I. (c) Buses: Starting at Victoria again
Mar. 26th, 2014 09:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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flaneursA few weeks ago, I attempted another bus themed challenge (June Challenge: I (c)), using the same conditions as last time:
n = 9.
Start point = Opposite Westminster Cathedral, on Victoria Street, in London.
I got on the first bus that came along, and then got off at the 9th stop, and then got on the next bus that came along, and so on.
The first bus I got on was the 148 to Camberwell Green.
Westminster Cathedral - Westminster City Hall - New Scotland Yard - St Thomas' Hospital - Lower Marsh - Lambeth North Station - St George's Circus - Elephant & Castle / London Road for Southbank Uni - Elephant & Castle Station - Larcom Street
"Listen up folks! This bus is diverted due to a demonstration! Next stop is St Thomas' Hospital," the bus driver announced.
I looked up what demonstrations were happening and concluded it was for "Remember Fukushima", the nuclear meltdown in Japan that happened three years ago.
"Westminster Bridge is closed, Parliament Square is closed. If you need Parliament, you'll have to walk down," the bus driver announced.
The bus indicated it was stopping at New Scotland Yard, but it was nowhere near New Scotland Yard and did not stop. I counted this as a stop anyway. The bus took a detour down Artillery Row and past the colourful "4" outside the Channel 4 building. I remembered when I went inside the Channel 4 building, about five years ago, for a Girl Geek Dinners event. I remembered Maggie Philbin, former Tomorrow's World presenter, talking.
An asterisk appeared on the sign on the bus, like this:
*
The bus continued onwards, and then, suddenly, I could see the river. We crossed Lambeth Bridge then and there was a good view of the London Eye, so I took a very touristy photo from the bus. In the distance I could see the Gherkin and the Shard.
The bus went past the Garden Museum then and I thought briefly about the cucumber straighteners I could not find when I visited the museum. (Have you seen them?)
"Anyone for St Thomas' Hospital or Westminster Bridge, this is your stop!" announced the driver.
The bus continued onwards, and then stopped underneath a bridge at Waterloo, and then onwards again, to Lambeth North. I saw the church that I photographed the detail of on a tube walk last year: Christ Church & Upton Chapel.
I saw some pretty blossom trees after that, and then the bus went past Elephant & Castle:
Strata SE1:
Then after that, it was the 9th stop, so I got off the bus at Larcom Street. I saw a sign that said the Cuming Museum is closed, and I found out online that there was a fire there last year.
The first bus journey was a lot longer than expected.
The 12 to Dulwich Library is the second bus I get on.
Larcom Street - East Street - Westmoreland Road - Camberwell Road/Albany Road - Bowyer Place - Medlar Street - Camberwell Church St/Camberwell Green - St Giles' Church - Vestry Road - Peckham Road/Southampton Way.
The bus weaves its way past a wig shop with heads in the window, past piles of yams, past a Nigerian restaurant, past Banana's Bar, past a Ghanian restaurant, and then past Burgess Park, and I can see One Canada Square again. Then it goes past Camberwell Green, and onwards, and I can smell chips.
Just before the bus stops at the 9th stop - Peckham Road/Southampton Way, I notice an art gallery. I walk back from the bus-stop to the gallery and find it is the South London Gallery and an exhibition called Welcome to Iraq is on.
A leaflet says: Welcome to Iraq brings together a variety of media by eleven contemporary artists, almost all of whom live and work in Iraq. Works were selected to highlight the depth and breadth of artistic practice in Iraq, bus also to expose a shared emphasis on the nature of everyday life there, exemplified by a determination 'to make do and get by' and an inventiveness borne out of necessity in extraordinary historical circumstances."
I look at furniture made from woven pieces of tyre and some that are made from cardboard. There are cartoons too, and colourful textured pictures.
They serve traditional Iraqi biscuits in the exhibition and I eat one, and it tastes of cardamom.
I walk back to the bus-stop and get on the 345 to Peckham, but it terminates after 3 stops.
Peckham Road/Southampton Way - The Academy at Peckham - Peckham Library - Peckham Bus Station
I walk to the next bus stop and get on the 197 to Croydon, and start wondering ifkake or bob's bus challenges involved the 197.
Peckham Bus Station - The Aylesham Centre - Peckham Rye Station - Nigel Road - Peckham Rye/East Dulwich Road - The Gardens - Barry Road - Upland Road - Underhill Road - Goodrich Road
I hear a man singing about mighty God.
