Buses, flypasts and new shoes. 5 May 2025

Today was the May Day holiday, so of course the weather, which has been being absolutely lovely, went back on us and it was seriously cold and showers on and off.  I would have enjoyed today's excursion a great deal more with a warmer coat, or at least a jumper rather than a light fabric jacket under my summer coat!  Yet two days ago I was out with nothing more than a t-shirt on my top half!  It's supposed to get warm again next weekend, though.

There were a great many things we could have done today, including a local street party and an Open Day at the Windmill, but we decided to go into central London to watch the flypast in celebration of VE Day.  This is technically not until Thursday, but I don't think the Government thought two Bank Holidays in one week was a good idea!  So most of the celebrations, including a military parade, and this fly-past, were today.  I suggested we went into Brixton and caught whichever came first of the 3, 59 or 159, and head to the South Bank, which is always a good place to watch flypasts.  And get a sandwich before it kicked off.

The bus that came was a 159, but it was stopping at Lower Marsh - unsurprisingly, since no buses were crossing the river due to road closures for the parade - and I suggested we went to the café in Tommy's to get our sandwich.  Which we did, and actually sat there until it was time for the flypast, which we watched from the garden there - not really the best place, as mostly what we could see was the backs of planes disappearing over the Houses of Parliament.  Although that was quite impressive.  And it finished with the Red Arrows, as scheduled (photo courtesy of the Swan Whisperer; I didn't take any).

The Swan Whisperer needed new everyday shoes - he has just got new running shoes, which seem to be helping with a long-standing foot injury/problem of some kind, but his everyday shoes were a disgrace!  So we decided to get a no 12 bus to Peckham, where there is a Clark's outlet store, and failing that, a Shoe Zone.  On the way, we crossed paths with masses of policemen, but they were not catching criminals or sorting out the traffic; it was fairly obvious that they had been part of the parade, and had then been having lunch somewhere (or were about to have lunch).

When we were on the bus, we realised we totally didn't know the end of the route, so decided to stay on until its terminus at Dulwich Library, and then get another bus back.  Which we did, rather fun seeing parts of Dulwich which were new to us.  We had to wait about 10 minutes for a return bus - a 197 - during which I got very cold indeed, but it came at last and dropped us off at the Aylsham Centre, where new trainers were successfully purchased!  We had a look round Morrison's but simply couldn't find any of the things we needed, so came away and caught a 345 back to Brixton.  During which time the sun came out and thawed me out nicely through the front windows of the bus!

Of course, we had just missed a 35, so the Swan Whisperer walked to Tesco's and thus home while I waited the four or five minutes until a 355 came, and I went home.  I did go into Lidl, but nothing seemed to want to be bought, so came home and fell asleep in my chair..... but it was a fun day out, even though cold.

The Silvertown Tunnel

The Silvertown Tunnel opened today and I hoped we would be able to go through it on opening day - after all, how often is there a new tunnel under the Thames, especially one that has come in on time and on budget? 

It was also the first day of the Easter holidays and the Boys were coming.  We were having Boy 2 in any case, but the Lanky Teenager also chose to come, to our joy.  He expressed a desire to visit the Science Museum, and I booked tickets, but I haven't been very well this week and realised I would probably not have enough energy to enjoy it, so the Swan Whisperer picked them up at Tavistock Place and they went to the museum.  I think they had a good time, but they are getting to the monosyllabic age.  

I, meanwhile,  spent a quiet morning, although I went to Lidl and tried, unsuccessfully , to make a start on Sunday's sermon.  The men arrived back shortly after 13:00 and we went to lunch in the café opposite - they all had an English breakfast

and I had avocado toast. 

The Swan Whisperer had been for a run before breakfast, and the Lanky Teenager had been playing badminton before his, so they were hungry! The boys and I had smoothies, too - mine was five berries and they had a similar one but with a different mix of fruit.  

The Swan Whisperer had to do a quick errand in Brixton that couldn't wait, and we set off about 15:00, going via Peckham and Blackheath.  You take the same road that you take towards the Blackwall Tunnel (now also toll), but it is clearly signposted that you need to be in the right-hand lane, and the turn-off is very clear.  It is a tunnel, which is all that can be said for it, although the boys commented on how clean it was.  It won't stay that way for long!  We weren't quite sure how to get from the other end up to the 'Stow, but Google was helpful there, and we got there shortly after 16:00.  My grown-up Boys made a cup of tea for us all.  We drove home the usual way - via the A12, Limehouse Link and Tower Bridge - and, although it was rush hour, it was an easy journey.  

