The Number 356 Route

Monks Orchard Road  to Upper Sydenham

Monday July 25^th 2011

A beautiful summer’s day found Mary and Linda walking through the Shrublands Estate from the end of our last route to the start of the Number 356, which waits snugly at a grassy corner of Wickham Road and Monks Orchard Road. We were just crossing said grass when the bus moved off and although we ran the driver either did not or did not want to see us. So we settled down on the bus shelter seats for our 20-minute wait for this 3-an-hour single-decker one-door buslet (New word: buslet = baby bus).  It duly came and left with us on the dot of 12.00 noon, with the Bethlem Hospital as its first stop, though no-one much wanted it along here. We had a little reminisce about patients we had known admitted here, mostly with positive outcomes.

The Bethlem is the ‘country branch’ of Camberwell’s Maudsley Hospital, both tertiary centres for mental health treatment. 

Up until Eden Park we were the only passengers with the bus whizzing along past several request stops. Again this is a largely residential area though with more modest housing than Shirley and West Wickham – here the homes were in fact terraces though cunningly constructed to look like semis, at least along the main road.

The roads, and I think this is probably true of not just the main and bus thoroughfares but also the side roads, are generously wide and often sinuous, interspersed with floral roundabouts.

However, once you arrive at Elmers End modesty goes out the window and the Tescos, which to be fair is tucked in on what must have been ‘railway land,’ has an approach which makes it look like a small airport, with a flyover to the car park and an underpass to the station. Here many passengers got on, some flinging open all the windows and several with bags and luggage. I suppose if you want a quieter approach you need to follow the Waterlink Way. This is mainly a cycle path so depends on how pushy the cyclists are if you are planning to walk it…

The 356 heads up Elmers End Road past the Beckenham Cemetery and Crematorium, which has no very grand gates or obvious lodges and looks a little neglected (at least the gravestones do) from what can be seen from the road. See the 354 for famous burials.

At this point a passenger asked “Was this bus going to the big Tescos?” and we had to tell her she was going the wrong way (no more Tescos – only Sainsbury’s) so off she got at Penge.

Elmers End and Birkbeck stations serve the Cem & Crem like bookends and neatly show how the Victorians speculated and built railway lines in a rather ad hoc fashion – the stations are very close but on different lines – and the housing would have followed the railway.

Just past Birkbeck Station the bus turns off down the side streets, which form the ‘hinterland’ of Penge.  The housing stock is quite old and for the most part well cared for, and though far from other shops there was a corner-shop fish bar remaining, looking quaintly old-fashioned

As it emerges into Croydon Road the 356 joins several other routes so at the main Penge crossroads many passengers got off to join more serious bus routes. The 356 continues its backstreet way, this time along the rather attractive Kent House Road which cuts through to Lower Sydenham. This ended our travels through Bromley Borough, which calls itself the Greener borough though its main claim to fame should be that it covers the largest area of any of the London boroughs. Neighbouring Lewisham is a little less green and more tightly packed as to housing and people…with a new development going up rapidly. (Nearly complete July 2012)  

As with several recent routes, we called into what many still call the Savacentre, but what is really a giant Sainsbury’s, which has its own bus area, and another chance to access the Waterlink Way.  However, this time instead of heading up (Sydenham) High Street we went – equally uphill – along Perry Rise and Vale (both very aptly named as the bus climbs then drops a little) past a mixture of some newer built flats and a few shops, most notably ‘Hektik hair – we are for the individual,’ with several  older properties.  Most noteworthy are the so-called Christmas houses, built in the early days of the 20^th century, doubtless soon after the railways arrived. Less commonare a few remaining Kent style cottages. 

This route approaches Forest Hill station from behind, never a lovely sight, and then swings round very briefly to join the South Circular and a clutch of other key bus routes, (stopping outside the former Capitol cinema, before leaving it all behind by taking a turn off opposite the Horniman Museum. This is Sydenham Rise where a row of Wates-built homes face a play park – the myth when my children used to play there was that it was an unmarked Plague Pit but there is little to substantiate this. 

It is a good escape when the more worthy delights of the Horniman Museum opposite pall and was beautifully upgraded some years back.

