The Number 401 Route

Thamesmead Town Centre to Bexleyheath Shopping Centre
Thursday 9th  August  2012

Our last route, the back street bus Number 380, had left us by Belmarsh Prison and the courts (all well camouflaged behind trees) and we had thought it was but a short bus ride to access Thamesmead Town Centre – actually not much in the way of a town centre though a good bus hub. Due to inattention we overrode and realized we were nearly in Abbey Wood so had to retrace ourselves. Thamesmead was busy with a broken-down bus and lots of people heading to the shops, complete with buggies and trolleys, and many of them boarded our double-decker, quite impressive for a service that only runs 4 times an hour. For most of the route it was full upstairs and down.

The 401’s first task was to route through this section of the Sixties-built estate crossing over several streams. It was difficult to tell whether they were man made or natural remnants of the marshes this area once was, but they certainly broke up different areas of housing – some named for Dickens’ characters, some for other ‘dead white Brits’ such as Carlyle and a large section of Thamesmead West had a range of birds as road names. There was even some new building starting in the infrequent gaps.  

After relentless right turns we found ourselves following the rather lowering Yarnton Way, where the road runs between a series of grey blocks. There are attempts to brighten the façades – some mosaics on the stair wells and birds on the overhead pedestrian bridges to link the blocks. As Thamesmead South gives way to Thamesmead East the bus enters a more industrial zone with optimistic looking and named office blocks  the Bexley Business Academy (school) and designed to offer training and employment to this rather isolated community. Whether it has worked or not it is rather difficult to tell as the buildings are set well back from the road.

Along with the Route 180 the 401 penetrates the further reaches of the industrial estate taking in the gas holders, (seemingly abandoned?) and then closing in on the Recycling Facilities, known as the Belvedere Incinerator, better visible from the Thames.  In amongst the roundabouts and metal clad constructions lurked an oversized horse sculpture swiftly followed by the real thing.

Just past Belvedere Station the bus took a sharp, steep turn up Picardy Manor Road. The name for this area apparently predates its current name of Belvedere and thus also the resonance the eponymous region of France has with the First World War (as in the poem 'Magpies in Picardy.')

Apparently in the mid-19^th Century Mr Eardley, a local landowner, seems to have decided that once you had reached the top of the hill, as this bus eventually did (and no mean feat for a full double decker along what is still a country lane), the view was so good it should be renamed Belvedere and so it has stayed. Upper Belvedere has a narrow one-way High Street but many of the shops also call themselves Nuxley leaving us somewhat confused – another ‘previously known as’ name which like Picardy has lingered on?

Further downhills and another uphill (we could hardly have a good view without a hill could we? said Jo) brought us into Long Lane, lined with pleasant and for the most part well tended suburban homes, and a fairly straight and easy run into Bexleyheath Town Centre.   There is significant squeezing and one-way systems to deal with the number of routes (15?) serving what amounts to the only real  hub  in the borough of Bexley, through whose former villages, land and reclaimed marshes this route had brought us.  

The Number 400 Route - not

Well, I have to admit to puzzlement.  The excellent website which lists London bus routes  just includes 400, as if there were no question: it runs from East Grinstead to Caterham-on-the-Hill and here it is; but it's not on the TfL lists or on the maps, not even under that arcane 'other bus routes' section. So we believe it is not 'one of ours'.  The equally obsessive eplates website seems to suggest that it ran around Slough.

So we are just going to say that we shall not be travelling any 400, which is a shame, since you could call the number something of a milestone.

In fact, as we move through the 400s, we shall find that there are many non-existent routes, or unused numbers, whichever way you want to look at it.  The Rules Committee, in an extraordinary meeting - well, exchange of emails, actually - has resolved that consecutive non-existent routes may be lumped together for blogging purposes, otherwise we might run out of things to say when we have not travelled.