Going through a tunnel is not very exciting - but I'm very glad we did it on its first day!

Tea on the River, revisited

 Three years ago, we celebrated our wedding anniversary by having an afternoon tea cruise on the river Thames.  Today, we did it again, courtesy of a Christmas present from my sister.  

Last time, we went on the Victoria Line and changed at Victoria, but this year Citymapper, TfL AND Google all insisted we took the Northern Line to Bank and then the Circle or District to Tower Hill (or walk from Bank).  So that's what we did, and arrived in nice time to board.  

I hadn't upgraded us or anything, but we were shown to a table for two in the very front of the vessel, which was lovely!  I didn't think the tea was anything special, and didn't eat two of my cakes (and wished I hadn't bothered with another one), but the sandwiches were nice, especially when we said we wouldn't eat chipotle on beetroot bread, We they gave us extra egg mayonnaise instead.  There were only plain scones, not sultana ones, and the cream was not clotted or even whipped, so rather went everywhere!  But I'm not complaining.

Our route today went right downriver to Greenwich, and a very apologetic captain explained that the tide would almost definitely be too high to prevent us going under Blackfriars Bridge on the way upstream, as, indeed it proved.  We didn't mind, but it must have been very disappointing for the tourists.

When we got off, they made a total nonsense, and we had to wait while passengers boarded a Uber river bus - this was quite unnecessary, I thought, as there were plenty of other corridors we could have used.  But we got off in the end, and then walked up to Monument and caught a bus home from there.  We are now drinking fizz to celebrate!

There will be photos on Facebook, as per - I hope they don't duplicate other photos I've taken from the river on previous cruises, but it's hard not to photograph iconic London!

The Map House

The Swan Whisperer has just started two weeks' jury service - at his age, he could have refused, but he so enjoyed it last time he did it, many years ago, that he was really looking forward to it.  However, this means I shall have two weeks - well, ten working days, anyway - on my own, and I determined I wasn't just going to sit around feeling sorry for myself!  I already had plans for tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday, so I decided that today I would make a point of going out.

I decided to be thoroughly greedy and treated myself to breakfast at McDonald's.  I have a shaming taste for their sausage and egg McMuffin, and it was as delicious as usual.

Then the day's main event, which was a trip to the exhibition at the Map House (link),  which I had learnt about from both IanVisits (link) and Londonist (link).  I braved the Underworlds, changing to the Piccadilly Line at Green Park and getting off at Knightsbridge.  Goodness, but it's years since I was last there!  I have been past in a bus, going to the South Kensington Museums, but I don't think I've used Knightsbridge Station for at least 50 years!  When I worshipped at Holy Trinity Brompton, all those years ago, I was living in Fulham, so came from the opposite direction.

So anyway, it's not a long walk to Beauchamp Place from there - it was my grandmother's local Tube station when she lived in Ovington Gardens - and I arrived at the Map House with about 5 minutes to spare before it opened.

The exhibition was fabulous! The Beck diagram in all its itinerations - including the map that inspired him, and some preliminary sketches.  And almost all the folding maps from 1932 right up to the present day.  Lots of photos on Facebook, but the one here is of the very nerdish (but I do rather love) gadget that shows you where all the trains are, either on all lines or on an individual line (the District, in this case).  As I said, I'm not that nerdish, but - well - it would be nice!

Then I walked down to Sloane Square, and got a 137 bus to Sainsbury's in Clapham, and then another bus home.  Since starting this blog post, I gather the Swan Whisperer is not actually wanted - they are expecting a long trial, and so called more jurors than they would need, as so many would have commitments after the end of the fortnight (as, indeed, we do!).  And also my tomorrow night's meeting is to be on Zoom, not, thankfully, in Westminster.  So I'm glad I went today and didn't wait until Friday!

