please empty your brain below
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Thank you for doing something I doubt anyone else would ever bother to do.
Hmm, walking all the bus routes... How far would that be?
Andrew | 06.10.17 - 7:31 a.m. | #
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Lovely narrative of a corner of London that few people understand!
Planner | 06.10.17 - 8:00 a.m. | #
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Vaping teens, hmm. When I took the 499 the only interesting thing I saw was a group of children who can't have been older than 10, smoking.
John | 06.10.17 - 8:28 a.m. | #
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Excellent stuff, thank you.
I love the notion that this is a part of London that wishes it wasn't.. so true of many areas in the hinterland.
Frank F | 06.10.17 - 8:31 a.m. | #
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Similar in a lot of respects to swathes of Croydon (Surrey) and Bromley (Kent). Neither of which I wish to visit as per this part of (formerly) Essex.
B | 06.10.17 - 8:38 a.m. | #
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I enjoyed that description of places I know (or knew, but I don't think they've changed much) well in my schooldays and a bit afterwards.
Pedantry: at any rate I think Crow Lane is slightly too far north to really be considered Rush Green: most of that neighbourhood is south of the road between Becontree Heath and Roneo Corner, and indeed a fair bit of it in Barking and Dagenham.
Pedantry 2: there were infrequent buses along Pettits Lane (South) before the 499. Off the top of my head (errors and omissions excluded....) these included the Blue Triangle 265 (linking Romford with Bulphan, which is even more a world apart from its surroundings than anywhere mentioned here), certain journeys on the 174, and the very odd Thames Weald minibus, generally driven by an eccentric retired professor, that linked Romford with Sevenoaks via lots of villages and that for ages was the only public transport through the Dartford Tunnel (no bridge back then...)
Bedfords Park is well worth a visit. I once had a summer job patrolling several of the parks and recreation grounds in this part of Havering, which was a fantastic way to absorb and experience the character of specific micro-neighbourhoods. Always had a soft spot for Rise Park.
Dominic H | 06.10.17 - 8:39 a.m. | #
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In some ways this area is an isolated island of white people, Green Belt north and east, Thames along the south, to the west it's 'all them foreigners'.
If they ever build the bridges across the Thames, it'll change the nature of the area, and Erith/Belvedere to the south.
Still anon | 06.10.17 - 8:52 a.m. | #
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What confusing lane markings on the A12 junction. Left for Petts; Right for PetC.
Not knowing the area, I wouldn't have a clue which way to turn !
Petras409 | 06.10.17 - 9:03 a.m. | #
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Great stuff. Love the "PETTS A12 A12 PET'S" photo.
Kevin | 06.10.17 - 9:22 a.m. | #
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@Still Anon
Have you been to Rainham? (South Hornchurch in Estate Agent speak)
Boxer | 06.10.17 - 9:26 a.m. | #
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The route history link is not right.
dg writes: Is now, thanks.
Michael Roberts | 06.10.17 - 9:33 a.m. | #
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"Thankyou" features three times. Is dg alluding to Romford's dialect or the local level of literacy?
dg writes: No, local levels of politeness.
James | 06.10.17 - 9:57 a.m. | #
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Er we don't all want to be in Essex, nor do we all vote differently, but a lot do.
The buses work quite well usually.
Havering Council is much maligned, but do a decent job despite the nutty councillors.
Running_Correspondent | 06.10.17 - 10:23 a.m. | #
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@Petras / Kevin
I was mystified too, but closer investigation on Google Street view reveals the truth.
"The driver has been instructed to wait at this bus stop for a short time to even out the service." ....only one stop from ... where the majority of passengers want to alight."
This is a common trick of bus operators to inconvenience passengers in order to meet TfL targets. The timing points at which performance is measured are at busy interchanges, but the measure of whether they are early or not is done by arrival time rather than departure time. I have several times missed connections to trains or other buses because of this practice. TfL should realise that nobody minds if a bus arrives at its destination early. (Leaving early is another matter entirely of course, but they don't measure that).
timbo | 06.10.17 - 10:31 a.m. | #
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What struck me about the whole article was the mention of conkers, do children in the UK still do that?
I think that's the first time I have thought about conkers in 54 years.
Michael | 06.10.17 - 10:36 a.m. | #
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I remember going to Bedfords Park when I was very young when the house still stood and there was a museum including stuffed birds. I had my tonsils removed in Victoria Hospital - I didn't know that was still there. Romford was the town to shop in from far away Hornchurch.I guess iit's a bit different there now.
Dave B | 06.10.17 - 10:42 a.m. | #
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Amen to timbo's point: teeth-grindingly infuriating to be 'evened-out' two stops short of the local rail station. Happens far too often.
David | 06.10.17 - 11:53 a.m. | #
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I still remember you taking the 499 three years ago when you took buses along Greater London border.
Patrickov | 06.10.17 - 12:09 p.m. | #
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Of course, the other side is that if a bus is going to have to wait time to avoid an "early departure" penalty, then a busy stop with loads of other buses calling may not be the best place to do so.
Malcolm | 06.10.17 - 1:56 p.m. | #
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A lovely piece that makes this blog a daily must read.
Thanks.
Chris | 06.10.17 - 3:38 p.m. | #
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Found myself reflecting on how (and why?) I am drawn to explore and use local shopping parades wherever they may be found ~ even though they may often be disappointing ~ to the same degree that I'm repelled by hellish shopping places like Bluewater.
Frank F | 06.10.17 - 5:21 p.m. | #
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The council notoriously recently had a vote (at the behest of a UKIP councillor) on whether Havering should cecede from London and go back to Essex. It was easily defeated (and of course had no actual legal standing anyway).
Nice piece anyway, it's a part of London I know very well - the photo of Heaton Avenue was taken almost from outside my parents' front door. Interesting (and true) point about the shopping parades. It certainly has its downsides (such as its extreme Brexit-ness) but there are certainly worse places to live.
Andrew Adams | 06.10.17 - 5:33 p.m. | #
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The whole notion that Havering wants to be part of Essex is untrue.
For anyone reading who doesnt know the area, most former Eastenders moved out this far due to greener space and close proximity to central London, thus having the best of both worlds ( good connections and large green spaces)
it has a higher white populations then many other parts of London, but has a mix of ethnicties, for example where i live the road is like the league of nations, chinese, Nigerian, English, Caribean, Persian t...its not perfect but where is in London... most teens from further in East London visit this way to Havering college
The ukip thing fell away very quickly, thank god a put the borough in a bad light...as a bunch of old east end pie and mash eating racists which is totally untrue.
Its a very Tory following round here for some reason
Ade | 06.10.17 - 5:54 p.m. | #
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The first photo is taken about 5 doors down from my front door! The 499 holds at the stop in Main Road as the second section of Pettits Lane is Hail and Ride and if no passengers alight then two minutes can easily be picked up. Check out London Buses QSI targets for Low Frequency routes - that's a bigger minefield than Bus Stop M....
Robert Taylor | 06.10.17 - 7:14 p.m. | #
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I have done the 499 from Becontree Heath all the way to Gallows Corner. Obviously you do have to be slightly mad to do so but it is a fascinating ride round the outer reaches of Havering. As your post suggests it is rather unlike other parts of London. Despite its circuitous nature the 499 is one of those rare London bus routes that is still gaining passengers so TfL seem to have got the design right.
PC | 08.10.17 - 11:06 a.m. | #
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