a 4, we had covered the route of both, once we had got back to East Croydon Station on the other loop, and we baled out there.

A splendid transport system, clean, smooth and not infrequent:  but clearly designed for people who live close and understand its ways, rather than for visitors to the area.

The X68 Route

Monday 10 February 2014

At 15.50, Linda Mary and I stepped onto our last bus.  The brief wait (we are always early) was enlivened by meeting a number of followers, who announced their intention to travel with us.  We already knew the 63 Regular; and Stephen, who used to work at London Councils.  He is now walking in each London post code and his accounts of his exploration are very interesting. Then there were Geoff Marshall, from the Londonist website and Lucy from Alphabet Britain.  We also enjoyed the company of James from Lejogbuscountry.  And Paul, Bruce and Peter  ( I hope I have not left anyone out, but it was all very dizzy making)

The X68 runs from Southampton Row to West Croydon, only in the morning and in the afternoon and X of course stands for 'Express'.

There were quite a few other passengers, though not, of course, at the front of the upper deck.  According to Bruce, the bus runs every 15 minutes, so it clearly has a serious use.

We set off down towards the Aldwych, passing the hoardings which hide the relentless progress of Crossrail, as it heads from Tottenham court Road to Farringdon. The weather was less than wonderful, and of course we were all chatting and therefore steaming up the windows.

Once we reached Aldwych, we were able to notice that the former Broadcasting House is being done up: for offices, we supposed, gloomily.

Then we came down into the Strand, and past all those faces outside King's College, before heading across Waterloo Bridge, where we were rewarded with a rainbow over Canary Wharf, and so remarkable cloud formations.

The National Theatre will soon be losing The Shed when the Cottesloe reopens as The Dorfman.  Is £10 million enough to fund the theatre for long?  Does the name change again when the money runs out?  I'm not sure how this works.

 Waterloo Station was our first stop, and then we headed down towards Lambeth North, to turn right into Baylis Street, to pass the Imperial War Museum, which is of course closed to visitors at the moment.  We had passed the first of the four Evangelist Churches (St John) at Waterloo.  Remarkably, this route passes all four, culminating in St Luke's at Norwood.

We headed south through the terraces and offices of the Kennington Road, to reach Brixton's busy High Street.  By now the sun was shining, and the sky was blue.  We admired Windrush Square, and the lovely Ritzy Cinema, but this bus does not pause very much.

A huge supermarket has replaced what we think used to be a CarpetRight since the last time the Porject came along here, some months ago.  The nostalgia feeling was enhanced by seeing and overtaking a 1, a 2, and a 3 bus.

Earlier, we had had a brief conversation about the Necropolis railway, which we have admired when travelling on routes that use Westminster Bridge,  so we were pleased to pass one of the overspill cemeteries which it used to serve.  Lucy suggested that it might be our next project to visit all the cemeteries rather than just sweeping by them.  I feel that would need to be a summer project though of course many good walks make use of graveyards for a bit of green.

 The Tulse Hill estate is now surrounded by private residential accommodation, and so there are many schools around here, though Dick Sheppard School is no more.  There is a link to his career, however, in the name of St Martin in the Fields School for Girls nearby.

As we passed Tulse Hill Station, we were interested to note Afghan Stores, though we think it is more a general convenience store than one specialising in Afghan goodies.  We were briefly on diversion round St Luke's Church, and had clear views of the West Norwood transmitter before heading steeply downhill, with fine views towards Surrey, or at any rate Croydon.

From now on the bus behaves in a more normal fashion (or loses its Xclusivity, as Geoff wittily remarked) since it has gone beyond where the ordinary 68 terminates.  Actually, the 68 was the third bus of the project, because it returns one to Euston from where the Number 2 stops.

Crystal Palace Football Club, whose ground we passed, is due to play Everton tonight, so I hope they do OK.  

The next amazing sight we passed was the new build at Whitehorse Manor School, which was clearly rather controversial.  In my capacity as teacher in the party, I pointed out that 'lovely old victorian schools' had inadequate facilities, not to mention poor connectivity, and steps and other hazards around the place.

We also came past the Croydon Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia HQ, and Ye Olde Clocktower Pub.  This advertises 'Dart Board available here, come in and play' which must make it rather similar to other pubs.

The palatial Baptist Church was looking a tiny bit down at heel, whereas we were amazed and delighted to see that 'that' building in the middle of the road as you come into Croydon, which has been stalled since the project began, is now making some progress.  We may see it grow as we do the trams.

So we arrived at West Croydon Bus Station.  When one of our friends suggested it was the worst in London, the LWB in chorus suggested he should try horrible Mill Hill.  

The journey had taken 70 minutes, as the timetable suggests, and had taken us from central to extreme south London in a very pleasant way.  Once we got out, a number of school students wondered if we were famous (because of Geoff's video camera).  We were able to say with hands on hearts, no, but pretty persistent.

In response to several comments, we need to say that the Rules Committee, aka Linda and me, is firmly against the Night buses:  like 600-numbered school buses, they are not for us. But the trams, and possibly even the RBs are certainly on the schedule.