The NUMBER 21 Route

Newington Green to Lewisham Shopping Centre

Thursday January 31 2019

We met at Dalston  Kingsland  only to find that the Kingsland Shopping Centre is the only one without toilet facilities so it was Costa to the rescue again…

I had vetoed Jo’s suggestion of arriving via the 73 so we walked mainly in the right direction and through some well maintained and quiet seeming estates. The bus stop was the first thing we saw as the previous 21 drove off, but it was a short wait for this hour long journey to SE London.

The first part of the route took us past some very handsome older houses with patches of infill, but very much in character in terms of height and colour so blending well.

As we were transitioning from Hackney into Islington we spotted a Blue Plaque – not an English Heritage One but one from the Association of Music Hall Artists of England and the US. This one was for Nelly Power a child star who grew up ‘on the boards’  and lived here with her mother.

Our next landmark – London Regent’s Canal  - is better known in its trendier locations of Camden Town and King’s Cross but the waterside has obviously been  rehabilitated ( and gentrified round here too) Baring Road  ( named for the erstwhile banking group) goes alongside the canal  for a while and then the bus crosses over.

I thought I recognised the patch of greenery we passed but it proved to be Shoreditch Park , a fairly recent addition to Hackney as it happens – the patch of green in a densely populated inner city area owes its origins to bomb damage, then later the pre-fabs were removed  and the park laid out in the Sixties.  With the Regents canal being nearly 200 years old and Bunhill Fields, also on the City Road, has been used as a public open space for  about 150 years, Shoreditch is  a much later addition.   

Close to Bunhill Fields is the John Wesley Chapel where we had had an interesting visit, with the house/home also open next door. 

More religion was on offer this time the Salvation Army Hoxton Centre – I sometimes think were these original philanthropists and church outreach workers to return to 21^st century London they would find enormous changes in the buildings that have grown up (and what they are used for) but they would find similar poverty-struck people at street level..

On through the hub that is Old Street with its multiple ‘start-ups’  we quite liked the The White Collar Factory name though it seems to have as many eating spaces as work spaces 

By the time we got to Finsbury Square (not to be confused with Finsbury Circus as I discovered last week) the driver was announcing that we were on diversion – not something the TFL website had commented on.

We, and much other traffic were sent round London Wall and past the monument rather than along Bishopsgate and having made good progress thus far it was not surprising that we stalled here.

It was slow enough to notice the few City churches left amongst the new and ever taller blocks. The offices are so ‘cheek by jowl’ that one gets reflected in the surface of the next…

All Hallows-on-the-Wall does not look much from the outside but apparently has a lovely interior  and as you can see from here has had a more recent history of social rather than religious service.

More Cross rail disruption followed – the hoardings proclaim 60 seconds to Crossrail – if only…

We emerged a little too swiftly to take a frontal view of the Monument and crossed London Bridge taking a route south through Borough High Street  and the older parts of Southwark rather than tangling with the Elephant – plenty of that to come..

When  we did this route ten years ago  I had thought the Blue Men climbing the wall ( I know the feeling) on the Maya office block were a temporary  attraction but they seemed to have stayed the course and still look – well blue. Here is some more detail from Hidden London

On a more sober note the HQ of Carers UK is also along here – a fine service as most carers are in fact ‘hidden’ and probably saving the state very much money.

For me approaching the Bricklayers Arms from this direction was a bit of a novelty as I am usually going north (slow) or south (fast over the flyover) – this has long been a key interchange for London bound traffic from the coast and is where horses and coaches would have stopped and changed over.  The changing bit has probably shifted to Elephant but it is a key, if unlovely entry point to London. A few plane trees with their ‘fruit’ helped us on our way.

After turning left it was a pretty straight run down the Old Kent Road , which  has a bit of everything – small firms – Obadiah Rose solicitor sounding like a Dickens character – huge Tesco & Asda Superstores – smaller outlets serving the varied and many ethnic communities that start their UK lives along here  varied housing including some City of London blocks with blooming flower beds.

There was even a church that promised to ‘set captives free’.

Infamous Millwall are off to the right near some more railway tracks and passing the The Five Bells still very much a pub, where a pub has always been  with a lively website.

New Cross has a bus garage (‘ Are we going in said Jo’  - no it's for buses only)  and nearly opposite is a Blue Plaque to a John Tallis  who apparently was a printer and publisher famed for his ‘London Street Views’ , and had obviously found himself a nice home here.