The Spanish Riding School at Wembley Arena

 A few days ago, we were in Vienna and saw some of the Lippizaner stallions in their winter quarters in the Hofburg - something on my bucket list.  I had never seen them live, but the Daughter cleverly found out that they were to perform in Wembley this weekend.  They were selling tickets at half-price, and as both the Swan Whisperer and the Boy wanted to go, the Daughter bought the tickets (we paid for ours), and sent ours to me, so that we would meet up in the arena.

It was an easy enough journey to Wembley - at Citymapper's suggestion, we changed at Green Park and then again at Finchley Road.  Not a station I'd ever consciously been to before, although as I've been to Wembley Arena before, I must have gone through it.  It's a cross-platform change to the Metropolitan Line, which then only has one stop until Wembley Park.  After which, it is a surprisingly long walk to either the Stadium or the Arena, but we got there in good time.  You weren't allowed to take liquids into the arena, but had to empty your water bottles before you went through security - the Swan Whisperer refilled both mine and the Daughter's bottles for us before the performance began.  Other than that, and a cursory check of one's bags, though, it was easy to get in, and plenty of stewards to tell and show you where to go.

We had lovely seats (obviously we couldn't take photos during the event). 

and could see absolutely everything.  The event was hosted by Nicki Chapman, who introduced each act and the videos in between that gave the horses and riders time to prepare.  

It was, obviously, wonderful.  But there is an awful lot that they don't show on television, like the horses that do the "schools above the ground" being so keen that they try to do them when it isn't their turn! Or when the riders momentarily lose control, as happened once or twice! We did wonder if they had sent their "B team" to perform, as it wasn't quite the perfection you expect from the television coverage of them.  But it was still pretty amazing.  Especially the "quadrille" that concluded the event.

There was a 30-minute interval, which we thought was excessive from the audience's point of view, but I dare say the horses and riders needed it.  The Swan Whisperer and the Boy went for an explore, and came back saying that popcorn was £6 for a small tub, so they decided not!  

On the way home, we went as far as King's Cross on the Metropolitan Line, and then changed there, so that we could go as far as possible with the other two, who, of course, took the northbound service as we took the southbound one!  We were home by about 11:15, but I am very tired today.

There are loads of videos on YouTube if you want to have a look at the performance for yourself - there's even one of a similar show at Wembley about 7 years ago!  I hadn't known they ever came to the UK....

Imber (not) revisited

Ten years ago, we visited the lost village of Imber.  At the time, I'm not sure how well-known the day was, other than by transport nerds (hey, I never said I wasn't one!), and it was pouring with rain.  Today, things are very different.

We travelled on a UK Railtour charter, which was comfortable but I'm not  100% sure it was worth it.  On the other hand, it did mean we got programmes and a guaranteed, comfortable seat.  We did, however, have to be at Waterloo before 10:00 am, which meant I had to miss tai chi.  However, it was a civilised hour to leave, and the journey was uneventful.

We had learnt that there was an exhibition about Imber in Warminster itself, a few minutes' walk from the station.  It closed at 1:00 pm, so we went there first.  It was quite good, but I thought very biased about how ghastly what the army did was, etc.  Well yes, but we were at war, and other villages and owners of big houses had it every bit as bad, if not worse.

As the queues for the buses had been stretching round the block, with not a bus in sight, we decided to have lunch first, as the queues were supposed to get shorter in the afternoon (spoiler: they didn't!).  We found a very nice tiny café that did us sandwiches and salad, but first we visited the St Lawrence Chapel, which was lovely.  The vicar and - I think - a churchwarden were around, and told us all about the stained glass and so on.  

We walked back to the station only to find that the queue was longer than ever, a good 500 metres long, if not longer.  A bus did arrive while we watched, but it was obviously only going to take a tiny fraction of those waiting  So we decided that, as we had already been to Imber, we would explore Warminster instead.  We found a lovely public park, where we sat and read until we got too cold, and then went and had afternoon tea in Coffee #1 - at least, I had tea but the SW had coffee.  I had an oatmeal-raisin cookie, and the SW had some chocolate concoction that looked rather rich.  But lovely comfortable armchairs, and a loo!  We had, actually, hoped to have had a cream tea at St Lawrence's, but when we got there we found that this would be being served tomorrow, not today.  Bother!  

Then we wandered back to the station, which was a bit of a mistake as it was very crowded and there wasn't really anywhere to sit.  In hindsight, we should have hung on in the café for another 10-15 minutes.  On the other hand, we were able to see a great many Routemasters and other buses dropping people back! 

