The Number 388 Route

Hackney Wick to Embankment Station

(Friday October 8^th 2010)

Thursday September 20th 2012

 All good things come to those who wait!  We were originally supposed to ride this route having got off our earlier Route 236 (the day also involved a 106 but I won’t get boring) but when we arrived at the bus stop we were informed by drivers from other companies that the 388 drivers were on a 1-day Friday strike so we made, as they say, alternative arrangements.  

So nearly two years later we arrived at Hackney Wick Station (well endowed with ramps) and strolled round a couple of corners to find a brace of waiting 388s. Hackney Wick suffers somewhat from the overbearing Westway Road and a lot of industrial units but some passing Olympic games had given the area a confident, tidy and friendly feel. 

(Unfortunately a previous encounter with a fireworks display over the River Rhine had left the camera in a mood expecting darkness so the photos from the first part of the trip are not usable. Apologies. You will have to manage with my limpid prose.)

From Hackney Wick the 388 takes a route along the north-west boundary of Victoria Park – I know we are supposed to love the ‘people’s park’ here but I found the security surrounding the big-screen Live Venue during the Olympics both unfriendly and overly stringent – they banned all food except chocolate bars and packets of crisps (?!). Perhaps the ever more gentrified locals in those large homes opposite the park did not welcome the ticketless wandering by. In amongst the large houses are some with dramatic art works on the end of terraces.This one courtesy of Flicker – and apparently covering a vandalised Banksy.

While the residential homes are a rather greying London Stock the old Cardinal Pole School building is a defiant red – thanks to Hackney’s schools building programme they have just moved into new premises but seemingly have not changed names. Cardinal Pole with his policy of burning the opposition (in his view heretical Protestants) would not be anyone’s role model of choice – unless you are Queen Mary of course. Having previously been the only  bus route, we joined several others as we turned into the start of Mare Street and thus Cambridge Heath Road, even rather nostalgically running into the Number 8. Though the three of us had the top deck to ourselves for the entire route downstairs became busier from here on.   

We crossed over the Regents Canal, much more famous and photographed at its Little Venice and London Zoo end but also being spruced up here.

The rather fine former Town Hall for Bethnal Green, which has amongst its stone decorative sculpture the original Blind Beggar, is now an achingly trendy boutique hotel with attached restaurant – if you enjoy less than flattering foodie reviews stop here – otherwise there are more interesting things to keep you in Bethnal Green (and this route passes them) such as the Museum of Childhood and the rather decorative Salmon & Ball pub. Also spare a thought for the 172 persons who perished in the air raid disaster.

As the only bus project member who enjoys shopping I was interested to see Box City, described here as “the worlds first pop-up mall,” though when all is said done the chains still dominate – however, the setting is quite intimate and who knew a steel container could look so smart?

This was as we came through trendy Spitalfields to Shoreditch High Street, trendiness being about to give way to the more sober City of London as we crossed the city boundaries, marked as ever by the red/white bollards and upstanding dragons. The City of London shield is very recognisable mainly due to its simplicity, or perhaps I am just over familiar with it as a City of London School blazer, complete with crest, hung around at home for a few years.

All the buildings in the City are densely packed which makes the contrasts between old and new even more intense.  The former included St Botolph without Bishopsgate, which is not to be confused with the nearby St Botolph’s (I suppose it’s like how you get all those girls named Britney at one time and then none for years: when did you last meet a Botolph and then two come along together?).  For examples of the newer along  the strangely named  Norton Folgate, the Broadgate on Bishopsgate  – we have been rude about RBS before so will forbear today.  We really do not like the multi-coloured steel sculpture that sits near the boundary – it is both too large and too small at the same time – in similar vein to the Orbit a few miles to the East but that at least has size on its side.

Old Liverpool Street is weighed down (and propped up) by newer buildings and down towards Threadneedle Street The Pinnacle struggles to make progress. In contrast to many towers that we have seen go up swiftly during our bus riding careers this one is very slow – Jo thought due to the work force being needed on more Olympic projects but my view is what the picture says – with so many empty offices to let who needs another 60 floors of them??      

The sights of the City come quicker than the bus stops – the Bank of England and Mansion House, the statues to Wellington and James Peabody, and then suddenly along Queen Victoria Street there is a HUGE hole covering a triangular wedge of ‘prime real estate’. The hard hats at work seemed to belong to McGee but that proves to be a demolition firm rather than a construction company so we are none the wiser.

Queen Victoria Street has a rather incoherent mixture of buildings ranging from the College of Arms (should you wish to become Lord Muck of the Recycling Bins they would design a shield for you) and the rather drab Baynard House, former home of BT and named for the old castle which used to stand here. The bus of course gives a good view of St Paul’s.