Sadly the pollution really seems to hang around in this part of London and once past the Overground station (nicely redone inside) the grime seems to hang around – mostly due to heavy traffic heading out of London. This is Goldsmiths’ territory of course and they have several buildings for the student body round here. As the top of Lewisham Way is one-way the 21 heading south went round via Amersham Way , and then continued along past more Education – Lewisham College and the  Deptford Memorial Gardens

Jo could scarcely recognise Lewisham from our earlier bus days as in the intervening years it has lost both the roundabout and the bus station and gained several indifferent housing blocks. While the roundabout was hardly a feature the replacements are not exactly thrilling.

This marked the end of our pretty efficient – when you think of the distances covered -  trip from Newington Green in just under the hour.

The Number 20 Route

Thursday 24 January 2019

This bus goes from Debden to Walthamstow, and we had chosen to travel three other buses to get to its head stop at Debden Broadway. Since the previous stage of our journey had got us to Debden Station, we were grateful to the locals who showed us the snicket (ginnel/alley/footpath) which brought to the Broadway, past the reassuring sight of a number 20 having a rest.










We remembered the handsome planting in the middle of the High Street from our previous visit, and so were saddened to see that this is one of the cuts that the Epping Forest District has found itself forced to make (compare the two photos, one from 2009 and one from today)

Thomas Willingdale School takes its name from one of the people who saved Epping Forest from developers in the 19th century. We were travelling alongside a small stream, which might be part of the River Roding, but I can't be sure.  Still there was a pleasant green look to the view from the slightly steamed up bus.

The Princess of Wales pub was closed. The area around here is called Jessell Green, and we saw signs saying 'save Jessell Green', a campaign in opposition to the District Council's building plans. It must be said that we did pass other still-open pubs, including the Cottage Loaf.  At this point, there were many school students getting onto the bus, as we passed through residential areas.  There was green space around, but no shops at all.  No wonder so many people have car , and have made their front gardens into hard standing.

The next pub we came to was the Plume of Feathers, which is having a psychic night at the end of the month.  Linda and I shared the old joke about how it should not be necessary to advertise a psychic night, since all should be aware of it.

Our route then took us along the straight road which leads to Loughton.  This is all the area that was the constituency of Winston Churchill, and so we were not all that surprised to find Estate Agents and, indeed, a  fish and chip shop named after him.

Around here there was still quite a lot of snow, which made the landscape attractive as we passed Woordford Green's large pond, and more school students joining us.  We went into Loughton Station and out again, with some of the students cross that a bus stop was 'not in use', requiring a 20 metre walk!

We noted yet another close pub, this one now a Turkish restaurant.  While I'm on the subject, a closed pub on the outskirts of Walthamstow has become an Islamic Centre.

This area has many private schools, mostly small, but including Bancroft's School, which is fairly substantial

Then we crossed the North Circular, and came to the Church of St Peter's in the Forest, before reaching the major road works around Whipps Cross Bus Station, which are, in part at least, to improve life for cyclists.

Although the Leytonstone Road was blocked off, we were able to get into Leyton, passing the William IV pub, as well as the Bakers Arms;  and as we entered Walthamstow, we noted the Peppers Ghost Pub, which rounds off quite a pub filled trip. This seems to be a pub that has been near death a few times and to have had name changes, but it looked OK to us.

More road words around Hoe Street (also, we thought, to enhance the life of cyclists (hooray) ) brought us down to Walthamstow Bus Station by 3.20, so we could get onto the Victoria Line and zoom towards our homes.

It is surprising to us that a route with such a low number should operate so far out of central London, but it did mean that were had a (mostly) rural and suburban day after 19 routes involving bits of the middle of the city.

The NUMBER 19 Route

Finsbury Park Hub to Battersea Bridge (South Side)

Thursday January 17 2019

Note the new names in this – ‘hub’ for bus station and ‘South Side’ for Parkgate Street . However same old route on a sturdy double decker that went from North to South West barely batting an eyelid – so to speak.

We had used the facilities at Finsbury Park Station remembering they are on a platform where the trains head north. As the bus was just leaving as we returned to street level we leapt on without taking any photos. Jo had just about recovered from freezing to death while I got lost behind Finsbury Square trying to find the 153 which brought us here – it had wrinkled its way through the back streets of Islington. The 19 was to go large.

So it was London Calling as Kevin told us last time we took this route. 