From here on the ride is a slow roller coaster – up to the crest of Sydenham Rise and down Kirkdale where the views back towards Croydon and Kent are stupendous, then passing the old fountain the bus takes a right hand turn along Wells Park Road from which of course you can access the park.  The name recalls some medicinal springs found round here in the 17^th century, and there is still both a water feature and a water play park; while I cannot vouch for the healing properties of the water it does offer a green space for local people. The bus has to do a final 1^st gear only climb up along side the park and a corner of  Dulwich Woods  to come to its final resting place (I think it might have expired if not allowed to pause) just past the Dulwich Wood House pub on Sydenham Hill and a handy connection to take us both home.

Actually this was an entrancing ride taking in as it did so many of the smaller and less well known corners of outer SE London, mostly green except for some Penge interludes.

The Number 355 Route

Brixton Police Station to Three Kings Pond (Mitcham)

Wednesday August 3^rd 2011

This was part of a memorable trip, as it was the journey that led us to the Number 200 route and thus another landmark. We were also on that occasion accompanied by the Press, who were getting together an article for ‘Completely London’ – a magazine published by estate agents Kinleigh, Folkard and Hayward – and had arranged a photo-shoot at Brixton Bus garage. 

The bus garage was busy and the photography took longer than expected as we posed between dodging the buses, which needed to park in their tightly allocated spaces and then drive off again – we admired the skilful reversing and careful driving off but we were essentially IN THE WAY of such vital routes as the 59, 137, 319 and even the 19 run by ARRIVA. A garage manager (Lee) gave us some vital statistics like 7% of the force are women (in South Croydon at least). Even after losses last year ARRIVA currently holds close to 19% of the market. Our guide had been working for 26 years and said that many of the drivers stayed in the job a long time (we have met some with over 30 years service) and  with some seniority they can specify which routes they might want. In any case they get 48 hours notice of shift and route, which seems fair enough.  He knew the history of all the routes out of this garage and a whole host more when  we mentioned the more recent changes (extensions) to the 159. From Lee’s helpful email:

In addition to the above, in most cases a driver must take a 30-minute meal break after 5.5 hours on duty. In London it is accepted by all the major bus operators that because of extenuating circumstances this should be extended to 40 minutes minimum, but this is concessionary. There are certain exceptions to the 5.5-hour rule, which will vary from company to company, but these are the general stipulations. Suffice to say that driving hours regulations are a field of knowledge in their own right. (And just to complicate matters, there is a completely different set of regulations for coach drivers and buses used for private hire and in my job I occasionally have to mix them).

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Photography complete we headed back to Brixton itself to pick up the 355, still accompanied by the photographer and now joined by the journalist.  Peter** was a ‘friend of buses’ having written columns on routes 1-60 for ‘Time Out’; after that he feared boredom and repetition, which I said was a factor we recognised but tried to combat.  It is indeed a challenge: for example, today was probably our ninth or so trip past Brixton Station, which is now the real hub of this part of London, with the market just behind in Electric Avenue. This route goes down, past the Ritzy with its pavement tables out on Windrush Square, to the one-way system round St Matthew’s Church where we noticed they had put in some swings in the bits of the churchyard not used for burials – presumably open for all areas of the community not just the congregation. We then turned left in front of the Town Hall and noted the nearby Unison Office – handy for those inevitable negotiations and liaisons that take place between public employees and their masters.

So grandiose it would not fit into the churchyard is the family mausoleum for the Budds, now in the final part of the one-way system before the 355 turns into Acre Lane, 

By the station the bus had taken on a fair few shoppers who had clearly been to the market and as we approached different sections of the Clapham Park Estate the passengers descended with their purchases. There are some older houses between the blocks but also recent demolition and  new builds coming. 

Just before we turned into Balham Hill, and not long past the very pretty Clapham Police station, the bus was boarded by two inspectors. Peter thought this was quite unusual on such a small bus where it is hard to get on without passing the driver, and they were certainly on their way very soon. As we joined Balham Hill we passed the Majestic Winehouse, which has in its time been a cinema – an inevitable loss I suppose but at least they have preserved the building’s exterior.

Nearby is the ‘Gateway Hotel’ to make sure you had not forgotten the memorable Peter Seller’s sound travelogue for Balham. 

This part of the bus route doubles up as Cycling Superhighway painted of course ‘Barclays Blue’ just in case we failed to honour the sponsors.  The cyclists amongst us have little faith in this kind of tokenism – where there is insufficient road space (and there are no bus lanes here) cycles will inevitably get dangerously sidelined and squashed.   

