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Post by rif153 on Aug 18, 2019 11:35:45 GMT
Ticked off 10 more routes starting just before 6pm - 29 routes done in 4 days! 436 (Lewisham to Battersea Park): uneventful but quick journey across town. Wasn’t too crowded as far as I could see. Sun kept peeping out so lovely weather in contrast to the day before 156 (battersea to Clapham junction): someone had very meticulously placed a number of egg shells on the floor next to the front left seat. Why.... 337 (Clapham junction to Richmond): had 3 minutes to walk to the first stop round the corner and made it just in time. Was a good decision as there was a small crowd at the next stop. Another quick journey and it was sunny as well so an enjoyable one Quick bus ride to manor circus for the next bus 371 (Richmond to Kingston): must say this one has some great views through Richmond park! Some roads are really narrow and thick foliage in both sides - quite a nice route bending in and out of the roads and by-lanes of Han / Richmond / Kingston I was planning to get the 111 next. Didn’t realise how long / confusing the town centre is - just about made it! Else would have been another 15 min wait 111 (Kingston to heathrow central): what a route! Has everything on offer - nice river views, palace / park view, level crossing (got stuck for a few minutes), aeroplane sightings, narrow lanes: simply amazing! A10 (heathrow central to Uxbridge): pulled up in a minute after I reached heathrow, very quick route to Uxbridge. A10 is also the only route to run along a motorway U3 (Uxbridge to heathrow central): had 3 minutes to make the connection which I did. Another fairly quick one although not as quick as the A10 16 minute wait for the next bus so grabbed dinner 285 (heathrow central to Kingston): another fairly quick journey. Had done the X26 before so knew most of the route anyway 65 (Kingston to Ealing Broadway): another great and very quick trip through leafy roads. Richmond park at night and narrow lanes (at some places DDs cant even pass each other!) Reached Ealing Broadway and was pretty sleepy. Has just missed both N11 and N7 so had a 25 minute wait. Annoying guy came up asking for money as “wife was cheating and he needed to get home”. I reached the bus stop and found the guy asking a lady asking for money as “girlfriend as cheating...” and then turned to me and asked the same thing! I asked him how the wife became the girlfriend and he said both are cheating on him..... in the end someone did give him money Helped a couple of people with their buses and then thought of an alternative route. 297 (Ealing Broadway to Willesden bus garage): had domen this partially yesterday and dis it end to end today. Overall ok route and on its own for quite some distance. A group of 6 very drunk guys came on board near Perivale - think they made some sexual comments so the 2 ladies on the front left got off immediately. There were a few catcalls from this drunken lot and it was frankly embarrassing and i felt like reporting them to the police. It was a very noisy bunch who kept going up and down while the bus was moving and F*rted like crazy such that the upper deck was stinking like crazy. Thankfully these guys got off near Wembley but not exactly an enjoyable ride 6 (Willesden bus garage to aldwych): this was 2am and the max passengers on the bus was 2! I was the sole passenger till queens park when someone got up to go to marble arch. She got off and 1 guy came on board till trafalgar square Then northern + jubilee home Did you get single or double deckers on the 371, A10, and U3?
