The Number 465 Route

Dorking to Kingston (Cromwell Road Bus Station)

Thursday October 25^th 2012

A shameful preamble – I decide to come clean rather than lie. So fixated were we to get to Dorking Station (50 minutes from Waterloo and a ticket under £3) that we failed to check the exact start of the route and assumed, like dorks, that the 465 would of course be waiting on the station forecourt. When we found the stop it said: for buses to Kingston please use Stop A. Some bemused taxi drivers, having watched us get off a London train, then watched us leave the station where they indicated the stop was. Unfortunately this involved crossing the six lanes of the A24. Jo had researched the bus as going every 12 minutes so we were a bit surprised to find only 2 an hour at this time of day.  Yes, this means we had looked at the timetable and STILL failed to recognise that this was NOT the start of the route. Then to our consternation we saw a red (‘red is right’) bus turn into the station.’He’s using it to turn round,’ said Jo. NO. This was the point we realised that Dorking Station is in fact some SIX stops from the start of the route but by this time it was too late to walk into Dorking and do things properly. We had been joined at the stop by a woman, with whom we could confirm she was just in time for the next bus. ‘You have to get out of Dorking sometimes’ she said, using the pretext of shopping for upcoming birthdays, and like us she rode this route all the way into Kingston. She explained the route had recently been taken over by another company, who had provided passengers with new vehicles rather than the previous bone-shakers.

So there you have it: all we saw of Dorking was the station forecourt, and rather as people say that someone is ‘two sandwiches short of a picnic,’ this entry is six stops short of completion. 

The first stretch goes fast along the generously wide A24 with the North Downs gently bosoming to our right. At the Pixham Lane roundabout we spotted two metallic cyclists which we guessed (correctly) had been added for the Olympics as one of the road races had taken place at nearby Box Hill. In fact this roundabout was our signal to turn off the busy road onto the old London road, which crosses the River Mole at Burford Bridge close to the National Trust area.  There is lots to enjoy round here and several  walks on offer in this area which has been enjoyed since Jane Austen's day.

It is possible to take a car to the top but the bus wriggles round the bottom of the hill along the aptly named Zig Zag Road past some well appointed homes  (Jane Austen is ‘catching’ I’m afraid) and the Juniper Hall Field Centre.

As the lane narrows further the 465 comes into Mickleham – the simple church looked quite old, and in fact there are some Saxon elements amongst the Norman bits and 1842 improvements. As you might wish, the pub opposite is equally picturesque. After the detour through this Surrey village the bus route rejoins the more robust A24 continuing along what must be the Mole valley as we ran both alongside and across the river more than once. Mole Valley

Many of the recent references on the web are to the floods which took place in June 2012, though I am not sure this immediate neighbourhood was affected. The National Trust has another property, this time a  house with garden, which is signposted from near here.

Once back on the A24 speed picked up and with few bus stops we made swift progress along to Leatherhead, rapid transit making photography difficult. The bus got progressively busier from this point picking up passengers having done or intent on doing their shopping later on.  The bus takes a little detour to the station (through which we had already passed on our way down) and Leatherhead has its rather fine Town Hall standing proud on a hill, and the Pumping Station which could surely stand in for a Nazi HQ in some (budget) war-time film?

Once through town there were few halts or requests for stopping so once we reached Leatherhead Golf Club the driver paused for a while, presumably so that he did not get ahead of schedule. This gave us a chance to appreciate some autumn foliage. 

By this time we had crossed the M25 and had also arrived in Kingston borough. Then came more leafy stretches – not exactly wild countryside but pleasantly green and soothing. The spell was only just broken by our arrival at Chessington World of Adventure, more easily reached by the Number 71. This stretch of road is also memorable (or not memorable depending on your point of view) for the extent of the modern business units which are a little set back from the road, but which happily still look fully occupied. We were last here over 2½ years ago and much has changed economically.