I thought I would use this post to remind people that the TfL bus maps are FREE, as well as being wonderful.  You can pick them up at the London Transport desk at any major railway station, as well as some minor ones, and many bus stations. And - here's a paper saving tip - don't bother with the Central London one, as the other 4 all have Central London on their reverse sides.  When I see tourists, or newcomers, trying to follow their bus journeys on the free tube map they give you with your Oyster, I weep.  Indeed, I have on occasion gone further than that and given them my map (but only if I know I shall be passing an outlet very soon) I know they are all available on line, but the real thing comes in handy for the few of us left without smart phones, and may also be used for fanning on hot buses, and wasp control.

The Number 399 Route

Thursday 13 October 2011

This was the first time in the whole life of the Project that we were confronted with an hour’s wait.  (the day had begun with the 234, which had brought us to The Spires, Barnet at just after 10.45….the 399 leaves at, yes, 45 past each hour)  Mary, very reasonably, said she had to go, so, Linda being in South Italy, I waited alone.  I wandered into the Spires and bought a pencil sharpener (aah, the last of the big spenders)

I was not entirely depressed, as what was to be my bus happened by on its way to its resting place, and the driver kindly said he would be back shortly. Four of us got on, at 11.45, and the driver then waited a few minutes for a fifth passenger.  We were bound for Hadley Wood Station, though as it turned out, I was the only one actually going there.

We headed out to loop round some attractive terrace houses and the front of The Spires, and almost immediately the bus sign announced that we were in a Hail and Ride Section, which lasted the whole route.

We were held up by a few road works as we passed enormous properties around Hadley Green, and then came into the entirely villagey area around St Mary’s Church. Monken Hadley was very well maintained, and then we were into the woods.  As we looped through the housing areas, we were slowed by parked cars, despite the huge hardened front gardens and double garages.  Here one new passenger got on, and the driver then waited for another lady of mature years.  This brought our passenger number up to seven, but two of the originals immediately got off.

We went through a wooded area (Hadley Wood, obviously!) and then back into residential streets.  The houses we were passing grew slightly smaller, and then we came to an area of enormous semis, a bit like the ones around Crystal Palace but here, I think, not divided into flats;  then it was more gigantic properties, and the remaining ‘original’ passengers got off, leaving me and the two newcomers. 

Suddenly we were at Hadley Wood Station, but I only realised there would be no pause when the information panel clicked to ‘Barnet The Spires’, so I jumped off.  Clearly the two passengers had boarded to complete the trip out and then head back to Barnet for the shopping.  The entire trip had, after all, taken a mere 17 minutes. It is, I suppose, not surprising that a bus that carries  just seven passengers in the middle of the morning should  be a ‘once an hour’ service.

The Number 398 Route

Ruislip Station to Wood End (Hemery Drive) 

Friday October 5^th 2012

This route’s destiny is inexorably linked to that of the 395 (the one we thought did not exist) so it was fitting we should do them as a combo – less delicious than fish and chips but bound together nevertheless. In order to pick up this route at Ruislip station, a handsome exterior on the outer reaches of the Piccadilly Line, we had de-boarded the 395 at Harrow on the Hill and taken a slightly shabby tube to Ruislip: they seem to save the smarter ones for the Heathrow branch and it was a bit like getting your older brother’s worn out T-shirts.

However the single decker 398 made up for the Piccadilly Line rolling stock by being sparkly clean and nicely upholstered; we were also lucky to wait only  5 minutes for a service that only runs every 30 minutes.

This bus trip allowed us to admire several of the same stations  from the outside. 

We left the safety of the Ruislip station forecourt (more ordered than the chaos at King’s Cross muttered Jo) and turned right heading for Ruislip Manor – we were to do the road equivalent of the 5 stops on the tube albeit in a more wiggly manner. The parades of shop, all of a period with the inter-war era housing, were just about coping – we liked ‘Hair Sanctuary’ where perhaps you could hide away on a bad hair day.   

