Immediately it was obvious that the view forward (from the seats) was much bigger on the Leyland National. We turned left to pass Dorking Station and head into the Mole Gap. We passed Burford Bridge and wound along the split-level dual carriageway through the woods.
We wriggled through Leatherhead, and followed the A243 parallel to the M25 for a way, before diving under the motorway to reach a roundabout. We took neither the M25 turn-off (Junction5) nor the A244 to Esher, but headed north along the A243 through the edge of The Forest.
We roared along the straight main road through the countryside. We passed Malden Rushett, then Chessington World of Adventures. The suburbia of Chessington and Hook then draped itself around us. We stopped at a bus stop with lay-by in Hook, before heading up the dual carriageaway to the big roundabout over the A3.
There we cut short our Luton-ward trip, and turned round the roundabout to pull up at the southbound stop. We changed drivers, Eddie Knorn taking over for the southbound trip. The blinds were reset to Dorking too, and we were away, back the way we had come.
We paused at the Chessington WoA stop, then headed on out into the country. We dived under the M25 again to re-enter the twists and turns of Leatherhead.
Then came one of those unplanned delights that make your day. As we negotiated the traffic lights in Leatherhead we came upon RTW75 waiting at the lights, heading for Epsom on a late 93. Magic moment.
We went on through Leatherhead and back towards Dorking. We passed down the narrow upper half of the dual carriageway to Burford Bridge, and on past Dorking Station to Dorking Pippbrook. Another excellent ride.
Now it was time to have a last look round and watch the late departures before catching my own bus home...
All photos by Ian Smith. Click on most of them for a larger picture.
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Part 5
Part 7: Heading home