Our train arrived at last, and we were glad to sit in it.  I felt very tired on the way home, and it was very noisy and tiring.  We got a bus at Waterloo, and then picked up a ready-meal in Lidl. 

I do rather think that Imberbus Day has outgrown itself.  It's not fun having to queue for over an hour to get on a bus, especially if you have to get back on a deadline.  The various little villages on the route all do tea and cakes now, which they didn't when we first went.  I don't know how long they will be able to continue, especially since the buses are all owned by enthusiasts and are not getting any younger.

Meanwhile, my mother was finally repatriated today, and is now in hospital in Worthing!  The hold-up was due to the insurance - the French hospital would have liked rid of her two weeks ago, and the ambulance had been on stand-by for her since 6 August!  Sigh.  

Site visit

For the past four or five years, the London Power Tunnels have had a site at the corner of our road.  Obviously it is a building site, but we have been able to see, through the various spy-holes, the tunnel boring machines being lowered in and, indeed, returned to the surface again.  There was, at one time, a conveyor belt to take the spoil somewhere, and so on.  Now the site has got a lot quieter, and the Swan Whisperer decided he wanted to see more of it, so he cheekily asked if he could see in the tunnels.

The answer was no, as you have to have special training to go down, but he was offered a site visit, and today he and I, and J from flat 14, all went round.  We were made very welcome.  The first thing, we were taken into their offices - a rented, serviced office from the company next door which is storage and offices (they do have office space on site, but not enough) - and given a briefing on what the London Power Tunnels are all about.  Very much along the lines of this article from the National Grid, which explains about "our" site in particular, but you can link to an overview of the whole project in general.  

After a fairly extensive briefing, we were given PPE - boots, helmets, goggles, reflective jackets and gloves

- and taken on to the site itself.  The tunnels are now finished, and we were able to look down them if we wanted to (no thank you!  I have no head for heights!), and we could see various machines, including a tall blue tower

that is used to lift the cable drums so that the cables can be unwound and fed down the tunnels - they are planning to start that within the next few days, I believe.  The men were incredibly patient, answering all our "What's that for?" questions.  There is a lift that goes down to the tunnel floor at the moment, but when all is finished, there will just be stairs.  One of the men said he used the stairs on principle, but it made his thighs hurt!  You can see a bit of what it must be like from the videos I will link to at the end of this post.  

Finally we were taken up to the top of their pre-fab offices, where they have a roof garden where people can smoke if they wish, and eat their picnic lunches, which had a terrific view over the site, and also over London.

  They had said we were welcome to take photos, but not to post them on social  media, so the ones I'm posting here are those nobody could object to!  

It was fascinating, but, alas, reality called, as I had to go to the dentist!  

Too good to be true?

Usually, when something appears too good to be true, it is!  Not in this case, though.  The other day, I happened to see a post about the Sainsbury's Picnic Pavilion, which is, or perhaps I should say was, a pop-up special from Sainsbury's.  Held in a venue called The Stables in Covent Garden, the blurb said you paid £5.00 - yes, that's right, a fiver - for which you got 90 minutes to have a picnic with the hamper they provided you, containing, so they said, at least £55 worth of food.

So I thought this sounded like fun, although I had no idea what it would be like.  And, you know what? It was brilliant!  We took the Northern Line to Leicester Square, and walked from there - only a few minutes.  It was easy to find, and the receptionist found my name so I didn't have to fish out our ticket.  We had only a few minutes to wait before they told us our table was ready.  I hadn't booked chairs (the normal seating is cushions on the floor around a low table), but they offered us them when we arrived, so I thankfully said yes please.  There was a bottle of sparkling lemonade on the table, and the waitress bought us a bottle of Sangria and one of a raspberry daiquiri mocktail.  There was a box with wooden plates and cutlery, cardboard tumblers with paper straws, and nibbles of garlic and rosemary twists, foccacias (those dried crouton-type ones) and crisps.  Then there was a proper hamper filled with two Scotch eggs, two boxes of "dinky" feta and tomato puffs (which we agreed would be much nicer hot), a huge pork pie, feta with garlic and parsley, two different salads, tzatziki, olives, hummus, fruit salad and lemon meringue nibbly things.  All this for a fiver!