Peter, who had grown up not far from here and whose mother was born in Tooting, knew well the urban legends about Du Cane court, though to be fair he has found a couple of swastikas in London (see his blog )

Sometimes you have to reclaim old symbols for what they were. Although his memories go less far back than mine we both wondered at the gentrification of Balham as evidenced by the Waitrose midway along the High Road – and those of us who remember when Bedford Hill was a red light district to be avoided are still somewhat bemused to see estate agents describing it as desirable.

From Clapham South the bus follows the Northern Line south – usually by a much slower route but in spite of the heat (or possibly because of it) we were nipping quite smartly though the stations with an inevitable slowing round the Broadway. With Ramadan just started the clothes shops were displaying new models for the Eid festivals with shops such as ‘Wed in Style’ or ‘Western Jewellery’ which looked pretty Eastern to us. We had to dissuade Mary from getting off to buy three boxes of mangoes for £10. The bus stopped just short of Tooting Broadway Station to allow the drivers to change – as ever very punctual with minimal delays.

Turning left at the Broadway crossroads meant we were heading for Mitcham, not a surprise given the destination of the bus The Mixed Blessings bakery indeed proved to be mixed blessings today with quite a large funeral just finishing at the big catholic Church (complete with wicker coffin, we were pleased to see) and an older persons’ home named after a Presbyterian Divine called Joshua Oldfield  (is this like a saint if you are not RC?? Help me somebody). I think he sounds more like a progressive rock guitarist. To complete the religious interlude on this trip we of course pass Amen Corner (which was a pop group) before approaching Mitcham from the north and passing Figges Marsh. Sadly, though Mitcham has more than its fair share of greens – Mitcham Fair Green AND Upper Green West – the overwhelming impression is of traffic and buses, no longer the village idylls.

The 355 finds a quieter spot to park up – not the most original of routes as it duplicates its relative the 155 for most of its route and fails to offer much that is new.  The Press left us to take our Number 200 and headed off to whatever…

** You will all know Peter better as ‘The Great Wen’ and once the next edition of ‘Completely London’ had come out he published his article for them on his blog – a much more topical and eclectic  blog than our own. The photos were exceptionally nice but have their own copyright. We thought his piece  exceedingly fair and accurate.  

Lee is based usually at South Croydon and spotted us a few months later when we went too far on a 412 Route, but that’s another story. Helpfully he updated us on the arrival of newer (hand me down) buses when we opined the ones we had ridden seemed past their sell by dates. Since April the Route 19 now runs out of Stockwell, which to me makes little more sense than running it out of Brixton (Battersea Bridge to Finsbury Park??)

   

The Number 354 Route

Penge (The Crooked Billet)* to Bromley North Station

Thursday May 26^th 2011

*A bent branch of a tree – and there I was thinking it was some kind of agricultural implement. Needless to say, neither was visible in Penge today.

Our key route of the day has left us just round the corner, so we found the Crooked Billet quite easily. On the whole Bromley Council tends to pretend Penge belongs elsewhere but they have attempted to inject a little continental café society into the High Street by providing a canopy/clock and area to sip your lattes etc – though the weather was not really suited to that today.

Counter-intuitively, the bus heads north out of Penge, in what I think of as the opposite direction to Bromley, but a Tfl operative handing out questionnaires to all boarding passengers distracted us. This is a route that runs to a timetable about three times an hour so perhaps they were thinking of axing it? I noted that buses in the opposite direction had also been given mini-questionnaires and pencils. She collected them as people got off so I am not sure whether she noted the length of bus use or not?

It was a very small one-door only bus that caused some fun as we had 2 buggies (not at the same time) and a dog large enough to require a whole passenger area. O yes, and a rogue escaped balloon.

Anyway it somehow got to both Penge West and Anerley Stations without following the main roads, thus avoiding some of the more depressing bits of Anerley Hill.

Just by Betts Park the bus crosses over a small stream – I have not been able to discover if it has a name but did find a rather good account of the former  Croydon Canal, which did run hereabouts – the bus runs along side the Castledine Road which is mentioned in the link. Just fancy: tearooms in Anerley (this is not a typo). Mr Betts was of course a local chap who did well enough to donate land.

The crossroads from which there is always a fine view over South London used to be called the Robin Hood, but as the eponymous (been waiting to use that) pub has been demolished, I am not sure what it is called now. Anyway, we went straight across in the direction of Birkbeck which seemingly does not warrant a Wikipedia entry so I am left wondering whether it has any relationship with Birkbeck College, famed for its evening and extra-mural courses. Beckenham crematorium and cemetery seem pretty large but then the latter runs into South Norwood Country Park at some stage.   My handy guide to all things dead tells me that both  Thomas Crapper, prime plumber to the Royals and WG Grace are buried here – today we were to have a cricketing theme, as you will see.

