The Number 4 Route

Thursday 11 October 2018

North of the river at last, and I get a turn to post!  Linda was not with us the first time (she was in paid employment back then in March 2009)  Instead, the journey was made with other family members, including four ninths of Nicholas.  Perhaps that is why he is still interested in London buses.

At Archway, we had only a few minutes to wait, though they were anxious minutes, because the bus stop said 'towards Highgate Village, Tufnell Park or Crouch End', none of which appeared to be on the way to Waterloo.  But we stepped bravely on board at 10.20, expecting (well, hoping for) a 76 minute journey, and at first went anywhere but south:  past the Whittington hospital (where I confessed to Linda that I had at first been puzzled by the cat images.  Do you think you could hear the bells of Bow Church from here, even if they were suggesting you should turn again?  Then we went along Dartmouth Park Road, and Tufnell Park Road to reach the Seven Sisters Road, heading east.  We passed what appeared to be a church, and indeed is, called The House on the Rock (see Matthew Ch 7 vv24-27 for explanation).  A whole block along here was once called 'The Drapery' though it is now many different shops, only one, Kiswah Textiles, being a drapery type business.  We noted that the new builds going up here are to be called 'The Cotton Works' so the industrial past will still have a trace here, in the 'just 22 one-bedroom apartments' promised.

Now, at last, we came to Finsbury Park Interchange, as the bus station is now called, with a TfL clock not telling the right time, and of course the Arsenal shop.  And we turned clearly south.


We knew we were near some football ground or other, because there were lots of pubs.  Not quite all of them were named for the Gunners.  We assumed that away supporters might drink at The Bank of Friendship

There were other interesting shop names as well: we liked the thought of 'Salvation in Noodles', Linda suggesting that it was to do with comfort food, and a coffee shop called Blighty.  Icarus Organic Supplements also caught the eye.  I suppose with the right supplements one could reach the sun with wax wings?

 Our road now went uphill and, as always, the houses became more handsome and substantial.

Islington does not have many parks, Victoria Park being a Hackney space, so we enjoyed Aberdeen Park.  We noticed that Highbury Grove School has a Special School called Samuel Rhodes School attached to it, but, unless Samuel Rhodes is a viola player, I can't find out how he merits getting his name on a school

 The entertaining shop names continued, with Cobblers and Vapes' appearing to refer to the twin functions of the shop, rather than being a value judgement.  We also liked 'Hairssentials, and the fishmonger and restaurant 'Prawn on the Lawn', which tells you we were getting to Islington Green. The Dead Dolls House seems a strange name for a 'venue' and restaurant:  all I can find is that they used to be in Hoxton. Nuff said.

Then we came to the Almeida Theatre, and St Mary's Church, and finally to Angel, an hour after leaving Archway.  We can see why people in a hurry take the Northern Line, which would take about 10 minutes to here.

 

 The Co-op bank on the corner deserves a quick mention.  It was once the Lyons Corner House, which is/was one of the named properties on the Monopoly board.  They have a modest sign to that effect inside, if you are ever passing.

We were somewhat depressed by the very slow traffic along the City Road, but happily we turned right to pass the Dogs Trust, and head down Goswell Road to the Barbican.  We noted that the Indian Visa Service has an office along here, rather than the High Commission . building at Aldwych.  We also passed the Italia Conti Drama School, and then the Museum of London, which is due to move from its traffic island, perhaps to somewhere with better cycle parking.

 The monstrous New Change Building is where the couple who had also got on at Archway alighted, we thought probably to visit St Pauls. We doggedly remained on board, to reach Finsbury Circus, where I muttered about motor cyclists making use of the tiny bicycle lane.

 Along Fleet Street the traffic was again slow, so we had time to note the former newspaper headquarters along here,

 

before passing the Churches of St Clement Danes (with RAF statues) and St Mary in Strand, which needed the services of a good window cleaner, and coming to the Royal Courts of Justice

 and crossed Waterloo Bridge.  With impressive self control, I am not mentioning the barriers.

Last time we passed the Imax, it was advertising Heinz Salad Cream, but it's now TalkTalk.  

And finally, we reached the bus stop near the Old Vic where this looping and wandering route terminates. We had taken more than 90 minutes to visit various interesting, familiar and not-so-familiar areas of North East London.  We shall be much further east next week.
 

The NUMBER 3 Route

Trafalgar Square to Crystal Palace

Thursday October 4 2018

The last time we did - this - the route started/finished at Oxford Circus, where it might have been easier to track down. Possibly some-one is beginning to evict a few routes from Oxford Circus with the intentions of going pedestrian only?  We had been slightly cavalier in our approach, coming as we did from Holborn (long story here) but it is no hardship to cross one of the few open plazas London has – there were more tourists than pigeons which can only be a good thing. TFL seemed to be contradicting itself with one source telling me the bus started by Charing Cross/Trafalgar Square though actually more credibly described as at the end of Whitehall. The bus was about to go and set off so fast and jerkily we missed photographing many of this road’s more famous sights. Sadly for the blog (and visitors to London) both Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are under, what the Russians always called their running repairs ‘under remont’ or в ремонте. it was also misty hence the ubiquitous grey..