Needless to say, we didn't eat all of it, contenting ourselves with the Scotch eggs, a couple of the tomato puffs, the feta with garlic and parsley, some of the tzatziki and most of the fruit salad, a couple of the garlic twisty things and most of the raspberry daiquiri.

Well, that would have been enough on its own - but the best bit was, you got to keep the hamper AND such of its contents as you hadn't eaten, to take home!  And on the way out they produced a coolpack to go in the hamper, and an ice lolly - I had coconut and lime and the Swan Whisperer had chocolate and raspberry.  I mean, talk about AMAZING value!  Pork pie and salad for supper tonight (we had not eaten lunch to be suitably hungry for 14:45, and as we didn't stuff ourselves, we should be hungry again).

After this, we walked down through Covent Garden and past Charing Cross Station to pick up a bus on Whitehall.  We had just missed a 159, but an 88 came along almost at once, and we took that as far as Stockwell, when we changed on to a P5, and so home.  My new smartwatch boringly took ages to find the satellites, which isn't too surprising in an area like Seven Dials, but my new sandals are now worn in and as blissfully comfortable as the old ones!  

Dinosaur hunting

 Many years ago now, we took the Boy to Crystal Palace Park to look for dinosaurs.  Today, we took his brother.  Boy2 is 10 now, much older than his brother was when we went.  We had planned to catch a train from Brixton to Penge East, and then come home on the no 3 bus, but when we got to Brixton Station, the train said "Delayed", and the one on the opposite platform didn't seem to be going anywhere.  Citymapper told us that there was a big problem at Victoria with trespassers on the line, which had closed it to all traffic in and out of the area, and was not expected to reopen until 11:30.  It was now about 10:30, so we got a refund on Boy2's ticket and went on the no 3 bus, after all.

In many ways, this was a good idea, as the park slopes very steeply downhill from there, and if we'd gone the other way round, we would have had a great deal of uphill walking, which might be very good for me, but I do not enjoy.  

So we caught the bus and in due course arrived at Crystal Palace bus terminus.  We walked down through the park, passing various sphinxes en route.

 We would have liked to have visited the farm they keep there, but it appears to be part of a college now and no longer open to the public, as far as we could tell.  But it was not far from there until the first of the dinosaurs appeared, and we had a lovely walk down the lakes looking at them all (most photos on Facebook).  They aren't actually all dinosaurs - some are extinct mammals.  It was fun looking at the images on the placards we passed, showing how the Victorians thought the various animals might have looked, and how we now think they looked.  

Then we walked on past the café, and out of the park to Penge East station, which has a lovely waiting-room with a free library and piano!  We didn't have long to wait for our train, and then back to Brixton and lunch in Mama Lan!  

Out and About

The best day of the summer so far - and according to the weather forecasters, it will be the only one - so we thought we had better make the most of it!

The Swan Whisperer wanted to visit the new Battersea Power Station, so we caught a P5 up there; to be honest, I didn't think much of it - it's just an expensive shopping mall with extortionate restaurants! 

(Not my photo, by the way!) We had a look round, but then came away and had lunch in Wagamama.  I had suggested having lunch there the other day, but the Boy said it wasn't nearly as nice as it used to be - and he's quite right, it isn't!  And about twice the price it used to be, too - but they still do free green tea, which I do like.  

After which, we went to catch a bus to Clapham Junction as the Swan Whisperer needed new sandals and trainers and that is now our nearest branch of Clark's.  Of course, the nearest bus stop was closed, so we had to walk to the next one, but that didn't matter.  

Shoe-shopping successfully accomplished - I saw a pair of good winter shoes I rather coveted, so I might go back tomorrow, especially as I have a £10 Asda voucher to spend, although I couldn't be bothered to go to Asda today - we walked down to the ice-cream shop and I treated us to a cone each.  And then a bus home!  Not a massively exciting day, but at least different!

Young V&A and 10 Ages of London

The Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green is an old friend - we've taken the Boys at least twice.  But it has now reopened after having been closed for two years, now calling itself  Young V&A and I, for one, wanted to see what they had done to it.  The Boys are probably a bit old for it now - they are 13 and almost 10, but I thought, well, we can always snark....