As we crossed the back streets between Ruislip and Eastcote Stations we had an encounter of the sexist builder variety. There was enough back garden patio or extension work going on in one house to warrant a large concrete mixer parked on one side and the builders’ pick up truck on the other side of the bus route road. The concrete mixer was in full swing so to speak but I saw no reason why the builders  (three in number) could not move their empty pick up a few spaces further down the road, but no, in complete contrast to their name (yes D’Arcy Builders I mean you, no Jane Austen heroes here) they expected the driver of the 398 to squeeze her way through with that exaggerated waving and signalling that men do to women drivers. She of course got through unscathed but we felt progress on the building would be very slow if they had to stop for a bus every 15 minutes or so, and moving one of their own vehicles would have been a much better solution.

From this you can see that for most of this trip the bus took us through residential areas but linking to the key stations – most of these stations, served by both Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines, had generated genteel High Streets of their period., now somewhat less used. The Rayners Pub was firmly closed with its pub sign, now faint, swinging gently over the fenced off building. The local council had tried hard with its public area beds (think wide pavements with space for planting) and had opted this year for drought plants doubtless heeding the early warnings – unfortunately said plants looked a little sad after months of rain and little sun.

Opposite the plants the Zoroastrians have their Europe Trust Fund HQ housed in a rather good Art Deco former cinema.

After Raynes Lane came Corbins Lane then Eastcote Lane, which gives you an idea of what this part of London used to be like before the housing booms that followed the Underground lines.   The 398 does a deliberate loop into and out of South Harrow Station but in spite of the crowds at the various bus stops there were few takers for this route.

Tracking back along South Harrow’s High Street we noticed how easy it was to spot where Woolworths used to be – their buildings, nearly all from the Thirties, have quite a distinctive if not quite preservation-worthy look to them. Also most have gone over to Pound shops.

After the High Street we passed Eastcote Lane cemetery here described: I suppose 'small modest and dull'  just about sums up this whole route.

We also thought that  maybe we should introduce the  'We buy land' folk to the empty lot people as a sort of ghastly dating agency ?

Leaving South Harrow behind we turned into Wood End, whose various residential streets are named after a range of British Olympians.  I could set you a quiz and ask in which order and for which event the following won their gold medals, but to spare you here are some answers;



  

Chris Brasher               Steeplechase, 1956          (Brasher Close)

David Hemery              400m Hurdles, 1968         (Hemery Road)

Mary Peters                 Pentathlon, 1972              (Mary Peters Drive)              

Tessa Sanderson          Javelin, 1984                    (Tessa Sanderson Way)

If you are having Olympic Games withdrawal symptoms this site will let you linger in Team GB’s glory moments over the years.

It is fitting that great athletes are remembered in our suburban streets, and if only this government could be encouraged to build more affordable homes there would be no shortage of names from the 2012 Olympians to name new streets and avenues.

Notwithstanding the above, Wood End does feel a bit like the back end of somewhere else (Sudbury perhaps) and as we handed our card to the East European female driver and congratulated her on her management of the hazards en route she made it perfectly clear that she thought, like us, that female bus drivers were doing an excellent job. This bus takes about 30 minutes to cover its NW London route.  

The Number 397 Route

Wednesday 1 August 2012

The 397 is a bus that runs once every 30 minutes, so when Linda and I spotted one leaving Chingford, where our previous bus had brought us, we leapt onto a 97, which was pursuing it, and then got onto the 397, to be sure of it after it turned round.  A bus in the hand, after all…

The start is at the Crooked Billet Sainsbury’s, dominated by huge pylons, and we set off at 11.15, sorry that it was not a double decker, but glad that the rain had held off.

Out past the Holiday Inn Express, we turned left and left again, to pass Walthamstow Stadium, whose future is still in doubt, though with the local MP, IDS, weighing in, there may be hope.  This was what had happened the day before we travelled.

As often before, we admired Waltham Forest’s handsome street flowers as well as the plaster details on the solid looking terraces and we saw a sign advertising the Godiva puppetshow which is part of the 2012 festivities.