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Post by ronnie on Aug 18, 2019 11:48:08 GMT
Ticked off 10 more routes starting just before 6pm - 29 routes done in 4 days! 436 (Lewisham to Battersea Park): uneventful but quick journey across town. Wasn’t too crowded as far as I could see. Sun kept peeping out so lovely weather in contrast to the day before 156 (battersea to Clapham junction): someone had very meticulously placed a number of egg shells on the floor next to the front left seat. Why.... 337 (Clapham junction to Richmond): had 3 minutes to walk to the first stop round the corner and made it just in time. Was a good decision as there was a small crowd at the next stop. Another quick journey and it was sunny as well so an enjoyable one Quick bus ride to manor circus for the next bus 371 (Richmond to Kingston): must say this one has some great views through Richmond park! Some roads are really narrow and thick foliage in both sides - quite a nice route bending in and out of the roads and by-lanes of Han / Richmond / Kingston I was planning to get the 111 next. Didn’t realise how long / confusing the town centre is - just about made it! Else would have been another 15 min wait 111 (Kingston to heathrow central): what a route! Has everything on offer - nice river views, palace / park view, level crossing (got stuck for a few minutes), aeroplane sightings, narrow lanes: simply amazing! A10 (heathrow central to Uxbridge): pulled up in a minute after I reached heathrow, very quick route to Uxbridge. A10 is also the only route to run along a motorway U3 (Uxbridge to heathrow central): had 3 minutes to make the connection which I did. Another fairly quick one although not as quick as the A10 16 minute wait for the next bus so grabbed dinner 285 (heathrow central to Kingston): another fairly quick journey. Had done the X26 before so knew most of the route anyway 65 (Kingston to Ealing Broadway): another great and very quick trip through leafy roads. Richmond park at night and narrow lanes (at some places DDs cant even pass each other!) Reached Ealing Broadway and was pretty sleepy. Has just missed both N11 and N7 so had a 25 minute wait. Annoying guy came up asking for money as “wife was cheating and he needed to get home”. I reached the bus stop and found the guy asking a lady asking for money as “girlfriend as cheating...” and then turned to me and asked the same thing! I asked him how the wife became the girlfriend and he said both are cheating on him..... in the end someone did give him money Helped a couple of people with their buses and then thought of an alternative route. 297 (Ealing Broadway to Willesden bus garage): had domen this partially yesterday and dis it end to end today. Overall ok route and on its own for quite some distance. A group of 6 very drunk guys came on board near Perivale - think they made some sexual comments so the 2 ladies on the front left got off immediately. There were a few catcalls from this drunken lot and it was frankly embarrassing and i felt like reporting them to the police. It was a very noisy bunch who kept going up and down while the bus was moving and F*rted like crazy such that the upper deck was stinking like crazy. Thankfully these guys got off near Wembley but not exactly an enjoyable ride 6 (Willesden bus garage to aldwych): this was 2am and the max passengers on the bus was 2! I was the sole passenger till queens park when someone got up to go to marble arch. She got off and 1 guy came on board till trafalgar square Then northern + jubilee home Did you get single or double deckers on the 371, A10, and U3? Single. Had got DDs on 298 and 112 the day before which was good
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Post by rif153 on Aug 18, 2019 11:50:06 GMT
Did you get single or double deckers on the 371, A10, and U3? Single. Had got DDs on 298 and 112 the day before which was good With a beastly TE, and at the right time of day, the 112 is a great route. I like to try to get DDs on SD routes, so far I've only been succesful on the 112, 190, and D6
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Post by george on Aug 19, 2019 17:33:04 GMT
378 from Mortlake to Putney common 485 to Wandsworth 44 to Victoria when I got off had to dive undercover as it was pouring it down Victoria line train originally going to Warren street but because of severe delays got off at oxford circus 88 to great Portland street walk to Warren street, to pick up OME2654 on the 134 got that to Kentish Town 214 to Highgate walk from Highgate to Archway 271 to Highbury and Islington Victoria line train to oxford circus, again kept stopping because of the delays 94 to Lancaster Gate Walk to paddington, Picked up circle line train to Hammersmith picked up a 533 and then walk back home.
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Post by ronnie on Aug 20, 2019 8:48:25 GMT
Another quick evening of end to ends
87 (aldwych to Wandsworth): post dinner with a friend at Chinatown. I was so fulll from all the food so the bus ride did a good job of settling things in. Surprisingly quick journey
44 (Wandsworth to tooting station): I had done the Wandsworth - Victoria section earlier so did the rest today.
77 (tooting to Waterloo): the beauty of doing late at night is that journeys are so much quicker. Back in Victoria with just enough time to get the next bus
381 (Waterloo to Peckham): a few tourists boarded along with me. The most scenic part was tye drive through the rotherhithe peninsula with canary wharf and the moon in the background.
