On the Buses

Today, 29 April, was All Change on many of London's bus routes.  Three of the routes involved went through Brixton, so it was a no-brainer to travel on them and see what had changed.  The Swan Whisperer did a parkrun, and I did tai chi, and we met up outside Brixton Library at 10:30 to catch our first bus of the day, the no 3.

Now, the 3 used to go to Horse Guards (back in the day, it went further, up Regent Street, I think, but can't really remember), but from today it goes to Victoria Station.  It really wouldn't be the sensible option normally, as it is a lot longer than the 2, which is the main bus between Brixton and Victoria; however I can see that it does provide useful links once you are in Kennington.  Instead of turning left after crossing Lambeth Bridge, it goes straight on up Horseferry Road and Artillery Row before turning left into Victoria Street, and so to Victoria Station.

Our next bus was a no 11.  This used to be the best bus in London, running from Chelsea all the way over to Liverpool Street Station, and it was the route you recommended to tourists as a great way of seeing many of the sights without having to take an expensive tour.  I believe much of its former route - up Whitehall, along  Fleet Street to St Paul's Cathedral, and so on, has been taken over by the 26, which we need to explore sometime.  Anyway, its new route after Victoria was very dull - straight down Victoria Street, over Westminster Bridge, and so to Waterloo.

The next bus that interests us is the 59, on which I used to commute to Russell Square when I was working in the area.  Alas, no more - if I want to go to that area by bus in future, I'll have to change at Waterloo on to a 68.  However, the bus does now go over to Smithfield and St Bartholomew's Hospital, turning right at Holborn and going along High Holborn, Chancery Lane and Newgate Street to get there.  Our journey was slightly spoiled by the driver's forgetting that the bus stop at Waterloo had changed, so we had to run to catch it, and then the driver, presumably annoyed with himself, was grumpy.

By the time we got to Smithfield, it was about 12:00, so we decided to walk back along the route to Red Lion Square where the rerouted 133 now starts.  It, too, used to go to Liverpool Street, but now goes to Holborn instead.  It was a lovely walk along a part of London we really don't know at all.  With distant views of St Paul's Cathedral

north from Holborn Viaduct

and distant views of the Post Office tower (now, I believe, known as Telecom Tower):

When we were nearly there, we stopped and got some lunch in a nearby Prets, and then found the first stop for the 133.  Unlike the 3 and the 11, not all the bus stops have been updated to reflect the new routes.  This one had, though: 

but in fact, the 59 and the 133, which both start in Streatham and go through Brixton, are going in opposite directions along the route!  The 133 now goes past St Paul's Cathedral, which will be useful as and when we want to go to that area.

We had great fun this morning, but in many ways I'm not impressed with TfL's route changes.  So often now one has to change buses instead of a route going directly.  TfL will say it's not a big deal since you don't have to pay another fare, but that's not really an issue for people with passes, etc, which I think a majority of  people have, except tourists and those who no longer commute regularly.  But really, it means that one will have to allow a good ten minutes longer for a given journey, and what about those with mobility issues, heavy luggage, or small children?  What if it's raining?   Fares are not the only issue!  

Still, we had fun, and maybe one day we'll do the trip in reverse - starting with the 133, walking back to Smithfield and taking the 59 as far as Waterloo, then the 11 back to Victoria and the 3 back to Brixton!

Another day on the river

 My family have developed a very nice habit of giving the Swan Whisperer Experience vouchers for Christmas, which we then like to redeem around the time of our wedding anniversary.  This year, my sister gave us tickets to the Abba Voyage concert, which we went to last week and both thoroughly enjoyed. It was amazing, and I do recommend it if you ever get a chance.

Meanwhile, my mother gave us the treat of a champagne afternoon tea at the Courthouse Hotel, Soho AND (it came as a package, but was two separate Experiences really) a day trip on the Thames with City Cruises.  We redeemed the afternoon tea on Friday, which was our anniversary, and very good it was, too! 

Then today we went on the river.

We didn't actually profit very much from the Hop-On, Hop-Off, as the cruises only stop at 2 places between Westminster and Greenwich, which are the London Eye and the Tower.  But we went down to Greenwich, which was a lovely trip in itself. 

We were hungry when we arrived, and there is a branch of Zizzi just by the pier, so went in there for lunch.  I had Chicken calabrese 

which was delicious, followed by an ice-cream sundae.  Also delicious!  Then we went for a walk around the Cutty Sark

and the old Royal Palace (now a university and the National Maritime Museum),

and then back to catch the next boat back upstream.  There were superb views,

but oh dear, the live commentary was dire - almost the same jokes as going down, but badly delivered, and he was totally patronising about the women (who he called "ladies") who built Waterloo Bridge.  I was very unimpressed, and even if I'd had any cash on me would not have left a tip.

We had planned to get off at the London Eye, but it didn't stop there on the way back, so we got off at Westminster Pier, and then walked up to Whitehall through the public subway at Westminster Station, and then eventually - it was rush hour by then - on a bus home!