The NUMBER 17 Route

London Bridge Station to Archway

Thursday October 10 2018

This trip was to access the Number 4 at Archway and to reverse the journeys taken by Jo and her family back in early 2009.

Since then London Bridge has become a transformed station albeit with some cosmetic and commercial stuff still to come. Improvements already complete include a makeover of the Undercroft linking rail to tube, where lurk some currently free and fine loos.

Above ground there is a bus station too, admittedly not nearly as smart as the revamped train one but rebuilt nevertheless. BUT the poor old 17 has been ostracized and starts from outside the fitness centre in London Bridge Street. As you can see from the picture he had not changed his destination board.  Getting on,  we asked the driver why was he excluded; he looked bemused and said ‘they don’t like us?’ and we drove off turning right to cross the bridge. We had plenty of time (like nearly  10 minutes ) to admire the  neighbouring bridges,  the river at low tide again and such  riverside buildings as the  Glaziers Hall at the south end and the Fishmongers' Hall at the North as it took that long to cross due more to an overflowing building development  than to road works. Some of the construction appeared to belong to Wells Fargo

. ‘It’s a stagecoach’ said Jo thinking perhaps of the right to drive sheep across London Bridge. I believe it’s a bank… but a very recent arrival in the City. It would be nice to think they might drive a stage coach with a sheriff and gold on board? 

Once past these works and the poor invisible Monument we headed left past Cannon Street, and apparently the back of Bank Station – can they really need 12 more escalators at this station? As it is you wander in endless circles trying to find the right exit.

The main roads apart,  one of the attractions  of the City of London, not yet obliterated by all the building, is the charming  names of some  side streets – Plumtree Court or Bread Street (not far from Pudding Lane of course)

Leaving the financial sectors behind we made swifter progress along past St Paul’s and briefly along Farringdon, for once open to traffic,  carrying on through Holborn, the untrendy end of Clerkenwell.  I thought it was interesting that the Staple Inn (which is as old as it looks) now houses the HQ for the Actuaries opposite the once thriving Prudential Assurance Company whose unmissable red brick building now houses a variety of bars and other firms. Actuaries, and their close relatives,  auditors, have not performed well recently with several big firms going under despite having seemingly healthy balance sheets, which had supposedly been fully audited?? The Prudential Building is currently housing the Grenfell Enquiry.

But we were leaving big business behind and heading into the more Dickensian parts of Clerkenwell with legal firms and the Foundling Hospital, all off to the side  of the Gray’s Inn Road , which also follows a similar  North South route to the River Fleet.

My notes, which can be both illegible and out of order, referred to Hubbards Cupboards which at a swift glance looked like the sort of slightly down at heel shop that might be found on the Caledonian Road but research indicates it is indeed on the Grays Inn Road and actually sells better office furniture!

Our journey round King’s Cross was remarkably smooth and we sailed past the waiting buses (joys yet to come) and a sharp right and left took us through to the Caledonian Road, generally known as the Cally, as various cafes, swimming pools and even the station call themselves (I have a son who takes exception to the misuses of reflexive pronouns but there you go). Cosprop more or less does what you might expect  

The cafes and pubs give this sometimes shabby road a cheering aspect – who could resist the Rabbit Hole café, New Rook café, the Owl and Hitchhiker Pub (Owl for Edward Lear, youngest of 19 or 21 (Jo couldn’t remember) and Hitchhiker for Douglas Adams – apparently they sell pan- galactic gargle blasters…) probably best of all is the Breakout café opposite Pentonville  which looks grim and run down rather than forbidding, the prison that is not the café.

Shortly after this we arrived at what Jo assured me was the Nag’s Head junction with the Holloway Road – I could see no pub after which it was presumably named but then it went in 2004. The route from here is definitely uphill and not very far to our finishing point for this bus, namely Archway, another major road interchange. Somehow we missed the last stop and were swept on to the number 17’s resting place alongside the oldest bits of the Whittington Hospital so we apologised to our patient driver after a trip which had taken closer to 1½ hours rather than the 1¼ expected.