We had originally been going to meet them at Liverpool Street Station at 11:20, but their mother said she'd gathered you really needed to be there before 11 if you weren't going to have to queue for hours, so we met them at 10:20 (the time their train comes in on the Overground) instead, and went straight to the Central Line for the one stop to Bethnal Green.  There was no queue to get in, but we were very glad we had gone so early, as on our way out, at nearly noon, the queue snaked about round the block!

The Swan Whisperer was desperate for coffee, so we went to the museum café first of all, and he and the Boys all had coffee while I, adequately caffeinated for one day, had fizzy water.  Then we set off to explore - the first gallery we went to was aimed at children learning their letters and colours.  Round the other side of that floor, there were a lot of familiar exhibits, mostly with rather dumbed-down captions, inviting visitors to imagine they were doing thus and so.   The Rachel Whiteread dolls houses are still there, in a section called "Small Worlds", and I think the original ones - the ones that used to be in the V&A until the 1970s - were still there, but I didn't see them.  There were also Sindys and Barbys, and lots of other dolls and miniature things.

Then we went up to the second floor where they had the Design Galleries, aimed slightly more at people the Boys' age; this had a lot of seemingly random things, but grouped by type - shedloads of scooters, including a Microscooter that had a built-in suitcase!  Then all kinds of other design objects, from clothes to toothbrushes!  The Boys were beginning to flag by then and needing what they will insist on calling "the bathroom" - I enquired whether they planned to have a bath!  We eventually all used the facilities and came away, very glad that we had gone so relatively early.  

It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, and certainly looks fresh and new, with a more airy feel to it.  I think I should like to go back on my own one day in term time so that I can take as long as I want to look at things.

The Boy had asked if we could have lunch in Spitalfields Market, so we got a bus there, and spent awhile wandering around the market and deciding what to eat.  Finally we settled on the pasta restaurant that Boy Two said he'd been to before and really liked, and after filling up on pasta, we went to find the place where they were doing rolled ice-cream, which the Boy badly wanted to try (so did I!); I did a video of one being made which I'll post on Facebook.  It was fun to watch the ice cream being made, but really, when push came to shove, it was just rather good ice-cream, really!

We then had to decide how to spend the afternoon.  I had read about a walk called the 10 ages of London and we decided to do that.  A quick bus down to London Bridge started the walk in prehistory - only the Thames is left from then, and it was very different.  Then the Romans - we enjoyed seeing where the Roman bridge was, and a model of the mediaeval bridge in the church of St Magnus the Martyr - there was also a piece of wood that they think was part of the original bridge and whose tree would have been alive in Jesus' day!  We walked past the office building that contains the Roman baths - not available to visit today - and up to All-Hallows-by-the-Tower  where we admired the Saxon arch. 

On past St Olave's with its three skulls above the gateway (mediaeval),

and then to St Andrew Undershaft for the Tudors.  

A brisk walk then, past Fenchurch Street station (none of us had been there before, and I was gutted that my photo of it didn't come out) and across Eastcheap to Pudding Lane (both the Boy and I wanted to call it Pudding Mill Lane, but that is somewhere different!) where the Great Fire of London infamously broke out, and out the other end to Monument.  This, of course, was the Stuart era.  

The guided walk suggested going on down to find the only pub that is said to have survived the Great Fire (and, of course, the Blitz), but both Boy Too and I had Had Enough by then, so we decided Monument would have to Do for the Stuarts, and we ended up walking up King William Street to the Bank junction, where we could see the Mansion House (Georgian) and the Royal Exchange (Victorian), and we decided that we had seen more than enough 20th- and 21st-century buildings to count!  So we got on a bus back to Liverpool Street Station, where we got some refreshments and then met the Daughter for a quick cup of tea before she took the Boys home, and we wearily clambered on to the next homebound 35.  Both of us fell asleep on the bus, and how the Swan Whisperer thinks he'll have the energy to go to dance club, I do not know!

Meanwhile, I have never put quite so many links in one blog post before!  There will be more photos on Facebook.

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!