By this point we were closing in on the river and when we reached the shiny new Blackfriars Station (entrance complete but still awaiting the bridge shopping options) we could see both across to South London and along to the Eye. The bus has its own turning slot (against the flow of traffic) and comes to a halt close to the Blackfriars Pub for which station and bridge are named. The pub of course was named for the Dominican Priory monks being well know for their brewing skills

A robust trip, which takes you from outside the Olympic venues past the gentrified Victoria Park and the more down to earth Bethnal Green through Shoreditch and the heart of City to come to rest by Blackfriars.

PS Could the treat have continued? The maps (paper and online) show the 388 passing along the Victoria Embankment (where no other route goes) and coming to rest at Embankment Station but it clearly has a resting place where we got off??         

The Number 387 Route

Thursday 13 September 2012

Linda was on holiday, so it was Mary and I who boarded the 387 at Little Heath at 10.50, destination Barking Creekmouth.  We headed into the King George Hospital and then out again.  It was a double decker and we had, of course, headed upstairs, so we did not notice if many hospital patients and visitors boarded.  The route goes along Barley Lane and we noted signs saying 'Warning:  Obey Parking Restrictions, these are enforced'.  Mary's guess was that, parking in hospitals being so costly, residents were trying to prevent hospital users taking their spaces.  There were certainly a lot of cars parked along here, and we were the only bus for a while.

We came into Goodmayes and past the station, as well as the clock tower with bible messages at the road junction.  We also admired the tree-lined road, and the new build to be called 'Academy Central'.  Coming past the bus garage, we admired the spire of the Royal Oak pub, and Barking Park, though we were not close enough to see whether the travelling funfair was coming or going.  This brought us towards the middle of Barking, with the fish sculptures on the roundabout, reminding us that this area used to be a major fishing port (as we have  mentioned in previous posts).

Although there are rather too many closed shops in Barking, we were pleased to see the Gurkha Namaster restaurant, and the colourful new flats as we headed out of town.  The one way system meant we couldn't really see the Broadway Theatre, and the memorial to Job Drain VC, but we knew they were there, from earlier journeys.  And we did enjoy the views of the church across the green as we headed down towards the A13.  


And that's where things went rather wrong, or at least slowed to a standstill.  We came to serious traffic queues, both along the A 13 and in our road called, with unintentioned irony, Movers Road.

Large lorries trying to turn right off the main road and down to the Industrial and business areas of Barking Creekmouth blocked the roads and tried to slip cross on the red.  Our driver was very calm, and managed to avoid being hit by a pushy Bunzl Healthcare van, which had already annoyed me by boasting one of those stickers that read 'cyclists, beware of passing this vehicle on the inside' but don't add 'because it has a mad driver and the wrong kind of mirrors'.

Once we were over the main road, it became clear that the delay was because of serious resurfacing work along River Road, with police diverting traffic.  Having spent about 25 minutes getting past this blockage, we came to signs that suggested it might be to do with the second phase of the East London Transit Scheme, which made us feel better, as we approve of improvements to public transport.

Heading towards the end of our journey, we were impressed with the amount of new housing which has been built in this formerly industrial and warehousing area.  Council banners celebrated the attractions of the new stylish homes, riverside living, new primary school and excellent transport links, which seemed to mean the 387 bus.  We hope that they will provide shops and restaurants soon.  

We reached the end of the route at 11.55.  When I offered the driver a card, he said that he had seen us on the TV.  Fame!  now I know how celebrities feel.  Though they probably don't usually get off the bus to be followed by the charming driver waving a dropped Freedom Pass.

We had had a sunny and entertaining journey, despite the traffic hold up, and travelled back a few stops on the same bus, with no delays going North for some reason, to reach Barking Station.

The Number 386 Route

Blackheath (Tranquil Vale) to Woolwich (Hare Street)

Thursday August 11^th 2011

The August outbreak of rioting and looting, which started in Tottenham and then spread, is what had been happening at the beginning of the week we rode this route, just to tell you how long ago that was.

We had arrived at the Blackheath Standard and taken a stroll across Blackheath, normally a very pleasant event but today there was some intermittent nasty and slanting rain.  We peered into Blackheath Station hoping to locate a bus (silly I know) and then tracked it down at the first stop outside the Crown, which as its little plaque told us is one of the oldest buildings in Blackheath and used to be a stopping place for post coaches before they drove on into London. There was stabling at the back. Our eyes were also caught by the rather lovely frontage, that is the Mary Evans Picture Library. Only Jo (today we had Sue G along while Mary was in Wales) had heard of this formidable resource but we also admired the very pretty building, where it is housed.