We admired all the pedestrian-controlled crossings which took us safely back to the departure point of the Number 4 which I maintain, out of Jo’s earshot, is a pretty crazy route.

The NUMBER 16 Route

Cricklewood Bus Garage  to Victoria Station

Thursday  January 3 2019

This was our third bus of what had so far been a very slick day – the charismatic 31 and the interesting 316 had led us to the start of the – well – ordinary Number 16. It goes essentially in a straight line from Cricklewood Broadway to Marble Arch where it takes a right for Victoria. I could stop there and say that was that but will attempt to make a ‘pedestrian’ (wrong use) journey more interesting.

In fact the most entertaining factor was a Spanish family who boarded very early on and stayed to the end: they took the other front seat and dad was encouraging his somewhat restless daughter to guess what the English shop signs might mean via a sort of Spanish ‘I-Spy’. As my newly acquired Spanish is at a pretty rudimentary (Intermediate) level I was trying to follow the conversation.

The first part of the trip, down to the end of Kilburn High Road, duplicates that of several routes but certainly the 316. After the rather  desolate area of closed wholesale outlets and some abandoned shops (Toys R Us) (Decks)  it was good to get into Kilburn proper  which has always had a buzz – it must get even livelier at the weekends with the Bingo halls and large pubs, once for the Irish locals,  still open for business.

The area is much more multi-cultural now with a well-established Muslim Charity and a Polski Sklep still hanging in there. Meanwhile our travelling companion was being asked to work out what Fried Chicken might be in Spanish ‘pollo?’ she hazarded correctly.

I am not sure what either of them would have made of the ‘Beaten Docket’ pub whose curious name we had looked up ten years ago and alas forgotten – thanks to the Wetherspoons websites ( not their politics thank you) we can refresh ourselves:

A beaten docket is a losing ticket, often associated with horse racing – a feature of this area in the late 19th century. Attracting thousands of race-goers, Kingsbury Races were held five times a year, on land leased by William Perkins Warner, proprietor of the nearby Old Welsh Harp.

As NW2 gives way to NW6 there are some homes between the parades of shops, Watling Gardens reminding us this was once the Roman Watling Street. Also there are references to Brondesbury, not an estate agent’s way of gentrifying Kilburn but a genuine name (origins of which are undoubtedly historical but a bit murky) and with two stations, just off the route. Clearly on the route is the well- used Kilburn Station, now Jubilee but with the Metropolitan Line whizzing through too and whom we have to thank for the well maintained 100 year old bridge.

Alongside, way past its heyday there was a launderette with a strangely ornate pediment.

Kilburn High Road can be slow but perhaps folk were still at home for the seasonal break: whatever the reason we pushed on through at a very steady pleasant pace. As Brent & Camden give way to Westminster  we passed  Maida Vale  with its grand and gracious mansion blocks each with its own  style, some art deco some pseudo Tudor. Towards Edgware Road Station there was building that seems to have been underway for the last ten years but promises to deliver many homes with all the usual in-house facilities.

I am not sure what our Spanish travellers made of the shops and restaurants lining the route to Marble Arch as many of them have Arabic or Arabic derived scripts with the odd ‘Fatoush’ thrown in.. Even Robertsons with its venerable three golden balls must be a bit of a mystery to non-English speakers. Pawnbroking (or lending against goods) is a very old trade and interesting it has retained its sign, where few other shops or dealers do.

Peering down Oxford Street as we turned right at Marble Arch made us glad we were not going straight on at this point as it looked busy – reducing the number of buses down Oxford Street can only be a good thing really. As we glimpsed the green of Hyde Park the daughter asked whether there were ‘flamencos rosas en el parque’ and Jo and I both said no in unison.   I love that the Spanish for flamingo is flamenco which conjures up the exuberance of this florid tropical bird, not usually found amongst our homelier park waterfowl.