A London walk, with grandsons

So we were on half-term grandparent duty today.  Their mother brought them down to Brixton Station, where the Swan Whisperer met them and brought them back to the flat and, after coffee (hot chocolate for Boy Two), they went off climbing, while I stayed at home.  When they had finished, they came back to the flat and picked me up, and we went into Brixton to have lunch.  The boys would have liked to have gone to Mama Lan again, but it turns out to be closed on Tuesdays.  This led us with the huge choice of restaurants that you can go to in Brixton, but as the boys love Mexican food, we finally ended up at Jalisco, where we had a delicious lunch.  I had a breakfast burrito, which is basically a wrap filled with scrambled egg and hash brown (and hot sauce) which came with a choice of toppings - I chose roasted vegetables.  It was delicious, but I couldn't finish it!  I also ordered a Virgin Mary, which was incredibly spicy!  It may not have had any vodka in it, but it was surely no virgin!!!

Anyway, after lunch we set off on a 159 bus to Parliament Square, and went for a walk.  I had given the Swan Whisperer a book of London walks for Christmas, and we went on the one that technically started and finished at Trafalgar Square, but went through Parliament Square and it was easier to start and finish more-or-less there.  It was a most enjoyable walk, even if I did keep stopping to take photographs.  Up Whitehall,

through Admiralty Arch, along the Mall, then up through Carlton Gardens to St James' Square, along Pall Mall, down Marlborough Street, and across St James' Park.  We then deviated from the walk proper to walk down to Tothill Street where there was a Prets and we stopped for refreshments.  From there, it was only five minutes' walk to the Daughter's offices (now in Church House Westminster), so we left the boys with her and caught a no 3 bus back to Brixton, largely so that we could see how the rebuilding of Lambeth Mission St Mary's is coming along!  

Most photos will be uploaded on Facebook.

More new railway adventures

So today I had arranged to go Christmas shopping with the Daughter at Westfield, Stratford.  Now, I have commented before on the myriad ways of getting between Brixton and Stratford, but now there is yet another way, which is to get the Northern Line to Tottenham Court Road and then the Elizabeth Line to Stratford.

Which is exactly what I did, although to my irritation I didn't see the lift and found myself going up far too many stairs to get to the very long passage between the lines; I dislike too many steps as I get breathless going up, and with my varifocals, don't see too well going down!  But I survived.

Of course, the new link isn't very interesting as it's all in a tunnel, but I hadn't done it before, so....

After our shopping and a coffee, I decided to go home the "sensible" way on the Central Line, changing to the Northern Line at Bank.  This is a totally different experience these days, as there is the new moving walkway between the lines

and with escalators either end, it is totally step-free, which is lovely.  Plus, of course, the Southbound Northern Line platform is now twice as wide as it was, which makes waiting for a train a whole lot nicer!  And I didn't have to wait very long, either, for a Northern Line train!

The new Bond Street and other stories

 Although the Elizabeth Line has been open for some months, Bond Street station didn't open until today.  And while we were on holiday, the new link between the DLR and the Northern Line at Bank opened, as did Battersea Power Station (which every Jodi Taylor fan knows is the Time Police HQ) and, I believe, a knew entrance to Knightsbridge station.

We do plan to go to Battersea Power Station very soon - it's a direct bus ride from here - but today was about the first two of these.  We started off by getting a bus to King's College Hospital where a friend is currently incarcerated after a fall.  After visiting her, we took another bus up to Elephant and Castle, and caught the Northern Line (neither of us has used this station before, as far as we are aware) to Bank, where we eventually found the rather shiny new escalators down to the DLR.  As we wanted to go on the Elizabeth Line, we took the DLR as far as Canary Wharf, and enjoyed seeing the Elizabeth Line station there, which apparently has roof gardens, which I decided not to bother visiting.  

The Elizabeth Line duly took us to Bond Street, where we admired the huge new station,

and then came out and had a snack in Prets.  I had their Chocolate Moose (sic) which I don't think I've had for nearly 20 years and every bit as delicious as I remember it!  And then just a short walk to Oxford Circus, where we got a Victoria Line train home.  At least, I did a bit of shopping, and the Swan Whisperer went off to do something else.  And so home.  

Trains, trains and more trains!

The Elizabeth Line opened while we were still away in Germany, so we missed the grand opening, and one way and another hadn't got round to visiting it yet.  The Daughter did use it on the first day, but the Boys hadn't.  Today, the older Boy had an Inset day, so his mother took a day's leave and exploring the Elizabeth Line was high on his list of things to do.  We met at Liverpool Street, and took the first train along to Paddington. 