We rather liked the ‘Shy Horse’ at Chessington, and then later spotted the more usual ‘North Star’ at Hook. The Hook Road crossing is unlovely, though the 465 takes a less travelled route through Surbiton: as a small bus it is able to go down Surbiton High Street, which today seemed very busy. We stopped by the ‘Surbiton Flyer’ pub, whose continued existence is presumably guaranteed by having a position both on the High Street and close to the station as its sign implies.  The ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ colours are a far cry from South West trains but I expect the sign painter was allowed some artistic licence. Surbiton Station itself is Grade II listed and had surely been re-whitewashed since we were last here, today looking gleaming and pristine?

The run into Kingston is quite familiar and I had already put down my pen when I realised we had deviated off the Kingston University approach and taken the older riverside and High Street approach into central Kingston, one of the few buses to do so. This approach crosses the Hogsmill River over the lovely old Clattern Bridge just before it joins the Thames (the Mole doing so closer to Hampton Court), and the 465 disgorges most of its passengers close the Shopping Centre – we wished our Dorking acquaintance good luck with her grandparental shopping and passed on more slowly, seeing on the way ‘Bo Concept’ which I took to be a trendy bar but was told is high concept Danish design furniture. A mere bus station may come as something of an anti-climax after that but not the lovely Cromwell Road, where we has an altogether reasonable wait for our key bus.

The 465 is one of our last routes to transit or start in Kingston and in fact it had only taken an hour to get us from the North Downs of Surrey to bustling Kingston.

Meeting the 465 in Zig Zag lane  

          

The Number 464 Route

New Addington Parkway to Tatsfield (The Ship)

Wednesday March 28^th 2012

This was very much the middle route and poor relation of our journey today, coming as it did between the lengthy 314 that had brought us to outer Croydon and the 320 which was to take us back from a country trip to inner London Catford. It was also a short and infrequent route – only 2 an hour.

However, luck was on our side and having left the long haul 314 at New Addington Parkway we had only a few minutes to wait. This route took the quickest way out of New Addington, heading rapidly downhill past more housing (very few flats round here) and a scattering of children’s play areas. Again we were enjoying unseasonably warm Spring weather – a perfect day for a trip to the country.

We came out along Homestead Way which, with King Henry’s Drive, brackets the New Addington estate, then leaving all other routes and dwellings behind headed down and up two significant hills, Jewels Hill and Saltbox Hill. The road is the North Downs equivalent of single lane hairpin bends so there was something of a ruck when our driver encountered someone coming up the hill in the middle of the road, and gave him a polite piece of his mind. I don’t know if it is an accident prone drive but there have been spills before.

Notwithstanding the steady traffic nature prevails and from the cleaner side of the bus we had some excellent views over both natural grassland and more cultivated land. Today there seemed to be a 'cone crop'? 

Not surprisingly there are no bus stops along here.

As we reached the crest and the main road we just glimpsed the airport, better served by the 246 and 320 routes and a road sign offering us either Westerham (no) or Biggin Hill – yes. Biggin Hill is now a small airport on the former RAF site famed for its role in the Battle of Britain and still hosting its annual air show.

Biggin Hill village is a mixture of the older properties, which would have been part of the original settlement, the homes built to house airmen and other staff and more modern commuter homes. We had been pretty much on our own but by the Post Office a group of men got on for the rest of the ride. After a steep down along Stock Hill the 464 heads on alone up Ricketts Hill, which was so steep our ears popped. This very picturesque part of the trip was leafy, and in the sun actively going green (the leaves I mean, not us) but with significant properties set well back from the road. The road had a little verge with a trodden path rather than a proper pavement.

Tatsfield Green  (and by now you know my views on this overused description) was all that you might wish from a classic village green – pond with ducks, historic horse trough, village store, upmarket restaurant and pub grub. There was a bus shelter too but we did not need this. Our driver said he would be returning in 10 minutes so we used the time for a short stroll and taking, for once, some more presentable photos of this our final destination for the short and very sweet 464 – the advertised trip of 22 minutes had taken only 18 and the contrast between the large council estate we had left from and our finishing point was extreme.   