The present Beck Lane was not developed for houses until after World War II, being previously used as allotments. At the far end, on the Elmers End Road corner, stands the London Transport Depot. The former building (1929), which incidentally housed solid-tyre 'buses, was destroyed by a Flying Bomb and when rebuilt (1953) one of the entrances was called 'The Cunningham Gate' in memory of   a faithful fire-watcher who remained at his post on the roof, to give warning; I note that 41 Firemen are also commemorated in the local cemetery where they took part in a bad air raid.

Beck Lane still has some allotments but the whole area has a certain charm and a very unified look to it. 

At this point, where Beck Lane turns into Churchfields Road, our bus ground to a halt for nearly 15 minutes – it seemed mainly to be volume of traffic – at 12 noon? So we crawled past the superb Bromley Dump – sadly we non-Bromley types can no longer use it as it is now strictly reserved to Bromley rate payers but we remember it fondly as a 5* site: well ordered, clean and with plenty of room for cars to turn, and a nearby children’s playground if things do take a while.

We were finally able to come onto the High Road near Clockhouse Station and the road from here to the Beckenham War Memorial is largely composed of (loosely speaking) civic and communal buildings – library, pool,  fire station, English Language School and so on.

In spite of having two quite large supermarkets near by, Beckenham does somehow manage to hang on to its High Street and there is always something to see, like Thai boxing for example! At this point the bus really filled up. Traffic through Beckenham is usually slow so we were able to note that the metal structures that had gone up in the park alongside St. George’s Church, and which looked as though they might be expecting peas, were in fact supporting roses – a bit like having your roses supported by scaffolding we thought.  The churchyard on the other hand had been left to grow wild or perhaps they had not cut the grass? It’s hard to tell nowadays what is deliberately left for wild flowers and insects and what is merely non-intervention: a bit like distressed paintwork or ripped jeans. 

Rather than take the direct road to Bromley we took a side road: Foxgrove Road and then Downs Hill – the very names tell you that this will be affluent Bromley with larger, even double fronted houses. This area is known as Ravensbourne for the River of that name which joins the Quaggy at Lewisham – it also has a station, which is down in a dip and looks very rural.

Ravensbourne had both a golf course (through which the river goes) and Beckenham Cricket Club, and later in the day we noted a banner for a cricket festival?  I refer to this in the spirit of selflessness, as I have never watched cricket in my life. Notwithstanding the apparent wealth of the neighbourhood several passengers got on, obviously heading for Bromley – this included two police officers who of course do not pay, and a bus driver heading to work and all remarked on the late running of this route today.

Things were about to get even later as once we came out into Beckenham Lane, which is both steep and twisty, some road works delayed us even further but we did eventually reach Bromley Bus garage 50 minutes after leaving Penge in what is advertised as a 25 minute trip across outer SE London using residential rather than main roads. It did show the social contrasts that you can find within Bromley as we did stay within the one London borough.

PS After posting the 208, which takes a more direct route through Catford to Bromley we received a comment from a bus driver – yes Paul I mean you -who had noticed us boarding in Penge.; I think the only driver ever to do so (or they’re too polite to say what they really think) so Paul this is for you….

Also as our note on the 351 states the route followed by that erstwhile number is now more or less this 354. 

The Number 353 Route

Thursday 28 June 2012

Linda and I decided to go from the Orpington end to the Addington Village Interchange in order to pick up another bus from there, so we met at Orpington Station in good order at 10.00.  


It was not quite sunny, but working towards it, and we walked down to the Ramsden Estate in order to stretch our legs.  It took us about 45 minutes to reach Rye Crescent, helped by a reassuring local lady who watched us trying to work out whether we were holding the A-Z the right way up.  We were delighted to see that the 353 is a double decker.  The other people getting on were clearly shoppers who were not interested in the front upstairs seats, so we were very happy as we set off just before 11.00.  The Ramsden Estate is having large numbers of houses built, we were pleased to see, so we expect this bus will get busier in the years to come.


The bus took us back towards Orpington itself, picking up a few people with empty shopping bags.  We passed the Priory School which, we were interested to see, is also the home of the Frank Bruno Boxing Academy.