Was feeling quite sleepy after getting to Peckham and almost gave up but was an inspired decision to get the next one
345 (Peckham to south Kensington): any sleep disappeared on this ride. The driver was very quick; we were almost flying and I actually had to hold on tightly. There were even a couple of misses with the bus just about stopping in time to avoid hitting cars... but overall enjoyable and very quick
360 (royal Albert hall to elephant and castle); the quick bus on the 345 gave me just enough time ro walk to royal Albert hall to get tye last 360 of the day
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Post by YY13VKP on Aug 20, 2019 9:19:32 GMT
Decided to explore my dad's new local area of Orpington and Biggin Hill a little bit yesterday afternoon, here's what happened: 146 to Baston Road/Croydon Road ( 36609) - Initially I was debating on whether to get this or the R8 out of Downe as one of my objectives was to complete the R8 end to end. (I'd already done the 146 back in April). Eventually as my brother was heading the same way I decided to take the 146. However, there were a few issues. Firstly the bus was not showing up on LVF which made me slightly worry that it had broken down, however it turned up just as we were walking to Downe Church. I later found out it wasn't polling on iBus because the Oyster reader on 36609 was defective. Secondly, the 353 I had to catch to make it to Orpington in time to connect with the next R8 was scheduled to arrive at the same time or slightly earlier at Baston Road than my 146 was, and unfortunately as the bus was not polling there was no way of telling if I would make it or not until I got close to Baston Road. Eventually we beat the 353 I needed to catch - just! 353 to Tubbenden Lane (969) - I was incredibly lucky to make this with just seconds to spare. I did have a look at where the bus behind was which was 968, and whilst at the time LVF's ETA said it would arrive at Orpington Station with just a few minutes to spare before the R8 departs, I would have been absolutely screwed if we would get stuck in traffic. Thankfully now that I made 969 I no longer had to worry about that. It was fantastic to have a Scania again on the 353 and it was a good journey down to Orpington. Walked to Orpington Bus Station where I took a few snaps, also witnessed a poor old man struggle to turn his tiny car around just outside the bus station, which held up the traffic. Every time he seemed to try the car kept stalling. Eventually with help from a Metrobus driver, the man finally managed to drive his car forward a few metres and park it outside the car dealership opposite the bus station. R8 to Biggin Hill, Lebanon Gardens ( 182) - Finally managed to do the R8 end to end. This bus however had quite a bad rattle when it was stationary, not quite sure why that would be but a few of MB's Enviro200's do tend to have quite a bad rattle. If any route could really do with mirrorless buses however, it's got to be the R8. Once we reached the narrow Hail and Ride Section of North End Lane, we came across a UPS van in a very tight space and the bus had to squeeze itself against the bushes a few times in order to get past, causing the left wing mirror to cave in. When I visited MB on Friday I heard that this was a common problem the R8 has, especially now that it has full size buses operating on the route instead of the slimline Solo's. While that was going on I had a wasp for company at the back of the bus which was trying its best to get off the bus through the back window which obviously wouldn't happen. Eventually we made it into Downe where we caught up with the 12pm 146 departure, luckily despite the parked cars the 146 was able to pass with ease. The bus was quite well loaded and most of those got off at the Black Horse in Biggin Hill. Once we arrived in Biggin Hill it wasn't obvious that Lebanon Gardens was the last stop as passengers remained onboard, which then made me realise the R8 has a slight loop section at the Biggin Hill end. 246 to Westerham Green ( 748) - I'd been intending to do the 246 to Westerham for quite a while, so finally managed to do so. A pretty uneventful journey into Westerham, although the route did remind me a lot of the 405 once you go past the M25. Overall though the 246 is a fantastic route for scenery! Once we reached Westerham and we had all disembarked, the bus continued to head down the A25 which made me wonder where the bus turns around, I then realised it turns around in the town car park. 246 to Main Road/Saltbox Hill ( 748 again) - After exploring Westerham High Street during the time the bus was in the car park, it started raining and I decided to head back to Biggin Hill on 748. The bus was slightly restricted however climbing the hills out of Westerham. 