In spite of a lingering police presence along Park Lane following a New Year’s Eve ‘incident’ we progressed on to Hyde Park Corner – there were queues, or rather the 21^st century equivalent of hustles of people at the bus stops but few interested in the 16 which remained empty upstairs.

The portrayal of the Queen as a large stamp (well she is on all the real ones) has intrigued Jo and this was her best photo yet. She also admires all the Commonwealth War memorials round the Wellington Arch from the cheeky backside of the Machine Gun Corp’s  ‘David’ to the graceful Haka-like plinths of the New Zealand tribute.

The building site at Hyde Park Corner, like many of those we had passed today, seemed quiet and we passed on by another garden, that of HM the Queen – no use trying to peer over – even when the leaves fall there are thick shrubs behind the even thicker walls topped with plenteous wire, so privacy is maintained.

After the statutory turns to get round into Victoria this was really a very straight and uneventful trip enlivened mainly by trying to see well known bits of your  home city through the eyes of strangers, who like us disembarked at the station.  

A last lingering lonely Christmas tree to remind you today is the last day of Christmas, but HAPPY NEW YEAR is still OK.  

The NUMBER 15 Route

Trafalgar Square   to Blackwall

Thursday  December 19 2018

Jo was preparing for an ‘away from home’ Christmas so I decided  to travel on my own and at mid-day, once the rain had passed, on this rather odd route that does not  connect very usefully.  The USP of the 15 is that it offers, on the most touristy bit of the journey a heritage Bus experience.  Luckily I managed to get one of the more modern vehicles albeit the unloved Boris Bus which is at least safe (and occasionally heated). The driver earned maximum brownie points by lowering the bus for a passenger with sticks. I thought three homeless guys plus dog might be intending to board but they were in an animated conversation about shelters. (Of course it used to run from Paddington Basin..

Setting off from just opposite Charing Cross station this bus picked up passengers steadily along the Strand and I was surrounded by the happy chatter of tourists. Less happily behind me sat the bus germ zone – namely the man who coughed and sneezed into  my neck. Thank goodness for scarves which can double as surgical masks...

I noticed, as the signs were at eye level, that Westminster council dubs the Strand (and Aldwych) as Theatre land and indeed theatres and hotels more or less alternate along here. The bus slowed down considerably towards the confines of Fleet Street where there was plenty of time to admire the public clocks – on the whole keeping good time. It was also possible to deduce the reason for the protesters on hunger strike in front of the Royal Courts of Justice – they clearly see the Family Division Judges as child snatchers. In my experience, having tried to intervene in families to stop them getting into the court process and possibly losing their children, the judges themselves bend over backwards to be fair.   Ironically someone was eating his sandwich barely a metre from the Hunger Strike notices.

The source of our delay was soon apparent – Farringdon closed (again) presumably for Crossrail: someone must regret naming this venture CROSSrail. It was not to be our last road closure . The 15 itself remained on track, so to speak, but all sorts of other random displaced buses were clogging Ludgate Hill and points east.  One of the joys of travelling at this time of year is the chance to admire less the street decorations, which were not special this year, but the municipal and company trees. St Paul’s had put theirs up on the portico . In the grassy areas beyond/behind the cathedral people were out enjoying their lunch hours in the winter sunshine.

We passed a few of the Heritage 15s, some on the return trip to Trafalgar Square, some just standing empty. Cars are discouraged from the major road junction by the Bank and Mansion House, which too had big trees.

Further along King William Street there were signs of more diversions but we kept going, emptier now as the road widens towards  the Tower. We had visited the large church which is All Hallows by the Tower and hard to miss. Most of the Heritage routes terminate at Tower gateway – the end of one of DLR lines.

The top of a double decker offers you one of the more comprehensive views of the Tower of London which also marks the boundary of the City as we headed into Tower Hamlets.  We had accounted for the Tower, now for the hamlets – presumably all former villages Stepney, Whitechapel fringes and Poplar were such.

Just past Aldgate East a poster proclaimed Fotografiska Opening Spring 2019 – this proves to be a branch of the Stockholm Photography Museum 

So the 15 may prove the way to go?