Priory Park was looking lovely.  You have to say about the kind of weather we have been having, that it keeps everything green and lush.  This is where the River Cray begins its journey to join the Thames:  you can walk its length if you wish.


Orpington High Street was busy and bustling, and we headed along it to bring us to the War Memorial, which sits on a roundabout, so you would have to dice with death to read the names, which are attractively set out on low level stones in a half circle round the monument.




Heading out of Orpington, we passed The Maxwell.  As so often, I can find reviews of the beer and the gents' toilets, but no explanation of the name.  Those of us who come from Watford, associate the name with the  ... well, on a public blog I'd better just say 'person' ... who stole his workers' pension fund to continue to enrich himself and his family.  In these Leveson Inquiry days, it's quite funny to read the PM's gushing tribute to the man.  But that probably has nothing to do with the Orpington Pub, or indeed this bus trip.  Almost opposite is the Crofton Roman Villa, or at least the little bungalow which is the way in.  


Now we headed up the hill out of Orpington, and for the first time we had company on the top deck.  The downstairs sounded quite busy, presumably with shoppers who had filled their bags.  Most of the front gardens have been converted to parking spaces, though most with a bit of garden as well.  This is an area of large houses, pretty well continuous till you reach the handsome mock Tudor of Locksbottom.  Here we spotted the charity shop for Harris Hospiscare, which took the name in 2002 because of support from Lord Harris.  We were pleased to note also that the 'British Queen' pub's sign was of the first Queen Elizabeth, to echo the Tudor theme

 Moving on into the smart area around Keston, we wondered again what 'Keston Mark' meant:  according to Wikipedia it was once a pub.  Perhaps it was the mark put on livestock when this was a farming area?  Among the huge houses, we also saw some attractive flint faced cottages.  Linda was also pleased to see horses in a field.


Out of Keston, we nipped along green country-ish lanes for a while until we reached Hayes (or 'Hayes, Kent' as people tend to say to remind everyone that they are not near Heathrow) and passed the station.  The excellent central reservation flowerbeds which we have noticed on previous visits were looking rather dull, as the geraniums aren't yet in flower.


Out of Hayes, we came to the Coney Hall Roundabout, named for the housing estate that was built here early in the last century.  The wide green spaces on the right belong to the City of London, but we also passed a huge field of broad beans, indicating that Kent remains a bit agricultural even in Bromley.  They were not yet flowering, which is apity as the wonderful scent would have penetrated the bus on this muggy day.

And so, at 11.30, we reached the Addington Village Interchange, not really a destination in its own right, but perfectly convenient for stepping onto another bus after a few moments conversation with someone else waiting at the bus stop.  We had travelled through commuter land for the whole way, but pleasant and green, helped by the sunshine.

The Number 352 Route

Monday 18 June 2012

I was on my own today, both Mary and Linda having holidays with, I hope, lovely weather.  From Bromley North to Lower Sydenham, I had sunshine, though with lowering grey clouds.


I had had a long and rather strange journey to reach Bromley North Station, about which I shall tell you in a few weeks, and it was almost 13.00 as I waited for the 352.  The Countdown kept saying 10 minutes, for about seven minutes, so it was with relief that I hailed the bus as it arrived at pretty well the time expected, rather than 10 minutes later.


As usual with buses in Bromley, we headed out past the Civic Centre, and along the busy road that enables the High  Street to be a pedestrian haven of peace.  Then we turned right, past The Glades, and left, to reach Bromley South Station, less pretty but more useful than Bromley North.  It was possible to glimpse the building and refurbishment works which were promising 'your bigger and better station'.


Turning left, we entered residential areas, with most of the front gardens hardened.  Nevertheless, there were many cars parked in these narrow streets, built before cars were seen as essential, so we often had to wait for traffic coming the other way.  Everything was very green, unsurprisingly, given the June weather we have had. It has always seemed strange to me that people imagine June will be lovely, since it often rains, or worse.  The D-Day landings were delayed, the Coronation took place in a deluge, and so on.  


Having gone uphill out of Bromley, we headed steeply downhill, and I thought of the great views I could have taken from a double decker


Coming toward West Wickham Station, we had the golf course on both sides of the road, and were into a hail and ride section.   Judging by the size of the houses, this would not be a bus user's area.  The 352 is the only bus along much of its route.


There were more modest houses, but still lots of cars, as we came towards Beckenham, and passed Crease Park, one of the smaller green spaces in the Borough.  Along the High Street and past the war memorial, I enjoyed some silly shop names as we went first under and then over the railway.