I see signs that say, "J'aime Peckham" and "Ja volim Peckham." I presume that each sign means something like, "I love Peckham", in different languages.
Peckham Palais:
The bus continues on, past Nigel Road and East Dulwich Road, and past a little monkey puzzle tree, many daffodils and what looks like an interesting carved tree.
I arrive at Goodrich Road, which seems quite suburban, and it seems like ages until the next bus comes. Just before it does, I notice street art on a wall and run across the road to photograph it:
I get on another 12 to Dulwich Library and this one actually takes me to Dulwich Library, as it is the next stop and where it terminates.
Goodrich Road - Dulwich Library
The next bus is the 176 to Penge, and the first stop is Upland Road, which I think a previous bus stopped at.
Dulwich Library - Upland Road - Overhill Road - Grove Tavern - Lordshop Lane/Wood Vale - Horniman Museum - Forest Hill Station/London Road - Dartmouth Road/Thorpewood Avenue - Sydenham Police Station - Sydenham-The Woodman.
The bus goes up Lordship Lane and I think about a party I went to there, many years ago now, and I remember eating breakfast afterwards.
The bus goes past the Horniman Museum, which is somewhere I keep meaning to go to again, but never seem to get around to.
The bus then goes past Forest Hill Station and is then in Sydenham. I get off the bus at the Woodman, which seems vaguely familiar.
The 122 to Crystal Palace is the last bus that I get on and I stay on it until it terminates at Crystal Palace.
Sydenham-The Woodman - Peak Hill - Sydenham Station/Kirkdale - Sydenham Station/Westwood Hill - Sydenham High School - Charleville Circus - Crystal Palace Park Road - Crystal Palace Parade
In total, I went on 7 buses and travelled for about 13 miles, and it took about 2.5 hours (including a break for visiting the art gallery). This is actually similar to the last bus challenge, where I also went on 7 buses, travelled for 14 miles, and it took about 2.5 hours.
My journey was almost entirely south of the river and each bus I went on continued south. This was quite different to last time where I ended up going round in a circle and didn't go south of the river.
Map of my bus journeys.
n = 9.
Start point = Opposite Westminster Cathedral, on Victoria Street, in London.
I got on the first bus that came along, and then got off at the 9th stop, and then got on the next bus that came along, and so on.
The first bus I got on was the 148 to Camberwell Green.
Westminster Cathedral - Westminster City Hall - New Scotland Yard - St Thomas' Hospital - Lower Marsh - Lambeth North Station - St George's Circus - Elephant & Castle / London Road for Southbank Uni - Elephant & Castle Station - Larcom Street
"Listen up folks! This bus is diverted due to a demonstration! Next stop is St Thomas' Hospital," the bus driver announced.
I looked up what demonstrations were happening and concluded it was for "Remember Fukushima", the nuclear meltdown in Japan that happened three years ago.
"Westminster Bridge is closed, Parliament Square is closed. If you need Parliament, you'll have to walk down," the bus driver announced.
The bus indicated it was stopping at New Scotland Yard, but it was nowhere near New Scotland Yard and did not stop. I counted this as a stop anyway. The bus took a detour down Artillery Row and past the colourful "4" outside the Channel 4 building. I remembered when I went inside the Channel 4 building, about five years ago, for a Girl Geek Dinners event. I remembered Maggie Philbin, former Tomorrow's World presenter, talking.
An asterisk appeared on the sign on the bus, like this:
*
The bus continued onwards, and then, suddenly, I could see the river. We crossed Lambeth Bridge then and there was a good view of the London Eye, so I took a very touristy photo from the bus. In the distance I could see the Gherkin and the Shard.
The bus went past the Garden Museum then and I thought briefly about the cucumber straighteners I could not find when I visited the museum. (Have you seen them?)
"Anyone for St Thomas' Hospital or Westminster Bridge, this is your stop!" announced the driver.
The bus continued onwards, and then stopped underneath a bridge at Waterloo, and then onwards again, to Lambeth North. I saw the church that I photographed the detail of on a tube walk last year: Christ Church & Upton Chapel.
I saw some pretty blossom trees after that, and then the bus went past Elephant & Castle:
Strata SE1:
Then after that, it was the 9th stop, so I got off the bus at Larcom Street. I saw a sign that said the Cuming Museum is closed, and I found out online that there was a fire there last year.
The first bus journey was a lot longer than expected.
The 12 to Dulwich Library is the second bus I get on.