We have seen the King’s Ford pub before, and assume that some king or other must have crossed the Ingrebourne around here, but we were more interested in a jewellers shop with a piercing studio above:  a kind of symbiosis, I suppose.

As we headed towards Chingford Mount, we thought that Bollywood’s was a good name for an Indian restaurant.  We came to Chingford Mount cemetery, where the Kray twins are buried, though I doubt if that is what was celebrated by the green plaque which we glimpsed but could not read.

Continuing through residential areas, we saw a lot of solar panels, as if one salesman had had a spectacularly successful day along here.  Crossing Larkhall Road, we wiggled through the houses, before returning to the main road.  

This is an area where estate agents, dry cleaners and cafes tend to be called ‘Churchill’ after the former MP of this area, or at least of Woodford Green and Epping. 

As we came towards Chingford Station, for the third time today, we passed the Remar Charity Shop.  Remar proves to be a Christian charity helping the homeless    We also, as we have mentioned before, like the craft shop very much. We were  surprised to see the Club House of Chingford Golf Club, right opposite the station, with little sign of rolling green fairways; but it seems it was founded by local tradesmen who weren’t posh enough for the other clubs around, so a town centre club house makes sense.

Out of Chingford, we were into Epping Forest scenery and soon were past the Queen Elizabeth pub and Bancroft’s School and into Buckhurst Hill, with rather substantial homes and then to pass some new flats called The Artisan.  We were not sure whether it had once been a pub, but it seems to be an artistic place as well. 


  

The next place was Loughton.  There were coaches parked outside the station, from far flung parts of the UK, with notices on the windscreens naming sports clubs, so we thought these might be people coming to the Olympics, though whether it is possible to buy more than 4 tickets never became clear in the impenetrable IQ test that was the ticketing ‘system’.

Next came St Mary’s Church with its handsome hall, and the ‘Last Post’ Pub which was clearly about missing the coach, rather than military bugle calls. We also saw a startling number of shops selling party clothes, including one offering cup-cakes to its customers.  A trainee guide dog was belting along the pavement at a good pace, its handler showing it how to deal with other footway users. 

Back out into the countryside and following signs to Epping Forest College, we came towards the end of our journey.

And so we arrived in Debden’s Broadway, with its attractive central reservation planting.  When we came here on the 20, we had hardly heard of the place.  Now, at 12.05, it felt familiar, as we disembarked from our bus and headed for the station and the Central Line.

The Number 396 Route

Thursday 13 September 2012

 Mary and I got to Ilford quite easily, but finding the bus stop took a little more effort, and a couple of very helpful passers by.  Still, we were off by 10.20, on what was scheduled to be an 18 minute journey to Little Heath and the King George Hospital.  Linda was on holiday  having, we hoped, a lovely time.  The weather was wonderful, though it had been a bit chilly to start with, and we were only sorry that it was a single decker, as the views are bound to be restricted.

Setting off along Ilford’s High Street, we were interested to see a shop called ‘Bodgers’, reflecting that their standards must be high to compensate for the unfriendly connotations of their name.

 Coming past the station, we admired Redbridge’s fine flower baskets, though we were moving to fast for Mary to get a perfect picture.  We also like the Great Spoon of Ilford, whose floral decorations were truly magnificent.  I can’t remember when I read some research that suggested that customers, all other things being equal, with choose a flowery pub against a plain one, but am quite prepared to believe its accuracy. 

 We headed out of Ilford, and passed Valentine’s Park, still with its encouraging Olympics banners, and then Valentine ‘s Mansion, now available for general use having been acquired by Redbridge Council in 1912 and made beautiful with the assistance of lottery money.

After this, we were in suburban housing, broken only by visits to Gants Hill Station, and Newbury Park Station with its remarkable concrete canopy. 


We were also amazed by William Torbitt Primary School 

whose building could well be mistaken for a town hall.