464 to Tatsfield/Old Ship ( 8171) - First time on the 464 and decided to continue my exploration of rural Surrey and Kent by heading into Tatsfield. The 464 reminds me a lot of the 146 in the sense that its the only link from Tatsfield into Biggin Hill and ultimately New Addington where people living in Tatsfield can commute by tram. What baffles me though is the 30 minute frequency it has despite being a relatively short route and encountering narrow, single track roads like the 146 does when entering Downe. Surely if the 464 has a 30 minute frequency and possess the exact same characteristics as the 146 then surely a 30 minute frequency for the 146 is justified? Anyway, rant over the route became very scenic once climbing the hills into Tatsfield Village and got a mandatory snap of the bus at the Old Ship terminus. I have to say Tatsfield is a very nice village! 464 to Maple Leaf Close (8171) - Boarded this again after a 9 minute stand time and managed to film the journey back to Biggin Hill which I will upload at a later date. Once again however I had a wasp for company at the back of the bus. R8 to Downe Church (182)- Once again luck was on my side when it came to catching this bus. Once I realised I missed the 146 back into Downe from Keston Church, I checked where the R8 was and saw it was due to leave at the same time my 464 was due to arrive at Maple Leaf Close. Fortunately my 464 made it out of the junction before the R8 was given the green light to go. This was a pretty uneventful journey but once I got off the bus it conveniently started pouring down with rain. Fortunately I was at the end of my journey. Later on in the evening: Tram from Sandilands to Addington Village (2549) - Packed and smelly, what else can you expect from a Croydon tram? 353 to Hayes/Station Approach ( 968) - Despite having 969 three times, I had yet to travel on 968 since it returned to Metrobus so I was pleased to get it again. As the traffic was pretty clear, the driver was thrashing it down to Hayes. 138 to Bromley North Station (178) - Was lucky to have a very fast driver for this journey, who was absolutely thrashing this Enviro200 all the way to Bromley North. He was taking advantage of having no traffic in the evening and treated the bus like a go-kart, particularly round corners! 146 to Downe Church (36613) - After having to go into Bromley and wait a further 20 minutes for the 146 to show up, it was safe to say I was unimpressed when 36613 finally turned up on the 146. Thankfully this time the iBus was fully functional. Walked home
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Post by ronnie on Aug 20, 2019 23:55:41 GMT
Did the 59, 319, 19 and 236 end to end today
59 (Euston to streatham hilll, Telford avenue): saw decent loadings even though this was a 21:30 start. Was a quick journey although the one pain is that LTs don’t seem fast at all
319 (streatham hill, Telford avenue to Sloane square): another fairly quick one to Sloane square. This was a kore sedate journey through Clapham junction after the White-knuckled, hang on to your dear life journey on the 345 yesterday!
Doubled back to battersea bridge
19 (battersea bridge to finsbury square): even this late at night took an hour and Shaftesbury avenue was still clogged. I have resolved to do central London routes only late at night. Waste of time otherwise
236 (finsbury park to hackney wick): quick hop through hackney. Fairly well user even though it was past midnight
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 0:40:14 GMT
T2 from Aberystwyth University to Aberystwyth Bus Station Transport for Wales train to Birmingham New Street Walk to Birmingham Moor Street Chiltern train to Marylebone 453 to Trafalgar Square N89 to home
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Post by george on Aug 25, 2019 17:11:12 GMT
Got the 216 and 715 today. Got the 216 from Kingston to Esher, overall a nice route the bit after Claygate is nice. The DLE's are ok as well. Now to the 715 this is a fantastic route, On sunday the 715 only runs every 90 minutes so had to wait a bit of time so decided to walk around Esher for a bit, I made it in time for the 14.46 deperature but the service didn't turn up I was thinking that the service must have been cancelled but thankfully it was only late. Went from Esher to Guildford. The routes uses Dennis Darts as well as some newer Dennis Enviro 200s. I would honestly put the route right up there as being one of the best, goes thorough the countryside, nice villages but also travels along the A3 were the driver really put his foot down. Single ticket cost £4.05. Thanks so much for planesandtrains and tony4387 for the recommendation. EDIT. I obviously mean K3 don't I, It's a hot day. 😁
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2019 20:12:43 GMT
PVL 224 Route 68 Southend Tour.
Pleased to say the service is still being well used - Now uses two buses during high season and both buses carried full loads upstairs. Due to heavy traffic on the seafront some journeys had to be cut this afternoon. Tickets are now £3 Adult single and £15(Up to 5 Adult group all day) up from £2 and £10 in 2017.