Their website refers to Tatsfield as the ‘island in the sky’ and also resolved Mary’s and my dispute as to whether this was Kent or Surrey, with Biggin Hill still firmly in Bromley Borough. We decided against a downhill scramble to get to the Biggin Hill Valley and our driver was happy to let us off at what he called the first stop for the 320.

The Number 463 Route

South Coulsdon Station to Pollards Hill

Monday November 12^th 2012.

This was a long and disorientating journey involving quite a few near loops (think snake eating its own tail) and several climbs up into the hills, from where there should have been superb views over firstly the Chipstead valley and then across the Wandle Valley, though in the event it was really gloomy.

We had walked along Coulsdon High Street, using its shiny aluminium public convenience – presumably installed when the High Street was rehabilitated. This was formerly the A23, a major through route to Gatwick and Brighton, but since the by-pass it has reverted to being a High Street with some independent shops trying to survive and make an impact.

We had also noted the Blue Plaque for Gordon Pirie, who won Olympic Silver in Melbourne in the Fifties being part of the still thriving South London Harriers based here. Coulsdon is also the base for Jane's Information Group,  publishers of those strange books which tell you all about military capabilities.

The route actually started opposite Coulsdon South Station, which has also had a bit of a makeover. Our bus proved to be not just a single-decker but also single door.  Most sensible people got on at Coulsdon Town Station which I learn was renamed in 2011, having previously been Smitham as part of this valley floor was known as Smitham or even Smitham Bottom. Coulsdon is obviously considered more decorous.

It is at this point that the route 463 starts climbing up into the hills, all now quite densely covered in housing, whose building would have followed the establishment of the two railway lines. The hills are actually quite steep with houses on one side of the road below pavement level while those on the other are up steps.  The houses are unremarkable and much of this stretch is ‘Hail & Ride’, but with people clustered at ‘virtual’ bus stops.

Further up the hill, where the properties tend to be larger, we passed through Woodmansterne and Upper Woodcote Village, which seems to be a totally ‘created’ village built by a local estate agent . I don’t suppose he thought about the transport links too closely and even now the 463 is the only bus route here. 

Following a further Hail & Ride section we returned to ‘civilisation’ or more accurately 21^st century urban living – Wallington Girls’ School, traffic jams caused by road works, another busy High Street (Wallington) with some actual shops and a Sainsbury’s supermarket. The bus diverts into the station forecourt where the drivers changed and we chugged off for the hugely contrasting second part of our trip. From this point the bus was much busier.

Wallington and Beddington are some of Surrey’s former finger parishes – as you can see from this old map, so called because of their shape. The cattle grazed on the chalk hillsides while the arable crops and then buildings went up on the clay down by the water supply. 

This brings me to Beddington Farmlands . Where there is water there can be flooding and where there is flooding often marshes. Though called the Beddington Farmlands they are in fact Sludge Beds (or sewage filtration systems) around which a large industrial estate has gown up.  All is not bad as they seem to attract a variety of birds!!

Seemingly less attractive to buses than birds – we were the only bus serving the estate and calling at the huge Asda which is its only retail outlet – the other establishments being very much warehousing (Carlsberg for example), car auctions, a depot for the Post Office vans and a Caribbean Shipping Company, plus a large electricity switching station.  Jo reminded me that UK based Caribbean residents like to send stuff home in the traditional barrels (though in fact they are not barrels any more) but it sounds better than sending parcels or packing crates. In amongst this density of warehouses and units was the tiny Little Cottage café, which looked like one of the few places to offer refreshment to the local workforce. This bus route keeps very much to the less popular side of  Beddington – had we pushed on through we would have arrived at the more popular face of this area, namely IKEA and the adjacent cinema and retail complex.

But no, once we had finished with the ins and outs of this area (including travelling alongside the Tramroute 4 which finishes at Therapia Lane) we were to emerge from Beddington and just cross the bottom bit of Mitcham Common.  This triggered an interesting conversation amongst some fellow passengers, one of whom had anecdotes about the all too short history of Croydon Athletic FC, which has its ground near here. The crucial point was that once the club’s assets were no more the players walked.  He also remarked on the unfortunate racist tendencies of some members of the previous fan base.   