Once out of the City the bus speeded up, and avoided yet another set of road works as we took the Commercial rather than the Whitechapel Road.  Built originally as a private enterprise to take goods from the East and West India docks to the City, this was once a toll road that made an awful lot of money, but later adopted as a public road, and still very much an artery... and as a result looks rather run-down. Small clothing outlets predominate which reminded me that the East End was the heart of the ‘rag trade’ well remembered  here

I missed photographing Watney market but at a glance right it looked busy enough. and the buildings of the London Metropolitan University are not immediately obvious though announced as a bus stop – this may be because they are located in the old Wash Houses which I had noticed.

The Troxy really caught my attention though – someone having a mash up of Roxy and Trocadero perhaps.  It proves to be a Music Venue – there is a very good history here. 

Back on the other side we passed Stephen Hawking School and Salmon Lane and Tequila Wharf (a little optimistic I fear) which indicated that we might be getting close to water and indeed we crossed first the Regent’s Canal and then the Limehouse Cut. By now the Commercial Road, still the A13, had turned into Burdett Road and East India Dock Road and we were heading firmly for Poplar. It was clear to see that the war damaged surrounds had been  frequently replaced  by Fifties and Sixties era public housing which was again showing its age…  Other reminders of  this area’s past can be seen in the various buildings called Seamen’s  Missions – there are several including the Poplar one shown on this useful site.

Islam, not to be outdone has taken over a former bank for one of its charities.

Slightly odd was the announcement for the University of Cumbria in London – there is real one up in the Lake District and Carlisle but they seem to want to run a spin-off? 

There was a crowd at the bus stop for All Saints Church Poplar (currently being restored)  but they weren’t catching this bus which was near its end . It turns off the main road and takes a couple of turns down Poplar High Street which as you might guess from its name is quite low key and small scale so it was quite a surprise when we emerged at Blackwall DLR Station to find myself in the middle of a number of large scale building sites; demolition and construction . Clearly there is a lot of development going on at Blackwall

Indeed, and I quote:   

Blackwall Reach is an unparalleled project of innovative design and visionary schemes. Realised in a magnificent collection of more than 1,500 new apartments and a sustainable community, the development is the very pinnacle of fresh thinking and celebrates the area’s magnificent history by putting its values at the forefront of the future

Sadly we shall not be back to view its progress as the rather generous station approach hosts only the 15 bus route – whether more transport links are planned we shall see.

This is a route well worth taking – in either direction you get the old and the new – the most touristy bits of London and some older historic parts – and it’s the first route, this time round in the Project, that kept to its promised 65 minute timing.

PS Shortly after I published this entry the following link appeared on the BBC website - excellent  40+ year old colour photos of many of the places this route passes.. do have a look

The Number 14 Route

Thursday 13 December 2018

We had to trot across the road from our 37, since the 14 drew away from its space as our bus pulled in.  So there was no time to enjoy the pleasant ambience of Putney heath, so different from the grim North Finchley dungeon of last week.  And off we went, at 11.25

We did, however, have time to scan the scenery of Putney, because we were following the truck that empties the litter bins.  At first we followed the route of our 37, with the difference that we were not looking straight into the sun, on this lovely day.

We passed Putney High School for Girls, and wondered if they were pleased with the wood cladding on one of their several extensions:  did it perhaps need a coat of cuprinol?




 We liked the thought of the Gentle Dental Practice, and we were also taken with the sundial on the wall of a building.  It was put up for the Millennium, but we could not quite work out how it would catch the sun, given to obstructions around it.





We were able to catch a glimpse of the blue plaque for Algernon Swinburne, a poet not much studied or even read these days.  Here's his Ballad of Death, so you can see why he's not on every GCSE syllabus.

The traffic was slow as we passed Putney Station, and came to the Spotted Horse Pub.  Such horses are normally known as piebald, but spotty is, after all, what they are

 
 The nearby Wagamama continued the spotty theme, though that might have been the building, not the eatery.