We wizzed past the two memorials – the plain Cenotaph rather more gracious than the Women’s black plinth where the figures look like a cross between lynchings and dolls hung out to wash, but then I have not been close up. Though not the height of the tourist season there were very long queues for Westminster Abbey We had been lucky enough to have something of a preview of the Triforium,  which is now officially open.  For a quieter visitor experience the Jewel Tower opposite is interesting too.

Now that the rest of London is pretty much swamped with places to eat or ‘grab a bite’ it was quite refreshing to pass through this area which has so few commercial outlets. Essentially the number 3 parallels the river visible through the trees of the Victoria Tower Gardens and the barely glimpsed Buxton Memorial Fountain – a memorial to one of the founders of the anti-slavery movement.

The Number 3 is one of the few crossing Lambeth Bridge  giving us a clue as to where we were heading. The slightly mysterious building at the north end was also в ремонте but Mr Tradescant’s pineapples still top the end pillars of this modest bridge which crosses to Lambeth Palace and another refurbished museum – that of Garden History

. The advantages of travelling on the top deck include glimpsing some low buildings which I thought might be almshouses , but am struggling to identify. Jo was more interested to see why two bus stops had been suppressed – because of road works which seemed to indicate they (?) were adding two more islands for pedestrians – which must be a good thing. Jo enjoyed the strapline ‘Hire 4 Lower’ spotted under the railway bridge.

At this point an inspector joined us – perhaps because as we were riding one of those unlovely new Roastmasters there are several places to board and thus more scope to avoid paying ?

Passing the former site of Vauxhall Manor school reminded me how few of the old secondary schools remain. Michael Rosen makes several valid points here but I also think modern education benefits from being in sleeker premises which are more tech friendly.   

By now we had turned right and were heading down to Kennington – never a lovely road junction and again with an evangelist as part traffic island, this time St Mark. The park opposite looks pleasing enough but is not what you would call a ‘destination park’

There is also an impressively large hole in the ground fronting an equally large gap in the buildings through which we could glimpse the old gas holders at the Oval but not sure what to expect the fill the gap (better than minding the gap).

Just round the corner in the Brixton Road the drivers changed and the somewhat jerky first part of the journey was replaced by a much smoother style.  While we were waiting I noticed a postcard sized sign indicating the National Theatre Costume hire was somewhere round here. You would need to know. 

The Brixton Road was in good form with alternate swathes of fine late Georgian houses opposite the extensive Cowley Estate which interestingly has broken away from Lambeth Council to form its own management committee.  Other random touches we noted were: Amazing Grace: African Textiles, the North Brixton Cultural Islamic Centre and the Bay Tree Centre which claimed to be ‘Changing Aspirations into Realities’. The Jamm offers diverse music including 'the Alice band , which we liked.  Most cheerfully the route passes one of Brixton’s murals – Children at Play by Stephen Pusey on the back of the O2. Quite by chance I had picked up TFLs 'Brixton Mural Map' which is published as part of TFLs Art on the Underground Project, which a pedant might note is a slight misnomer for house-high paintings..

After this the mainstream outlets round Brixton Station seemed very mundane and I can report there was no graffiti visible from this side of the bridge (see the No 2 last week).  And so on down past the Ritzy, access to which is via an oddly ‘ritzy’? pedestrian crossing, then St Matthew again, after which the Number 3 turns left down more residential streets to Herne Hill and Poets Corner, an area which has gentrified beyond belief in the last twenty years or so.. Having the nearby Brockwell Lido and Park certainly tempted people down here.

Once past Herne Hill station in case you missed it EVERY lamppost and tall structure is hung with a different, very tasteful poster invoking the charms/spirit or whatever of the area: this continues the length of the Croxted, then South Croxted roads where the No 3 is more or less the sole route.

While we admired some of South London’s most cherished (in all senses) Edwardian houses and villas, each with their gardens, and Herne Hill gave way to West Dulwich (their banners were art rather than images of the area) we mused on CROXTED which does not seem to exist as a destination, nor can I find a Mr Croxted after whom it might have been named (it would not of course have been Mrs Croxted who was certainly written out of history). The frantic bannering , we thought. might be down to Lambeth feeling that Southwark’s East Dulwich had got above itself?

However we did discover that Leonora Tyson (born Wolff), after whom a side turning has been named, had been a suffragette fervent enough to have experienced both prison and force feeding. She did have some local links.

Once past the Gypsy Hill roundabout, where there is a very quaint but cosy looking bus shelter, the bus heads steeply uphill not stopping very often, until the Crystal Palace transmitter becomes visible.

From Crystal Palace Parade I pointed Jo downhill to the station (she did find her way home). We had boarded at 12.15 and got off just after the hour for a route that offers key London landmarks and the slightly less contrasting faces than they used to be of  South London’s Lambeth.

The NUMBER 2 Route

West Norwood Bus Garage to Marylebone Station  

Thursday September  27  2018

Jo was a little anxious that as I was blogging three routes on the trot people (our followers) might think she was dead. Far from it – she may shortly be due an upgraded eye but it just so happens that I had not ridden the original 2009 numbers 1-4 and was keen to rectify this, but she is raring to go.