Here’s a link to the track he referenced if you want to follow it up

‘The Twelve Pins’ which is the first pub you see in exiting the bus station looks well cared for. I thought it might be a variation of Ninepins , the old pub game, while Jo thought it might be a reference to the nearby Cotton works building and something to do with weaving – both wrong. It is named after a mountain range in Ireland and is one of several pubs round here for Arsenal supporters – like the Arsenal barber further along the Blackstock Road. Having spent the up trip admiring the pared down lines of Islington’s Georgian builds we could see these homes were of later design.  Interspersed were some independent shops like ‘La Maison des Chiens ‘ for cat and dog grooming. I was quite excited by The Walnut Club until I found out it was a tanning parlour – turning an artificial nut brown not being my hobby of choice.

The workaday aspects of Finsbury Park give way to a more gentrified Highbury with a couple of handsome terraces and The Loxfords, a former mansion that had belonged to the  Dents Family of glove manufacturers  After they moved on it was used as a children’s home and Family Centre – then the site was purchased and developed into housing but the  handsome frontage maintained.

As the diversity of Highbury gives way to a busier thoroughfare we entered Highbury Corner still undergoing its transformation. It feels unending and painful but will presumably benefit the pedestrians and cyclists amongst us.

The 19 carries on down Upper Street to the Angel, passing all the usual and occasionally changing delights of Islington – the King’s Head and Almeida theatres , many places to eat and a whole shop outlet for Le Creuset cookware! We made good progress for a section of travel that can often be slow. ‘The Dead Dolls House’ seemed to be a very unprepossessing name for a venue – as that is what it is – so we preferred to think about Sir Hugh Myddleton with little dolphins at his feet to remind  us he was the inspiration behind the New River – Islington has also given him some rather jolly spring primulas.

Once we had crossed the busy East/West route we were heading down past Sadlers Wells with its newer extension. In fact this part of Holborn/Clerkenwell seems to have become something of an area for dance education and the Urdang Academy has taken over Finsbury Town hall. The bus passes the narrower façade of Mount Pleasant, which presents rather sweetly as a post office with all the sorting and distribution facilities behind.

The Theobalds Road is a hybrid of what remains of old bits of small scale industry, service or otherwise and fringe academia. Having found the Anaesthetists’ Museum rather soporific we hope their training HQ along here is a little livelier.  This passage through London seemed a good way of avoiding  Lower Oxford Street

We joined the stream of traffic that snakes slowly round the one way system from Holborn to the West End – I am never sure why it is slow apart from being single lane but I want to blame ongoing Elizabeth Line works at Tottenham Court Road! The slowness did at least give us time to appreciate how lovely is the old fascia of the Umbrella shop. There is a great temptation to go in and request a sword stick perhaps?

Shaftesbury Avenue reminds one quite how many musicals are running in the West End which must be cheering for all those dancers in training.

Piccadilly has road works too and Jo said there was significant water in the hole perhaps indicating a main had been ruptured? Trouble free we continued past Green Park to Hyde Park Corner – by now the upright haka figures  of the NZ War memorial were looking like old friends – I almost expect them to wave to us. We also got a full frontal view of Apsley House before turning down Knightsbridge  for …Knightsbridge. Once an entrance to Hyde Park Corner station then for some time Pizza on the Park it has now morphed, at some expense I would guess, into the Wellesley Hotel.

The shops here and when the 19 turns off at Knightsbridge station down Sloane Street are of the sort where goods are not priced in the window and if you need to ask the price you can’t afford them. Also we were following a Porsche, but it was no faster than the bus.

Between the venerable mansion blocks there are some handsome squares too, notably Cadogan Place, but all locked so no public access.  The Cadogan Family still own much of the land round here and from the bus you can see that Cadogan Hall takes a whole block – conceived initially for Christian Science worship it was converted and can now seat nearly 1000 people for a range of musical events.

There is more culture round the corner in the shape of the Royal Court Theatre and both are well served by Sloane Square station.  On the whole this part of London is not generously provided with train or tube lines and this one is the last for a while. Once round the roundabout that is Sloane Square we headed quite smartly along the King's Road before turning left into Beaufort Street, very uniform in its red brick fullness though difficult to capture on a photo when driving straight into the sun.

We enjoyed crossing  Battersea Bridge which gave us a lovely view of pretty Albert – one bridge up. The 19 stops just one short bus stop south of the river having bravely made its way through several significant entertainment and shopping streets and taking all comers in its stride. We did enjoy it.