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Aug 26, 2019 21:38:14 GMT
I was in London last night for a day out today as long promised. I shall at this stage give my trip a short title: London Bridge & Archway round trip. After sharing my itin, I shall give it a longer and more heartfelt title. I stayed at Travelodge Plus, Middlesex Street and proceeded as follows:
Walk to Liverpool Street (for Buses and Today's Railways UK purchase)
Metropolitan Line Great Portland Street - S8 stock
88 Prince of Wales Road - EH29 134 Archway - VMH2579 17 King's Cross - VWH2095 63 Southwark - MHV27
Jubilee Line Swiss Cottage - 96 stock
31 Chalk Farm - VW1188 393 Holloway Road - DEM1343 153 Angel - SEe68 43 London Bridge - BDE2626
Thameslink Finsbury Park - 700 154
210 Highgate Village - TE1089 214 King's Cross - SEe95 46 Hampstead Heath - BEL2520 C11 Archway - DE1026
Northern Line Euston - 95 stock
My more authentic title for today's trip is my ... Great British August Bank Holiday Metroline & Go-Ahead London Feast !!
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Post by 10121ddo on Aug 28, 2019 21:11:27 GMT
Had a free day, it's still school holidays, so for once wasn't forced into a weekend nighttime journey to avoid the crowds! Here's the Essexer's venture to catch a DB250 before it disappears:
Tube and overground to West Croydon 455, West Croydon > Waddon Rd ; SOE33 - missed a 67reg 289 to Purley, so thought I'd catch this and beat it to Waddon.... 289, Waddon Rd > Waddon Leisure Ctr ; ENX32 - good news: I did beat it here and caught it. Bad news: it got immediately curtailed to Colonnades. So change of plan, and I hopped out after just a couple minutes. Big shame. 157, Waddon > Wallington ; T83 - the diversion began with this, and was a pleasant journey. Quicker than the 154. Last caught this bus in 2016 when it was still based at DX, on the 150. 127, Wallington > Purley ; E97 - great Enviro, relatively speedy in the semi-countryside. Never covered this stretch before. 405, Purley > Coulsdon Town; WVL509 - with DAFs on the 412 or 466 having either been recently subbed or in Addington, I decided to venture further south on this amazing B5TL. Only ever caught a B5LH, but I can safely say I'll be back for the full journey to Redhill on this and a 06reg Enviro very soon....! 463, Coulsdon Town > Beddington ; WS20268 - nice hail and ride sections, nimble bus. Little did I know that these were ex-GAL. Main road sections were brisk too. Bus behind this broke down, causing a 40 minute gap between buses. Fairly busy at 2pm on a Wed afternoon 410, Beddington > West Croydon; SLS24 ; another Streetlite! Aside from start-stop, not too dissimilar to the 463. I much prefer the First West of England 13 and 14reg ones, I must admit. 264, West Croydon > Tooting Bdwy; DW102 ; the reason for the whole trip, was this beauty. As a NE Londoner, I'd never caught a DAF Gemini - probably just the ALX ones. Although it was slightly on the sluggish side, I miss it already. Will certainly be doing the Mitcham - Croydon section again in the near future, great scenes. 270, Tooting Bdwy > Wandsworth ; WHV21 - with the DAF mission complete, I just hopped on anything and went anywhere..... although I couldn't say no to the Gemini2 B5LH. Very jolty. 220, Wandsworth > Fulham High Road ; WH45252 - another thing off the list. The RATP demonstrator appeared the moment we got to Wandsworth on the 270, couldn't complain. 414, Fulham H R > Fulham Bdwy ; 9520 - caught it in March, but it has great accel and engine sound. Highly recommend. 295, Fulham Bdwy > Hammersmith ; VWH2129 - my first time on the 295 since the First days. Lots of traffic, but a speedy and nimble B5LH is something I can't get enough of. (Time to binge ride the 34, even though another batch of 14reg ones are on their way in Arriva colours...!) Tube home.
