London Buses
In the two and a half days or so, that I spent in London, I used the buses a lot. They worked well, especially, as the information at stops, generally allows you to choose the right bus for your journey with ease. There is one thing, that I’d like to see and that is some form of route map actually on the buses, so that if you are unfamiliar with the route, you can make the right decision about which stops to use. I think this is often brought about, by the fact that I’m unable to recognise where I am from the lower deck of a bus.
But I can still use the top deck, as this picture of the inside of a Routemaster on Route 15 shows.
Top Deck of a Routemaster
Stranglely as a child, I didn’t travel on these iconic buses very often, as they weren’t introduced into the suburbs, like Cockfosters where I lived, until after I left. The first place I saw them was at Wood Green, where they replaced the trolley buses.
But when C and our young family lived in St. John’s Wood, we used them extensively to get around London. It may surprise people to read that we could manage three small children and a large double pushchair with ease on these buses. But then in those days, it was either use the bus or walk! Or in C’s case push!
I should say that on my trip from Trafalgar Square to St. Pauls on the Routemaster, I had no difficulties with the stairs. So that was another victory against the Devil!
Exchange at Whitechapel
On Friday morning, I walked from the Raj Hotel in the Essex Road through de Beauvoir Town to Dalston Junction Station to catch the East London Line. It was a pleasant walk through one of the most unusual and pleasant parts of London and I was using the train to go to the Museum of London after a change at Whitechapel to the Hammersmith and City Line for Barbican.
The simple change took me longer than it should, as in the first place, signage from the East London line to the Hammersmith and City wasn’t good, a train indicator board was broken and then I had to wait some time for a train. I did talk to someone on the platform and he was helpful and acknowledged the problem. I hope it improves, as it will become an important link between the Overground and the Underground.
I should say that I’ve used Whitechapel for years and it really isn’t any worse than it was when my granddaughter was born in the London Hospital. I suspect there’s a lot of problems because the interchange is where it is, with pavements and a street market outside and limited space inside.
I would also suspect that as Whitechapel Station is going to be a major interchange on CrossRail, that the problems I encountered will be designed out in the years to come.
Traffic News
Lying in my comfortable hotel bed on Friday morning watching the BBC Breakfast program for London, I suddenly realised that I no longer need traffic news, as effectively I can’t drive, so it’s somebody else’s problem!
Will I ever drive again? Perhaps I will and perhaps I won’t!
An Unusual and Good Hotel
It wouldn’t suit everybody, but for someone, who needs an affordable place to put their head down in Islington, I can recommend the place where I spent, Thursday and Friday night, The Raj Hotel in the Essex Road. I paid £60 for the total of the two nights and I had a cosy room with a very modern and clean shower/bathroom, a choice of two comfortable beds, where I slept well, a Freeview TV and a light breakfast. The staff incidentally, were everything you could expect in a small hotel. Something that is often lacking in other hotels!
Judging by the people at breakfast on the Friday, a couple of single women were staying, which is always a test of value and quality.
On the Friday night, I also sampled the food, which was excellent and proper Bangladeshi food with lots of flavour. I paid just under £10 for a chicken tikka, trimmings and a Coke.
Tommy Miah, who owns this hotel and also one in Edinburgh, may be starting a revolution here. Will we be seeing affordable and clean Indian-themed hotels, possibly attached to good restaurants, springing up all over the UK? I surely hope so, as there is a vast gap in the marketplace.
I shall certainly be staying again. If I ever get to buy a house nearby the hotel, I will probably use the restaurant again.
The Anonymous Widower 