Lunchtime was getting close and Jo pointed at the bus map – just round the corner to Pollards Hill, she said. This proved to be true but only in the broadest sense, as the 463 follows another convoluted path passing Mitcham Eastfields Station then through different parts of Pollards Hill, which regrettably is something of a no man’s land between Mitcham and Streatham. It also passes Streatham Park Cemetery, which appears to be a private enterprise.

Pollards Hill does have a shiny new (2007) Harris Academy, part of the larger South London Harris Federation. Pollards Hill offers a range of (it has to be said more useful) buses, and we were able to get ourselves home to warming soup and rolls before hypothermia set in.

This really was a journey of many parts, from near rural village Surrey through the sludge badlands to inner London dense housing, which took us well over the hour. 

The Number 462 Route

Wednesday 12 December 2012

 For the first time for many weeks we were heading off to the east.  It was really, really cold as Linda and I met at Grange Hill Station to walk down the very slippery pavements to The Lowe in Hainault, where today's bus sets off for Ilford.  As we checked at a bus stop a nice lady told us this was the place for the 462, but we explained we had to get to the head stop:  she seemed bemused.  


We passed the library.  All libraries, from THE British Library downwards, are having to grapple with the question of what they are for, now actual books aren't the main way of researching, reading, skimming, etc etc.  This one clearly offers much electronic access as well.  We also passed the war memorial, which still had its poppies, and commemorates both men and women and also both World Wars and more recent conflicts.  We concluded that it was fairly recent, and indeed it dates from 2010.

We were onto our single decker at 10.40, and it looped round a little to serve the local houses before heading back the way we had walked, along Manford Road and past Grange Hill Station.


The pampas grass (of which there was much) was crisp with frost and looked rather good on the green verges.  We swept down and round a housing area, realising that Grange Hill had actually been on a hill, and admiring the footbridge over our road.  Then we were back where we had started, passing the Police Station (or police base or whatever they have now).

Here at last we began to collect lots of passengers, heading for Ilford's shops, we guessed.  We came through Fullwell Cross, with its remarkable concrete library and swimming pool complex, and then we were straight into Barkingside.  We liked 'Catwalk' as a name for a pet shop, and also noticed that the Percy Ingle Bakery, East London's traditional family bakery, had been established in 1954 which, even for us, seems a good long time ago.  Linda enjoys bread shops, so we were pleased also to see 'Cakes and Bakes', a newcomer of the genre.

We came to the Dr Johnson Pub.  It is all shuttered and derelict, despite (or perhaps because of) being a listed building and appears to be attracting squatters now.  I'm not sure why this Lichfield man should have been commemorated in a 1938 Essex pub.

As we headed on towards Ilford, we liked the plasterwork swags and tassels on the semis, and then we turned left to face towards the tall YMCA building which identifies Ilford for us.  We came past Gants Hill Station, noting that the central reservation of the road was looking a bit depressed compared to its brightness when we have passed this way in Spring.

 

We were again in residential areas, with some substantial properties and other more modest homes.  Linda said she had always longed for a house with a green roof:  there used to be a number in North West London, but we admired this handsome example.

Coming past Valentine's Park, we were still picking up passengers, but we were nearly at the end.  We noted that Redbridge has a Diabetes Eye Screening Service with a shop as its base: no need to remind people living with the condition how important screening is.

And then we were past Ilford Station, and heading towards the large Sainsbury's, where our bus arrived at 11.20, having taken only slightly longer than the stated time.  For once we did not mind being in a bus with only one door:  reduced loading rate at bus stops more than compensated for by comparative snugness on the wintry day.

The Number 461 Route (not)

Firstly to establish where this route number might lurk – quite simply in Kingston, which is a place we know well. However it is not operated by Transport for London and is thus not part of our remit – it comes from St Peter’s Hospital Ottershaw into Kingston on quite a regular basis, doubtless offering handy train links to London for Surrey dwellers. 

