Wednesday 29 June 2011

The Number 191 Route

Wednesday 29 June 2011

This, the third bus of our day, was our first double decker, and we hopped on board at 11.35 after pausing to use the facilities of the Edmonton Green shopping centre.  We were headed to Brimsdown, which did not appear to be far away.  But that is as the crow flies, rather than as the 191 wanders (check it here), and on a couple of occasions we seemed to be heading back towards Edmonton Green rather than pushing eastwards.

Mary was on holiday, so it was Linda and me who were enjoying the excellent weather after yesterday's exciting and refreshing thunder storms.

We have always approved of the wording on Edmonton Green War Memorial: it says that it was erected by the people of Edmonton 'in loving and grateful memory of her sons who fell', rather than any reference to glory.  Turning right to skirt the bus station, we headed past the handsome terraced houses, before turing right down Bounces Road to pass St Edmund's Roman Catholic Primary School, which seems to have been faced with stone, as you will see if you glance at their website.

After being told off (very rightly) by Solar Penguin a few buses ago for carping at ungrammatical shop signs, I hesitate to mention 'Anything Goe's', but can't resist, and attach a photograph to show how odd it looks. I believe that Bernard Shaw operated without apostrophes as he said they were pointless.

We were interested in the pub name of 'The Cart Overthrown', but as usual the name of the pub is not explained on most pub websites.  This one, however, does say that it dates from at least 1752, when  it was known as the Overturned Cart (presumably a not uncommon occurrence as carters headed into and out of London and stopped for a pint or two).
We saw two advertisements for advertising hoarding space  today:  like this one.  I don't believe I have ever seen any before and wonder if it is a side effect of the recession.  But mostly we were in residential areas, with front gardens converted to car space.  The Harvesters Bible Church advertised itself with a quotation from the prophet Joel ('Thrust in the sickle') but its website is not very informative about what they are hoping to harvest.



As we came towards Ponders End, we could see the four large block of flats, each with its stripe of colour.  Then, passing Ponders End station, we turned left, away from our destination and towards Enfield.  Traffic was slow along Nag's Head Road (no relation to the one in Holloway), because of the traffic lights to get us across the A 1010 Hertford Road, so we had plenty of time to notice (though not to step off and retrieve) the duvet which someone had left at a bus stop.

Past Southbury station and heading towards Enfield Town station, we crossed the even more major A10.  George Spicer Primary School does not explain the origin of its name, so I feel free to wonder if it is named for the man who 'saw the Loch Ness Monster in 1933'  and started press interest.

There was a small and very duck-weed-y stream to our right, which proves to be part of the New River loop, confirmed as we passed New River House and later crossed the main stream of the New River.  A number of journeys have passed since we last reminded you of Sir Hugh Myddleton's great work, so here's the reference.

 Up Chase Side, we turned right at Lavender Hill (a surprisingly South London reference, we thought) to head eastwards along Carterhatch Lane, noting a rather grey and simple cemetery behind the houses, followed by substantial allotments.  Back over the A 10, we reached Eastfield Road where Albany School (as the bus refers to it) has now become an Oasis Academy.


Now we finally turned into Brimsdown Avenue, passing through former public housing, now developing variety in the hands of its new owners or landlords, and reaching The Izaak Walton Pub.  The great fisherman never seems to have got closer to here than Clerkenwell, but there are fishing opportunities in the reservoirs around Brimsdown, so it seems a reasonable name.

We were off our bus and onto Brimsdown Station platform by 12.50, the 75 minutes a testimony to the loopy nature of this route.

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