Bromley Classic Bus Mini Running Day

Sunday 8th December 2013

Prepared on Wordpad by Ian Smith, 13th December 2013

Late lunch: RF on the 227

227: Bromley Market Place to Chislehurst (RF429)

I joined RF429 at Bromley Market Place. We followed TD95 round the corner into West Street, then up to the junction of College Road and Tweedy Road, where we turned right to head for Bromley North Station, the TD still ahead of us.

We left the TD at Bromley North. Its crew were starting their lunch break. We headed down to the Town Hall, and turned left onto Widmore Road, the old 227 route. We had fewer passengers now. Along this section of road, no longer served by the 227, younger people were reluctant to try something "new". Old stagers were haoppy to renew their acquaintance with the RF.

We trundled eastwards, through Widmore Green, where several people could remember some buses turning, and on to Bickley and down the bank to Chislehurst Station. RF429 responded well to the challenge of Summer Hill, and we breasted the hill in fine style. We turned the corner at the War Memorial and coasted down into Chislehurst. We found Albany Road, and went round the block to the terminus - now Stop X.

227: Chislehurst to Penge (RF429)

We headed back, out across the Common, pursued by a 162, then up to the War Memorial and west through the trees to Summer Hill. We glided down the bank, and paused at the Station to make a pick-up. We climbed the west side of the valley to Bickley, and motored along to Bromley.

There, after the stop at The Glades (or whatever it is called now), we had to leave the route via the Market Square and turn right into West Street, to pick up outside Sainsbury's. We turned left into Tweedy Road, and left again into London Road to reach the Swan & Mitre, where we turned down Swan Hill past the stop where I used to catch the 227 to school.

We continued through Shortlands and Beckenham, and on along the road to Clock House, all the way enjoying the exchanges with our fortuitous passengers. We passed the old grammar school at the start of Penge, and crawled along the queue to the roadworks, before terminating at The Crooked Billet.

227: Penge to Bromley Town Hall (RF429)

We had been wondering where TD95 was. We had expected to pass it any time from Beckenham onwards. Just as we pulled away from the terminal it rolled up at the stop opposite. We busied our way back to Beckenham. At the Church the Citaro that had been following us pulled alongside, and the driver told Alan (our driver) that he could see something flapping underneath.

By the time we reached Bromley, after a hard pull up Swan Hill, we could detect exhaust fumes in the back of the bus. It seems that the flexible linkage on the exhaust pipe had come loose. The bus was due to terminate at Bromley North anyway, so the crew took the decision to take it out of service,, without doing the last rounder to Penge and back.

So from the Market Place, our official last stop, we continued along to Bromley Town Hall to drop off a partially-sighted lady. I alighted there too, and watched as the RF, now wearing Bromley Garage blinds, turned the corner onto Kentish Way and headed home.

Part 4: RM on the 94

All photos by Ian Smith. Click on any of them for a larger picture.

Back to Ian's Bus-stop Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4