We were pleased to see that the Odeon Cinema still exists, and then we were at St Mary's Church, and over the Bridge, to move into Fulham

 We remembered walking around here when the river was so high that we had to walk one street up from the water.  Today, the tide was pretty far out.

The gardens of Fulham Palace were on our right as we came towards the Temperance Pub.  Built in 1910, it was originally a Billiard Hall, hoping to distract working me from the evils of alcohol by friendly activities.  It is now in fact a pub, as listing does not protect the intentions of the original builders, just the structure.

We saw the wittily named Band of Barbers, as well as another beauty shop, called, puzzlingly, Mortar and Milk.  Their website has a lot about beauty, but nothing to explain the name.  

The Slug Pub so dazzled us with the colour of its tiles that we did not notice if it was still in  business.  Apparently its speciality was South-of-the-equator customers, and here is a report from The South African suggesting it was closing.  On the other hand, it appeared quite healthy to us, and if it had closed in 2009 it would be apartments by now.

The route takes you past Fulham Broadway Station, and the disused but huge town hall, and then we were in a place which is apparently known as the Chelsea Village, because it houses some football club or other.  Given the Arsenal links of this family, you will not be expecting me to say more, though no doubt some people would recognise the wealthy young men on the roadside banners.

Oh, yes, you could tell we were in Chelsea, with substantial blocks of flats and innumerable furniture and fittings shops such as Breteuil.  The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital was the first of several that we passed, and we squinted down Farrier Walk Mews, presumably once a place where workers plied their horse related trades.  It was a great deal smarter than that now.

 After large shops and other buildings, we were taken with the diminutive size of Sokol Rare Books and Manuscripts. They clearly have wonderful things to sell.

Two more Hospitals, the Brompton and the Royal Marsden, brought us into Kensington, past the locked and private square gardens like Onslow Garden, and then we were at South Kensington Station where, disconcertingly for some of our fellow passengers, the bus stop was closed.  However smart Chelsea may be, this is the first time you can get on the tube other than the District Line.

 

Here we saw our second Blue Plaque of the day, commemorating Charles Freake, who made the area, as he said himself, 'a second Belgravia'.

The 14 heads on to turn right in front of the Natural History Museum, one of the many reminders of what a great profit the 1851 Great Exhibition made. There is a charming little skating rink outside it at the moment.

 

On through Knightsbridge, and the traffic was pretty slow by now.  We thought that the decorations outside Harrods were really quite attractive. Ahead of us in the stationary line as a van with a most interesting name.  Starting life in what would have been the reign of Henry VII if they had been English, they prove now to be a removal firm.

Slowly we ground our way to Hyde Park Corner, and then inched along Piccadilly, with Green Park looking attractive to our right and various smart restaurants and shops to our left.

After Green Park Station, the Ritz had  wreaths in every arch, and Fortnum and Mason had wreaths everywhere!  The overhead decorations were angels, or possibly fairies. All very Christmassy.

St James' Church has a beautiful Grinling Gibbons altar surround and is altogether as lovely as you would expect Christopher Wren's work to be, but of course we only saw the outside from our bus.

We also had time to watch a worker scraping the Santander red logo off the window of a disused branch of the bank, and to smile at the Snowman outside Waterstone's.

 But eventually we reached Piccadilly Circus;  Eros has been surrounded with hoarding to make sure that festive fun does not affect him;  and we saw a stall covered with Christmas jumpers of a lurid kind.

Then it was along Shaftesbury Avenue, passing a number of musicals and the attractive decorations of Chinatown, to reach the Charing Cross Road and the huge building site which is (still) the planned Elizabeth Line.  Londonist, always interesting to read, has some incisive questions about the delays to this flagship project.

 Actually, much of Tottenham Court Road is coned off and narrowed, as part of the West End Project.  How wonderful it will be when finished, with buses and cycles unimpeded by motor vehicles for substantial periods of the day.  But it did mean that getting to Warren Street Station continued to be slow to the end.  We finally arrived at 13.00, having enjoyed the sunny views of mainly affluent areas of west London.