Larcom Street - East Street - Westmoreland Road - Camberwell Road/Albany Road - Bowyer Place - Medlar Street - Camberwell Church St/Camberwell Green - St Giles' Church - Vestry Road - Peckham Road/Southampton Way.
The bus weaves its way past a wig shop with heads in the window, past piles of yams, past a Nigerian restaurant, past Banana's Bar, past a Ghanian restaurant, and then past Burgess Park, and I can see One Canada Square again. Then it goes past Camberwell Green, and onwards, and I can smell chips.
Just before the bus stops at the 9th stop - Peckham Road/Southampton Way, I notice an art gallery. I walk back from the bus-stop to the gallery and find it is the South London Gallery and an exhibition called Welcome to Iraq is on.
A leaflet says: Welcome to Iraq brings together a variety of media by eleven contemporary artists, almost all of whom live and work in Iraq. Works were selected to highlight the depth and breadth of artistic practice in Iraq, bus also to expose a shared emphasis on the nature of everyday life there, exemplified by a determination 'to make do and get by' and an inventiveness borne out of necessity in extraordinary historical circumstances."
I look at furniture made from woven pieces of tyre and some that are made from cardboard. There are cartoons too, and colourful textured pictures.
They serve traditional Iraqi biscuits in the exhibition and I eat one, and it tastes of cardamom.
I walk back to the bus-stop and get on the 345 to Peckham, but it terminates after 3 stops.
Peckham Road/Southampton Way - The Academy at Peckham - Peckham Library - Peckham Bus Station
I walk to the next bus stop and get on the 197 to Croydon, and start wondering if
kake or bob's bus challenges involved the 197.Peckham Bus Station - The Aylesham Centre - Peckham Rye Station - Nigel Road - Peckham Rye/East Dulwich Road - The Gardens - Barry Road - Upland Road - Underhill Road - Goodrich Road
I hear a man singing about mighty God.
I see signs that say, "J'aime Peckham" and "Ja volim Peckham." I presume that each sign means something like, "I love Peckham", in different languages.
Peckham Palais:
The bus continues on, past Nigel Road and East Dulwich Road, and past a little monkey puzzle tree, many daffodils and what looks like an interesting carved tree.
I arrive at Goodrich Road, which seems quite suburban, and it seems like ages until the next bus comes. Just before it does, I notice street art on a wall and run across the road to photograph it:
I get on another 12 to Dulwich Library and this one actually takes me to Dulwich Library, as it is the next stop and where it terminates.
Goodrich Road - Dulwich Library
The next bus is the 176 to Penge, and the first stop is Upland Road, which I think a previous bus stopped at.
Dulwich Library - Upland Road - Overhill Road - Grove Tavern - Lordshop Lane/Wood Vale - Horniman Museum - Forest Hill Station/London Road - Dartmouth Road/Thorpewood Avenue - Sydenham Police Station - Sydenham-The Woodman.
The bus goes up Lordship Lane and I think about a party I went to there, many years ago now, and I remember eating breakfast afterwards.
The bus goes past the Horniman Museum, which is somewhere I keep meaning to go to again, but never seem to get around to.
The bus then goes past Forest Hill Station and is then in Sydenham. I get off the bus at the Woodman, which seems vaguely familiar.
The 122 to Crystal Palace is the last bus that I get on and I stay on it until it terminates at Crystal Palace.
Sydenham-The Woodman - Peak Hill - Sydenham Station/Kirkdale - Sydenham Station/Westwood Hill - Sydenham High School - Charleville Circus - Crystal Palace Park Road - Crystal Palace Parade
In total, I went on 7 buses and travelled for about 13 miles, and it took about 2.5 hours (including a break for visiting the art gallery). This is actually similar to the last bus challenge, where I also went on 7 buses, travelled for 14 miles, and it took about 2.5 hours.
My journey was almost entirely south of the river and each bus I went on continued south. This was quite different to last time where I ended up going round in a circle and didn't go south of the river.
Map of my bus journeys.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-27 09:50 am (UTC)I love how different your journeys are. I wonder what my superimposed maps will look like after 10 years of doing the challenge from the same spot. (Though maybe by then the road will have been pedestrianised and I'll have to pick a different starting point. I would like it if they pedestrianised that part of the road.)
Neither of my bus flâns so far have involved the 197!
I like the street art photo, with the tree and its shadow framing the actual art.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-27 05:53 pm (UTC)Interesting journey, thank you for sharing.
(C&P from personal journal.)