The bus strikes out straight across the heath, along Wat Tyler way as it happens, which made me reflect what an achievement it had been for Wat and other leaders to gather so many ‘peasants’ together in one spot without the benefit of Blackberrys, as this week’s less politically motivated rioters had done. No telephones/telegrams or cars and yet they assembled.

The heath was fairly empty today with the weather so unpredictable, but there was one little girl wheeling into the wind in airplane mode and one parent struggling unsuccessfully with a kite and this seemed as typical of heath users at any time.  The other benefit (less so from a single decker) is the superb views particularly over to Canary Wharf.

As you bear left and down the hill the views get less spectacular and at the bottom of Blackheath Hill it was interesting to note that the Lethbridge Close estate had not only been demolished but was halfway to a rebuild. Still we were not destined to enter Lewisham borough today but started heading east along Greenwich South Street, whose very fine houses and almshouses are somewhat blighted by the density of the traffic. By now we were 1 of 4 bus routes running this way.  This remains true for all of central Greenwich through which we passed extremely swiftly today (tourists put off by riots?). The sign for the old Cigar factory added an exotic note – Carmen of Greenwich perhaps?

As this was holiday time the University was quiet, but some of the Maritime Museum’s exhibits seemed to have wandered across the road with two D-day vehicles parked up by the dining hall.

Once through Greenwich the bus does not disappoint and manages to find quite an engaging if circuitous route to nearby Woolwich by dint of flyng over the motorway approach to the Blackwall tunnel and skirting both Charlton and Vanbrugh, but offering a comprehensive service to the solid Kidbrooke Park Estate  – at the start of the trip there had been mainly female passengers but from here on there was a busy bunch of diverse shoppers.

The other key destination, once we had crossed Shooters Hill, was the Queen Elizabeth Hospital – a rather squat new building so hard to photograph, but patients struggled off and on the bus, some sporting their new leg braces and other orthopaedic supports.

The building site opposite the hospital is apparently destined for the due for re-location Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery so next time we pass this way (and by the time you read this) there may be pretty horses pulling guns along Woolwich Common.

The other building site was just round the corner and clearly will be the stands for the Woolwich part of the Olympics. ( I shall be sorry to see this one go – it was like being offered an iced cake studded with Smarties) 

After all these excitements anything else was to be an anti-climax so down the hill we headed –any trip round this way will inevitably finish in Woolwich either in the middle or alongside the river, having been re-routed briefly due to another huge building going up in Woolwich Town centre.

On exiting the bus the most noticeable thing was the acrid smell due to a large corner plot that had been a victim of the arson wing of the rioters – not a great addition to Woolwich.

Today we were heading even closer to the river to take the FREE Ferry to North Woolwich for our onward journey to the real Olympic hub of Stratford – but that’s a tale for another year. Sue, who used to work in Woolwich guided us ably to our Thameside departure point. 

We had enjoyed this quiet little bus, which busied itself delivering shoppers and passengers from the more remote corners of Blackheath to shopping or heath hubs.  

NB A year on and so much has changed – the centre of Woolwich spruced up and waiting now for Crossrail,  the Olympic Shooting Venue built and used, Greenwich now a Royal Borough, having hosted two Equestrian events.  Let us hope these positive changes will be sustained and our somewhat blighted trip of 2010 remains a ‘snapshot’ in time. 

The Number 385 Route

Monday 2 July 2012 

Please don’t ask me whose fault it was that we missed this once an hour bus:  Linda and Mary were forgiving, at any rate, so it would be churlish to suggest that the TfL bus map was at fault.  With 57 minutes to fill, we had a sandwich in the cafe of the huge Crooked Billet (no relation to Penge’s as enjoyed on the 354) Sainsbury’s  and, refreshed, boarded the 13.00 bus, bound for Chingford Station.  We were surprised at the large Holiday Inn (views of Sainsbury’s car park,  the North Circular and the A112;  but people do need to stay somewhere on the way into and out of London)

We came out of the supermarket area, and passed the Walthamstow Stadium.  It is four years since there were any greyhound races there, and the planning row about developing the site seems to go on and on.  I should have thought English Heritage would want to maintain the handsome stadium, even if it were to be converted to community use of some kind.  Ian Duncan Smith, the local MP, appears to be against the development.

The large terrace houses along Chingford Mount Road had lovely plasterwork details in varying paint shades, and we also passed the Chingford Boarding Kennels, unusually town-centre compared to many such establishments. 

