It's that time again when media services pad out their sites with recycled content masquerading as a review of the year, and this blog is no different. That said I've only blogged about one of these bus journeys before so that's a bonus, plus I'll do you a non-bus quiz this afternoon to diversify a bit.
1)456 Crews Hill → North Middlesex Hospital (10 miles; June)
I waited three months to ride London's newest bus route because non-essential journeys were frowned upon when the 456 came into being in March. It was actually an extension of the undertimetabled W10 which was boosted across Enfield to better connect residents to the North Middlesex Hospital and might be one of the last nice-to-have bus services that cash-strapped TfL ever launches. What I did in June was walk the 10 mile route in one direction, taking photos of half-hourly buses for blogging purposes, then ride the bus all the way back again. If I'm honest I enjoyed the walk more than the bus ride because it meant exploring a swathe of suburbia, uncovering the cemetery gates used in ITV sitcom On The Buses and reacquainting myself with the Turkey Brook. But it was good to be riding a route end-to-end again and viewing unfamiliar territory from my wheel-arch perch, accompanied by a dozen other passengers who'd add colour to the reportage. Highlights included revisiting Crews Hill's garden centres, discovering how Edmonton in Canada got its name and waiting needlessly at a bus stop to even out the gaps in the service. I have my doubts that anyone's gone back and installed proper bus stops with proper timetables along the new sections, because if they hadn't after three months why should they after nine, but that was a very pleasant summer jaunt.
2)347 Upminster → North Ockendon (5 miles; June)
When reacquainting yourself with public transport after a prolonged break, what better than riding the less busy end of London's least frequent bus route, the notoriously liminal 347. I picked it up outside Upminster station, remembered how to tap my Oyster card and joined five masked pensioners on a ride down the High Street. Before long we were whipping shoppers along St Mary's Lane and out into the rural outposts only the 347 serves... including two pubs, a golf course and the odd row of cottages. The driver sped up once we'd crossed the M25 and even more so once he'd dropped off the last other passenger in the anomalous village of North Ockendon. We weaved between hedges and lacklustre fields, which nevertheless delighted me because I hadn't seen any for a while, and slipped quietly over the Greater London boundary into Thurrock. I think the driver was surprised to have anyone aboard for the last spin down to Ockendon station, which is only where the bus terminates because there isn't anywhere for it to turn back any earlier. It would have been much quicker to take the train but also £1.25 dearer than my tube/bus split and probably less fun. I then set off on a summertime safari to visit Havering's five public footpath level crossings, but I told you all about that in June so at least recounting the bus journey has been a bonus.
3)rail replacement bus Bow Road → Barking (8 miles; May, Jul, Aug, Oct)
The first bus I caught after a 63 week hiatus was a rail replacement freebie during bank holiday District line engineering works. First thing in the morning'll be fine, I thought, hardly anyone'll be wanting to travel, but I still skipped the first bus east and waved down the second. I grabbed the prized front seat on the top deck and finally saw my home street from above again, plus several other major roads that'd grown familiar from endless walking. Following the District line by road is very difficult so after Bromley-by-Bow the next stop was way down south at Canning Town where our driver departed sooner than he should and barely picked up anyone. The best part of the ride was zooming along the A13, very much not in the inside lane, before finally turning off into the centre of Barking. I used this rail replacement bus in May as a springboard to explore Barking Riverside, then returned three more times to assist me in blogging about a) Roding crossings, b) Loxford, c) the ULEZ extension. Sometimes a rail replacement bus is more fun than taking the train - not often, but sometimes.
4)205 King's Cross → Bow Church (6 miles; Sep)
At the end of September, after an Inter City day out ticking off Newark and Grantham, I decided to get the bus home from King's Cross rather than the tube. It'd been a while since I'd seen central London after dark, plus it was half the fare, plus the 205 only ever gets emptier as it heads east. I knew it'd be a lot slower than the tube given the interminable number of traffic lights along the way and so it proved. It also took a while for me to nudge up to the front seat where the view improved immeasurably, if what you enjoy is headlights, endless rows of shops and people massing for takeaways.
5) -
...and there isn't a fifth favourite bus route because I've only ridden four all year. I rather hoped you hadn't noticed. I caught seven buses because I rode the rail replacement four times but that is still a phenomenally miserable total for someone who used to ride way more than seven in a week. Most of the reason is the pandemic, but it's also that I've discovered quite how far I can walk across London during the last year and hopping unnecessarily on a bus seems a waste. Also I used to have a magic plastic card in my pocket which allowed me to catch a bus for free, admittedly after a whopping downpayment, and now I don't. Instead I spent less than a fiver on bus journeys during 2021, which is not something I'm proud of nor something I ever thought would happen. Here's hoping for a less egregious 2022, especially if you're one of TfL's increasingly desperate accountants.