As was the Number 2 – we barely had time to swop cameras for pens and board the frequent service that starts just outside the bus garage. Jo remembers being quite worried about where she might land up when she first rode this route alone as for North Londoners it does seem quite remote. It starts uphill and from the top deck there is a good view of the various taller London buildings we have acquired over the last years. It also passes close to St Luke’s church, the first of the Evangelists (2/4 today) which now forms something of a traffic island just opposite West Norwood cemetery. Counting as one of the Big Seven the latter is well worth a visit. I see the tour includes some catacombs – the ultimate in spooky experiences.

The inward bound route was much busier than our earlier 68 including a mother and daughter going quite a long way. This southern approach to Brixton has smartened up somewhat since we were last round this way – evidence of gentrification included Brockwell Blend. From this route, as opposed  to routes 3 and 68, it is not obvious that Brockwell Park is nearby as both sides of the road are well built up – the extensive Tulse Hill Estate and  its opposite numbers  masking the access to the park.  Considering they date from 1939 in the sunshine the flats were looking quite sprightly and quiet. The run in to Brixton itself passes the second Evangelist (or the first if you are blessing the bed you lie on) Church, whose clock we found less legible. Developers were taking advantage of the venue Brixton Electric to build some flats called Eclectic Electric. Considering the  large numbers of routes that come through Brixton  we transited  fairly fast – Jo spotted some graffiti (sadly itself graffittied)  on the railway bridge which  told us:  Clapham that way< you 2D Flat White Tepid Colonialist Yuppy, which tells you how the area continues to change.. .

We headed left towards Stockwell and again much had changed – previously the Portuguese pastry shops had taken over from the old second hand car dealerships, now many of these had in turn been displaced , even demolished, in favour of new blocks as can be seen adjacent to the skateboard park which won a reprieve, and  is promised a repair courtesy of the developer building the overlooking ‘luxury’ flats.

We made good progress to Stockwell and its war memorial roundabout – looking distinctly shabby was the memorial to Violette Szabo with the colourful murals peeling somewhat.

We enjoyed the stretch to Vauxhall – many of the older houses are still intact and well maintained and it is easy to see why parts of it are in a conservation area.

We were a bit puzzled by the bus stop named Tate Library (does the Museum keep its books separate from its artworks?) but this in fact refers to  a small Victorian local library named for the man who made his money from sugar courtesy of his slaves..

As we approached Vauxhall  the buildings get taller and more modern, including some that look as though they are clad with random Lego bricks – nasty we agreed – not that we dislike Lego but we’d  rather not have something similar on a building. Still we were cheered by the site of Vauxhall Bus Station where pedestrians and  buses are kept well in order under a wavy canopy – this building in turn is mocked by many but at least it is more cheerful than the gloom that is Vauxhall railway station  which is dark and muddling without the cheerful bustle of Clapham Junction.

We crossed the river with the tide so far out the mud flats looked like a  beach.  The little girl passenger got quite excited and said ‘Mummy, there’s a big river.’ Indeed. Once over I always feel Pimlico lacks  personality , at least the bit you cover between the bridge and Victoria Station , perhaps because the buildings date from so many eras, though of course that is usual in London. The once black-only London cabs were lined up thus exemplifying ‘cab ranking’ in its truest form.

Talking of lack of cohesion, approaching Victoria from this way you are faced with a perplexing jumble of new builds where clearly no one took an overview: there is a red wedge-shaped thing alongside a greeny glasshouse , and they both tower over  some small Edwardian era red bricks  just across the road from the theatre where ‘Wicked’ is still running. In contrast to this the exterior of Victoria station appears self-contained.

Passing Grosvenor Place and the small gardens we could see it was nearly lunchtime by the number of people enjoying the sun ... and their lunches. Lunch al fresco in a London green space always strikes me as truly democratic as your hard-hatted  builders are just as likely to be  relaxing as the  junior bankers. Jo couldn’t resist pointing out the Queen’s trees to our other passengers, which is just about all you can see of Buckingham Palace gardens even from the top deck.

There is building too at Hyde Park Corner - another  Grand Hotel . We did not remember our visit to No 1 London  (the Dukes of Wellington residence) with great fondness as we found it a dark and rather fossilised  experience.

Park Lane, in spite of its bucolic name, is really rather a heavy duty road, so we only just glimpsed the several memorials along here – the rather over ornate Queen Mother gates, the by contrast nicely simple 7/7 posts, and then the Animals at war. More building at Marble Arch – a whole corner is under construction.

This route barely trifles with Oxford Street before heading down Gloucester Place – the houses round here are most attractive so it is not surprising that there was at least one blue plaque to be spotted. More arresting was a yellow diversion sign but the Number 2 kept to its course and turned left to leave us by Marylebone Station. Such faded grandeur I always think: dignified, still functioning, quietly getting on with being a station and not shouting about it like King’s Cross.

Our trip from modest outer SE London to costly Marylebone had taken 75 minutes.

PS This is a far cry from my ‘school bus’ 2A which did the Marylebone to Finchley bit….