At Paddington, we came out of the station because the Daughter wanted to see the clock where it looks as though a man rubs out and redraws the minute hand

and, presumably, the hour hand.  So we watched that for awhile and then headed back, this time all the way to Abbey Wood.  Such a pity Younger Nephew and his partner no longer live there.... 

So anyway, we thought it would be a bit dull just going back to Liverpool Street and, to be honest, there is very little to see.  So we didn't get out at Abbey Wood, but caught the next train back one stop, to Woolwich, which I'd never been to before, 

and then walked the few hundred metres to Woolwich Arsenal DLR, where we just caught a DLR train to Stratford International. 

It was lunch time by then, and the Boy wanted Mexican food, so we went to the food court in the Westfield, and the others all got Mexican food, but I got noodles as I'm not just so fond of Mexican.  The Swan Whisperer had to finish my helping, it was so huge!

After that, he went off and the Boy, the Daughter and I went round Westfield on a hunt for t-shirts for the Boy, who is just not quite big enough for x-small men but dislikes, with some justification, the pictures they will insist on putting on boys' t-shirts.  I don't think the shopping trip was a success!  I also wanted to go to Lakeland, which I did, but then was going to have an ice cream but the stall, which had been empty when I went into Lakeland, was rammed when I came out.

I thought I might take the Javelin to Paddington (okay I'd have to pay, but it's not that much), but it turned out I'd just missed one and the next wasn't for over half an hour, so I thought sod that for a game of soldiers and went back to the DLR station.  Changed at Canning Town on to the Jubilee Line and then at Canada Water to the Overground, and at Peckham Rye to a bus, which fortunately came along just as I reached the bus stop.  I was, and am, beyond tired, but it was a lovely day.

Stockwell Bus Garage Tour

Stockwell Bus Garage is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and, to celebrate, held an Open Day.  You could just go and potter round the garage, looking at the large variety of buses they had gathered for our delight,

plus an extremely large number of stalls selling bus memorabilia, but, as the Swan Whisperer said, we weren't keen enough to want to buy anything (although I was very tempted by a book on the nadir of Southdown Bus Services during the 1950s; those wonderful years when the buses crossed at Castle Goring Gates on the hour and the half-hour; the 9 going to Littlehampton on the half hour and the 10 to Arundel, and both buses going to Brighton on the way back!  But I digress.).  You could, however, also book a guided tour of the garage for a small fee, and the Swan Whisperer had managed to score practically the last available tickets just before we went away.

We gathered outside the Binfield Road entrance just before 2, and our names were checked off on the list.  The tour was absolutely fascinating; our tour guide, Ricardo, who has been a bus driver for 21 years, was knowledgeable and friendly.

  We started off in the check-in area, where drivers checked in for their shifts, and were shown the various notices of diversions, etc, they had to know about.  Then we went upstairs to the heart of operations - the iBus area.  We weren't allowed to take any photographs there for data protection reasons, but it was fascinating, as the controllers knew where all the buses were, and you got the occasional announcement from TfL headquarters saying that so-and-so routes were to be on diversion during an event in Central London that was just starting.... and the controllers could talk a driver who was not very confident through a diversion, and tell someone to wait for a few minutes if they were running late.  If there are fewer than 4 buses per hour they run to a timetable and shouldn't be more than 5 minutes late or 2 minutes early; if there are more than 4, they must leave a certain amount of headroom between buses (so you don't get half a dozen coming along at once).  And so on.

We were then shown the canteen - there is also a games room and a television lounge for drivers between shifts, although the canteen isn't open at night so night bus drivers have to provide their own food - there is no take-away service.  I asked whether there was a gym, but didn't get a very clear answer.

After the canteen, we went back downstairs and were shown the engineering areas, where the buses go in to be washed and cleaned after use,

and also where they go for their monthly inspections or if anything has gone wrong.  The drivers have a long checklist of things to look for every time they take a bus out, and if they are not all correct, the bus doesn't go.  All the engineers can service all the buses, and the drivers, too, are trained to drive all the various kinds.

The tour finished on the upper deck of an open-air bus, so we could see the famed ceiling of the garage, very avant-garde for its time.