On the busses

On Monday I was privileged to to accompany Jo, Linda and Mary on two of their busses. Jo and I made our way to the middle of a street by the Thames in Pimlico, just opposite the old Battersea Power station, meeting Mary at one end of Vauxhall bridge, and Linda at the 24 head stop. Apparently that is the proper name for the bus stop at the end of a bus route.

The plan had been to get the 24 all the way to the other end at Hampstead Heath, and then get the 168 back all the way south to Old Kent Road. However, it turned out due to an accident in Tottenham Court Road, the 24s were not going beyond Victoria. We got kicked off there, and were faced with a potential rules crises. Jo, displaying a frightening knowledge of the London bus network, almost immediately suggested that we could get the C2 from Victoria to the other side of the Heath, and then walk across to the 168 head stop and so salvage some of the day.

Speaking of the rules of their busses odyssey, they can do other busses out of order, but are only allowed to add them to the blog in order. So, since the C busses will only appear after all the numbered busses, and the As and the Bs, that bit of the trip will probably get blogged in about 5 years time. Who know what the rules say if the route if modified in the mean time?

Having walked across the park, we found not only 168 busses, but also plenty of 24s, and the news that the route was now clear. (Actually, the busses going south use Gower street, not Tottenham Court Road.) So, in the event we were able to complete the rest of the 24 route in reverse, finishing at Victoria, from where Jo and I went to Oxford Circus for a very nice Curry at the Kerala.

It's a strange hobby, but it keeps my mother out of mischief of a Monday and it was nice to be able to share it with her. Being a geek, I hope I can be there when they do the 42 route. And I am pleased I persuaded my mother to blog. Now that I have added a hit counter to their site (thanks to http://www.statcounter.com/) we will be able to see whether anyone is interested, or whether the only visitors are friends and family, or people trying to find travel information. I have now also added a little search form to let people easily find TfL bus route maps from the blog.