Passing the Gold post box on our previous route, which called in at the Roundshaw estate, made me think of TFL’s current campaign, as seen on their Journey Planner website, which is ‘Please make space on the bus – wheelchair users only have one safe area’.  We find bus drivers both courteous and aware of the less abled bus passengers; most of course do not need the full lowered ramp/wheelchair spaces, which now seem to be standard issue on most bus models. A far greater number of passengers are just slow or unsteady on their feet, frail or unsure and dependent on sticks or other walking aids. Many disabilities are hidden and where communication is an issue the Freedom Pass ‘speaks volumes’ – the in-bus announcements cater for both visual and hearing losses. The bus driver who has personal contact with all his passengers has to weigh up the ‘health and safety issues’ each time a vulnerable passenger boards and this, on the whole, they do very well. On the whole the more able passengers look out for the less abled fellow travellers and those who do not wish to do so tend to disappear upstairs.

On the tube it is a very different matter. Eyes fixed to their phones, train travellers studiously avoid giving up their seats for anyone – pregnant, with sticks, frail or not. Boarding a train can be a scrum. An account of a journey I heard recently in a changing room is an example of this. The passenger, who has a lower limb weakness due to a childhood illness (this is not necessarily noticeable, but that’s not the point), needs to grasp the upright handle by the carriage door in order to get in safely. Another commuter who perceived this as ‘pushing in front’ knocked her arm away with the result that the passenger fell between the train and the platform. We are talking Southern Region here and Clapham Junction where the gaps can be about 50 cm both in height and width between carriage and platform. Unable to free herself she needed to ask for help to be pulled free – her ‘assailant’ moved on without an apology.

This event could have ended very differently (New York commuter anyone?) so perhaps we need train users to be more like bus passengers?

The Number 460 Route

Willesden Bus Garage  to North Finchley
Monday March 30^th  2009

NOTE: Well, well we rode this route in the innocent first month of the Project and took it after riding the Number 6 to Willesden Green. However, we had clearly run out of energy/battery or something as we only have two photos from that day. Looking at the map I see the 460 is far from an unique route so I have cannibalised photos from its fellow travellers – the 210, 221, 226, 240, 245, 260, 263, 266, 328, 382 many of which cross at Golders Green Bus Station. Thank goodness for the search function on the computer.

Our previous journey (the estimable Number 6) left us outside Willesden Bus garage: no need to move, so we boarded a double-decker 460 – three of us occupying the front top. We had already admired some very up-to-date local health centres and the bus wove its way into Willesden Green with its shops, Jubilee line and library all still intact (and very familiar to some of the family who live just off this route). Leaving their home patch behind we trundled on to Cricklewood, where somewhat strangely Middlesex Uni seems to have some halls of residence. We crossed the Hendon Way aka A41 and familiar access to the M1, and so into Golders Green, scene of my childhood and adolescence, noting the not insignificant changes since 1971: the iconic (sorry) Ionic cinema* – it had an excellent ionic portico, hence the name – is now a Sainsbury’s and the early coffee bar that was the Wimpy now a Hi Sushi (sic)… 

On up the Finchley Road past Hoop Lane on the right, giving access to both   (cemetery ) and crematorium and family plots.  We note the good residents of the  Hampstead Garden Suburb only permit the smallest of hopper buses to cover their home patch.

The bus continues in a more or less straight line north through  Temple Fortune, Dollis Park and eventually Finchley, sort of following the ‘other ‘ branch of the Northern Line. Most of the roads back from Ballards Lane etc looked comfortable enough and we remembered this was Mrs Thatcher’s constituency until she was deposed as leader and stood down – do we blame Finchley for her legacy ?

 The bus station seemed to be in some kind of one way system of soulless office blocks and though called Tally-Ho Corner seemed to have neither tally ho nor toilets, so we immediately boarded our next number (134) back into town…

Though slightly difficult to tell from the top deck this looked like a local shoppers and short hop bus, rather than a commuter or business bus.   

*Built 1907 demolished 1975; you will find a nice image at www.barnetimagebank.co.uk:just 'enter the database' and search for 'Ionic'.

The Phoenix Cinema at Finchley 

Finchley Housing 

 PS Barnet Council Offices, now presumably redundant as services have been sent 'north'.