After passing New Beckenham Station, we turned left down Worsley Bridge Road to reach a branch of Kent County Cricket Club, which must have been reeling from a recent tragedy, though one could not tell from the bus.  Many people got off here, leaving me the only passenger for a while.


As we came into Lower Sydenham and passed its station, we went over the Ravensbourne, which offered a riverside walk. Then we nipped through the shopping area to get to the large Sainsbury's, where this route terminates.  It was 13.35.


Although there had been some green interludes, this area is effectively all 'London', with big houses in the leafier bits, and smaller houses and flats on the approach to each railway station in turn.  It was interesting to see how the different places on glimpses from train or motorway link to each other.

The Number 351 Route (not)

There is no 351 route.  But that bald statement is rather an oversimplification as there used to be one up in Essex, and, until 2002, another around Penge and Bromley as you can discover here.

Meanwhile, I wanted to say a few words in praise of Oyster Cards. 

I don’t know of many other examples of people setting out to spend almost double the normal price on an identical item.  Marmite in a Harrods bag?  

But Linda and I, on our three buses yesterday, watched two people pay £2.30 for something that costs  £1.35, because they did not have an oyster card. Yes, you pay a £5.00 deposit, but you get this back when you return it.  It is strangely difficult to find any information about returning oyster cards on the TfL website, but the fact is that you can return it at any underground station ticket office.  This is all very clearly set out at this address.

Before anyone comments on the fact that we freedom pass users are sheltered from all this, allow me make that comment myself.

Now. Speaking as a conspiracy theorist of long standing (ask me who killed JFK, rather than just where I was when I heard the news) I know that Oyster cards are tracked, especially if they are registered, and some people resent the totalitarian implications  Here’s a summary of the dangers.  On the other hand, people:  £2.00 instead of £4.30 for a Zone 1 Tube journey? 

Also, if you ever travel by bus outside London, you will know how long a journey can take when people have to pay their fares, collect their tickets and retrieve their change before the bus can leave each stop.

The Number 350 Route

Wednesday 13 June 2012


Having taken the train to Hayes and Harlington Station (apparently freedom passes are not valid beyond this point) we needed to walk a couple of stops to get to the start of our route, in Clarendon Road.  The driver was bemused, so we gave him a card at the start rather than at the end of the trip, and off we set, at about 10.10.


We had seen a double decked 350, but ours was a single decker.  Indeed, all the 350s we saw except this one were double deckers, which was slightly annoying.


Hayes is full of Nestle's works, street names, nurseries and so on;  but there are also plenty of green spaces and the odd ghost sign.  We came to Hyde Park Hayes, an office development with very attractive outside spaces, designed by Wilson McWilliam:  whether the world needs more offices is always worth considering, especially as there was a large semi-derelict something across the road, and we were to pass a number of 'to let' office developments of various kinds.




Of the various food outlets we saw, we noted one advertising 'English breakfast and Chinese food' as well as an ex-pub calling itself 'Inhibitions' and promising 'exotic dancers seven days a week'.  


Crossing the Grand Union Canal, we went through the gates into Stockley Park,  an amazing business park, with water features and green areas, as well as prestigious looking offices for Canon, Samsonite (we thought appropriately near Heathrow for a suitcase company) BP, Marks and Spencer and Apple.

Once we were out of the salubrious environs of Stockley  Park, we came into an area of mixed business and housing.  Much of the housing stock had once been public, and some still was, we thought. But we also saw rather a handsome ex-pub, attractively turned into housing.  


Crossing the Grand Union again, we took a turn into West Drayton Station and out again, and then into West Drayton itself, noting a Jade and Marble shop called Hydrodragon.

Also in West Drayton is Drayton Hall, HQ of the pharmaceutical Company, Ferring.


We supposed that the proximity of the airport is what attracts all these companies, though we were surprised that, travelling in this direction, we had heard no aircraft up to now.  







But crossing the M4 and heading towards Harmondsworth, we had aeroplanes overhead. We crossed the little river which I think may be the Duke of Northumberland's River or possibly the Longford River. (I apologise for this vagueness, but my A-Z goes all impressionistic around Heathrow) and so came into Heathrow, terminating at the subterranean bus station of Terminal 5 at 10.45.


As you will see from Linda's pictures, we actually had warm sun, blue skies, little fluffy clouds for this enjoyable trip.  One would almost have thought it was summer.