Now we travelled along the A 12 for a few minutes, before turning off to Little Heath, where we passed Redbridge College   We hoped that they had not been too affected by the sudden change in GCSE English grades.  We also hoped that this will have been sorted out fairly by the time you read this post. 

Anyway, this brought us into the attractive grounds of the Hospital by 10.54, not much longer than the advised time. 

The Number 395 Route

Westway Cross Retail Park to St George’s Shopping Centre 

Friday October 5^th 2012

We almost failed to realise this route existed as we had put together our ‘Master List’ six months before the Route 395 started running… So after some hasty re-planning, here is the route that we nearly skipped over… 

It was the sort of weather day where you might chance leaving your washing outdoors and not taking a waterproof – we had done both, and luckily the weather gods stayed on our side. Linda could confidently lead the way from Greenford Station as she had recently come this way while walking a chunk of the Capital Ring (which takes you nicely up nearby Horsenden Hill). So we found Westway Cross, the sort of shopping centre which is really a string of industrial units with no focus or centre – and as far as we could see no bus stops. We asked three different people (which was quicker than Linda juggling with her new phone) and found our 395 lurking by a traffic light. At 11AM the two services per hour turn into four (which tells you that it serves shoppers rather than commuters) but we were lucky (again) as it just was about to go – straight back to Greenford Station but as you know rules are rules.  The erstwhile Railway Pub  now rather shrillily (I’ve just made that up) proclaims itself as a Flaming Grill so it’s a recent refit for a pub nearly 100 years old. As its website announces it serves the local population and the employees from the extensive Greenford Industrial Units – storage depots etc are a prominent feature of Outer West London wedged as it is between Paddington and Heathrow, and a long established trade route. 

Once over the Grand Union Canal, now more scenic than industrial, we entered an extensive housing estate, probably we guessed built through the late Thirties and Forties, with interruptions for the war. The layout is generous with a daisy chain of roundabouts linking avenues of semi-detached homes. The route became quite busy here, though it’s not hail and ride as you might expect, and after emerging past Northolt Green and the Underground Station, a predictably popular interchange, we passed the petite clock tower built for the 1937 coronation and dived down Eastcote Lane, which has a mixture of homes, schools, centres etc.

This website explains the strategic significance of Northolt adding that Ruislip came from Islip  a once local and presumably important family. The other local worthies were called Mandeville, which makes me wonder if they only had one eye?  (I was not a fan of this Olympic mascot but he does have his own Facebook site.)  Well into Northolt we discovered ‘Racecourse Estate’ through which this route runs. Unsurprisngly there had a been a pony and horse track here but the land was needed for homes, which were erected in the Fifties.  

From here the run through South Harrow seemed more familiar: the High Street that mixture of struggling but surviving shops, nostalgic glimpses of previously ridden bus routes clustering round South Harrow Station, and a very large hole next to John Lyon School leaving us unsure whether they were selling off their playing fields or relaying them – a touch of astro-turf might not come amiss if the weather continues wet.

The double roundabout at the top of the hill was looking particularly derelict with a clutch of abandoned half-built blocks; difficult to tell whether they were going up or down but either way something of an eyesore. 

Paul Talling, who records derelict buildings, considers office blocks more likely to come down and be replaced than stand empty for a while so our guess is these shells were destined to be something (I bet there was an ‘iconic’ in the building spec) but the money ran out?? 

The bus then comes to an abrupt halt outside St George’s Shopping Centre and all the passengers look somewhat startled and a bit miffed mainly because the route was previously listed as going into the station which is presumably where we all want to go. Quite why the 395 has become such an outcast and is not allowed to wait at the cosier bus station but must linger on a one-way system, is not clear.  Fortunately for Jo and Linda the walk on to the station was so obvious even they could not go wrong.

Thanks to quite a lot of good luck with our timings, at just over the 30 minutes from end to end this very local route turned out OK, especially as we had only sussed its existence at the last moment.