June challenge I. (c) Buses: From West Croydon to Cheam

[kake]

bob and I decided to make simultaneous attempts at Theme I: Buses, starting from the same bus stop at the same time but with different values of n. I chose n=5, he chose n=6.

We began on a Saturday late morning at West Croydon Station; our first bus was the 289 to Purley, which confused me slightly, since it was going north and Purley is south from here (it makes a u-turn a bit further along the route).

I jumped off at Croydon University Hospital, leaving bob to stay on for an extra stop; I then got on a 60 to Streatham, and moments later sailed past bob waiting at Thornton Heath Pond (which, sadly, is no longer a pond but a roundabout). My bus then promptly got stuck behind some rather selfish car drivers.

The 60 takes a rather circuitous route to Streatham, so I was quickly sidetracked off towards Mitcham and then Sutton. Sutton being something of a bus attractor, I did wonder if I would end up circling around it for ever. This was the point at which I realised I would soon need the loo, so I decided that my terminating condition would be reaching a bus stop from which I could see a pub.

Finally escaping Sutton, I realised as I neared Cheam that I would quite possibly end up at the bus stop opposite the Prince of Wales, a pub which I'd previously visited and liked. And I did! So my flânage ended with a wee, a pint of Doom Bar, and a mushroom and brie sandwich.

Here is a Google map of my journey, and here is my Flickr photoset. I will leave bob to report on his journey, but just as a teaser: it took a completely different route in terms of both geography and topology. bob never got around to writing a trip report, but here's his Google map.