The next feature was the Chingford Memorial Gardens  and then we came to a couple of interestingly named pubs:  the King’s Ford which (strangely for a Wetherspoon’s pub) has no explanation on the web site:  which king?  When did he ford, and what?  Also the Artisan, which I suppose needs less explanation.

Now we headed along Hall Lane, to travel parallel to the reservoirs and the River Lee Diversion.  None of this was visible, but we recognised the grassy banks and fierce fencing and there are some pictures here.  We turned right of the main road, which by now was called Waltham Way, to travel through neat residential areas.  If some of the semis round here were once public housing, they have certainly been done up and beautified by their current owners. 

As we approached the outskirts of Chingford, we noted  Maximus Memorabilia which may have roman helmets on its fascia, but actually specialises in more recent collectables   We were interested to pas a Corporation of the City of London Sign indicating that we were touching the edge of Epping Forest and also one of those wooden clad houses which  are a feature of this part of Essex.

Then we came to the war memorial, which is in the shape of a cross, quite unusual, we thought, though a quick look at the website of the UK National Inventory of War Memorials proves us wrong, as there are nearly 6000 with a cross shape. 

 And so we arrived at Chingford Station, where we have been before.  The trip had taken the 25 minutes advertised on the bus stop; for quite a lot of the way we were the only passengers, so maybe once an hour is enough.

We noted a message to the local MP before heading to the railway station next door to return to our homes. 

(It was here at Chingford Bus Station, on a previous visit, that a bemused student doing a survey asked us what we would do when we finished the project, and was a bit shocked when I suggested lightly that we might all be dead by then) 

The Number 384 Route

Wednesday  29 August 2012

More than three years since we rode the 383, here we were heading back to the Barnets.  Linda and I hoped that Mary was having a good time, and met at Cockfosters Station.  We were on the bus by 10.20 and heading out and right along Mount Pleasant.  Our single decker was in 'hail and ride' mode from the start, picking up people heading for the shops, we thought, and later, people heading home from the shops.  It was the sort of bus that pops into and out of residential areas, the driver skilfully squeezing past parked cars on both sides of most roads.

We admired the well kept properties, and liked the fact that  most of the verges-between-driveways were planted up as auxiliary flower beds.  The attractive green area in front of the parade of shops reminded us that councils like to take care of the spaces they have, and we were pleased to see the Jester Pub was still operational, though of course quiet in the morning of a Wednesday.
Through mixed semis and flats, most with parking areas for front gardens, we came to Pymme's Brook, and ran alongside it for a while before crossing to head back along the other side of it.  We were surprised to see a gas holder among all the residential properties as we headed along Lawton Road, and interested to see two police cars, with officers talking to the residents.  But however much London may seem like a cluster of villages, we knew we should never find out what it was all about. As we went on through the housing area to get to the East Barnet Road, the bus stopped often to let people off conveniently near their front doors.


This was to be a route with confident looking pubs.  We thought the Lord Kitchener was looking much healthier that when we were last hereabouts, as did the Railway Bell Pub, the name of which told us we were approaching New Barnet Station.  We headed past the war memorial with Victory at the top, sculpted by Newbury Abbot Trent.  He apparently also embellished a number of cinemas, and made other memorials. 

As we came out of the bus station, and headed onwards, we were still in 'Hail and Ride' areas until we reached the stop proudly labelled for the Barnet Odeon.  I say proudly, because a history stretching back to 1935 is something to admire.

We noted an 84 bus with its modern electric display reading '100 years old' as it headed home from St Albans.  Then we spotted the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School at the Bull, once a pub.  Not all the entertainment venues we passed this morning were thriving, sadly, and we saw that the Ocean restaurant had ceased to offer 'fish in matzo crumbs'.

Arriving at the Spires, this bus barely pauses to change drivers, before heading on to other parts of Barnet.  We passed a small mirror shop which had looking glasses of every imaginable shape, including a golf bag and a running shoe.  The route then continues to Barnet Hospital, it being a rule of nature that buses always go to hospitals if at all possible.  After a pause to say hello to a 384 heading in the opposite direction on these narrow roads, we were again into 'Hail and Ride'.

We gasped at the impressive new building of Whitings Hill Primary School.  As you may have noticed, we like the new schools built by the last government, as we know that students do better in attractive surroundings, and efficient classrooms and public spaces.

Thus at 11.00 we reached the Quinta Drive Parade of shops, where the 384 terminates.  It had taken 40 minutes to travel through the various residential areas and, though the sky had looked pretty grey at times, we had enjoyed snatches of sun and no rain.