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Post by rif153 on Aug 28, 2019 22:12:38 GMT
Had a free day, it's still school holidays, so for once wasn't forced into a weekend nighttime journey to avoid the crowds! Here's the Essexer's venture to catch a DB250 before it disappears: Tube and overground to West Croydon 455, West Croydon > Waddon Rd ; SOE33 - missed a 67reg 289 to Purley, so thought I'd catch this and beat it to Waddon.... 289, Waddon Rd > Waddon Leisure Ctr ; ENX32 - good news: I did beat it here and caught it. Bad news: it got immediately curtailed to Colonnades. So change of plan, and I hopped out after just a couple minutes. Big shame. 157, Waddon > Wallington ; T83 - the diversion began with this, and was a pleasant journey. Quicker than the 154. Last caught this bus in 2016 when it was still based at DX, on the 150. 127, Wallington > Purley ; E97 - great Enviro, relatively speedy in the semi-countryside. Never covered this stretch before. 405, Purley > Coulsdon Town; WVL509 - with DAFs on the 412 or 466 having either been recently subbed or in Addington, I decided to venture further south on this amazing B5TL. Only ever caught a B5LH, but I can safely say I'll be back for the full journey to Redhill on this and a 06reg Enviro very soon....! 463, Coulsdon Town > Beddington ; WS20268 - nice hail and ride sections, nimble bus. Little did I know that these were ex-GAL. Main road sections were brisk too. Bus behind this broke down, causing a 40 minute gap between buses. Fairly busy at 2pm on a Wed afternoon 410, Beddington > West Croydon; SLS24 ; another Streetlite! Aside from start-stop, not too dissimilar to the 463. I much prefer the First West of England 13 and 14reg ones, I must admit. 264, West Croydon > Tooting Bdwy; DW102 ; the reason for the whole trip, was this beauty. As a NE Londoner, I'd never caught a DAF Gemini - probably just the ALX ones. Although it was slightly on the sluggish side, I miss it already. Will certainly be doing the Mitcham - Croydon section again in the near future, great scenes. 270, Tooting Bdwy > Wandsworth ; WHV21 - with the DAF mission complete, I just hopped on anything and went anywhere..... although I couldn't say no to the Gemini2 B5LH. Very jolty. 220, Wandsworth > Fulham High Road ; WH45252 - another thing off the list. The RATP demonstrator appeared the moment we got to Wandsworth on the 270, couldn't complain. 414, Fulham H R > Fulham Bdwy ; 9520 - caught it in March, but it has great accel and engine sound. Highly recommend. 295, Fulham Bdwy > Hammersmith ; VWH2129 - my first time on the 295 since the First days. Lots of traffic, but a speedy and nimble B5LH is something I can't get enough of. (Time to binge ride the 34, even though another batch of 14reg ones are on their way in Arriva colours...!) Tube home. I'm glad someone else likes the 264. It's a route I have very fond memories of completing.
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Post by ronnie on Aug 28, 2019 23:33:44 GMT
Today’s end to ends:
2 (Marylebone to west Norwood): last time I had tried to do this, I had given up after waiting dor 45 minutes. Today transpired better - 4 min wait at marylebone and I was on. Was a fairly slow journey though - the longest one of the day. Must say that the route gets well loaded, especially at Brixton where I think it took almost 5 minutes!
432 (west Norwood to Anerley station): had done Brixton to west Norwood before so completed the rest before. Didn’t know how steep it was on the crystal palace side!
249 (Anerley Station to Clapham Common): thankfully a fairly quick journey end to end. Some spectacular views near streatham common
417 (Clapham Common to Crystal Palace): dashed around tye corner and managed to get it in time. Another quick one back to crystal palace
122 (Crystal palace to Plumstead Bus Garage): its a pretty long route although actually didn’t take as much time as I would have thought. Couldn’t resist a smile when we reached Ha-Ha road!
Quick walk through plumstead for the first stop of the 53
53 (plumstead to deptford bridge): was quite sleep at ghis stage so abandoned going fulll route; instead bailed out at deptford bridge for tye dlr. Quite a unique route with a few picturesque spots as well
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Post by Dillon95 on Aug 29, 2019 0:21:25 GMT
I went to Hampton Court today and got the 111 into Kingston.
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