Gipsy Hill By The "New" 322

 But First ...

The block of flats, Pear Tree House, looks innocuous enough, but if you peered over the hedge you might espy an unusual base to the block.

It was planned as a nuclear war control room. By the time the building was finished, Government Policy had changed several times and the secret nuclear war control room was never used. It became a Local Authority store and is now disused. 

Presumably Gipsy Hill is no longer considered a worthwhile target by Mr Putin and his chums.

And Second ...

Another example of the identity crisis of the step-free access to part of the station. What's wrong with Salisbury Road, fbb wonders. People with reduced mobility will surely enjoy the extra and unnecessary few yards taken to avoid the direct route.

And So To The 322 ...

... which replaced route 2 with some extra wiggles. The N2 still follows the direct route from West Norwood to Gipsy Hill.

The 2A variant served a bit of Rosendale (via Robson Road) usually on the 172 route.

It now forms part of the 322 wiggles.

Once upon a time the Mayor of Manchester, one Andy Burnham, (whatever happened to him?) was proud to announce that he wanted his buses to be "just like in London". They turned out yellow instead or red!

Whilst the route of the 322 around Gipsy Hill has been stable since it arrived in 1992, there have been many changes of operator. 

Here they are, listed courtesy if the superb Ian Armstrong London Buses web site.

1992 - Arriva

Branded Connexions.

2000 - Connex - as ill-fated in bus as in rail!

2005 - London Central

2010 - Abellio (Dutch State Railways)

2015 - GoAhead

2022 - Abellio, playing swapsies!

2023 - Transport UK, Management buy out of Abellio!

2026 - GoAhead - more swapsies!

That is SEVEN changes of operator during the relatively short life of this service.

How much has that cost the operators concerned?

Who pays, ultimately?

Surely the cost ultimately falls in the Council Tax payers of London.

Is that extra operator change cost a good use of Municipal Money?

Is that how the former Mayor of Manchester wanted to serve his voters?

The predecessor of the 322, namely route 2, was run by an organisation called "London Transport" for all of its life (most of its life) from 1934 to 1992.

That is getting on for sixty years of stability ...

... with sone impressive innovation mixed in.

Which system is best for the passengers?

For the record, and courtesy of Robert Munster, here us a sample from the 322 timetable.

The Monday to Saturday daytime frequency is every 15 minutes.

 Next Bargain Basement blog : Friday 24th July 

Gipsy Hill - A P.S.

The Useful Spider?

A very youthful fbb was wholly ignorant of the origins of a little ditty sung to him by his mother as part of his happy childhood. The narrative involved a spider climbing up a spout and, tragically, being washed therefrom by meteorological precipitation. But the denouement was more encouraging for any passing arachnid. The sun came out, shining brightly, and the spider was able to re-ascend the drainage device with renewed and repetitive enthusiasm.

Little did fbb realise that the delightful ditty was originally penned by Frank Pick, chief executive and publicity guru in the early days of London Transport 《1933 to 1940).

Thanks to an anonymous donor, fbb has obtained Frank's original words.

Sadly it would be many years until London Buses was able to turn Frank's powerful verse unto a highly practical contribution to bus travel in the Metropolis. The first "Spider" maps appeared in 2002 and were greeted with a certain amount of acclaim by bus passengers.

Sadly, London Buses' enthusiasm for the genre has waned in recent years with the number of locations infested by "Spiders" now dramatically reduced. There is now no "Spider" for Gipsy Hill.

Shame!

Amazingly, fbb was eventually able to find a piece of ancient arachnid cartography for Gipsy Hill station.

It is posted on-line by Swansea University! Who else would be interested in this fascinating backwater of rail and bus transport in the Capital?

For his readers' education and excitement, fbb will publish it in two complementary sections; north eastbound from Gipsy Hill ...

... and Westbound via Crystal Palace.

You would have to admit than neither map is overburdening the potential user with too much information! But there are not a lot of buses at Gipsy Hill and only one that stops at the station.

Service 322, two stops to Crystal Palace, is reached by hanging a left as you exit the uncluttered station building.

For more entertaining treks towards Clapham Common, you cross Gipsy Hill (the road that gives its name to the station) and aim for the petrol station.

On the way, you will pass an understated and subtle reminder of where you are and where you might go.

With huge team effort from Friends of Gipsy Hill, artist Lionel Stanhope, Southern Rail and epic supporters Network Rail, SE19 got a bright and joyful mural on the station bridge on Gipsy Hill in the summer of 2020. This was a community project at all stages, from concept, to wording and colour schemes and even funding.

Trained as a sign writer, Lionel Stanhope lives in nearby Brockley and paints murals on the railway across London, working with Network Rail. His first vintage railway-style sign appeared in Herne Hill, and since then community groups like Friends of Gipsy Hill have crowd-funded to bring similar signs to communities across the capital.

The nearest current "Spider" to include Gipsy Hill is that for Crystal Palace from which fbb includes an extract.

It is fair to say that fbb has never been an expert in the design and philosophy of "Spider" maps. But on the full size version of the above, fbb spotted a new icon.

It looks like a demented, short sighted, black haired chicken. It goes with a London Underground roundel.

Can you guess what it means? fbb could not guess!

Here us what it we are told:-

What's wrong with a white on black roundel clasped by a stylised moon?

A bus passing Gipsy Hill station did not exist until 1992. That year the long-standing and long running-time route 2 from Golders Green to Crystal Palace ...

... was withdrawn. Its "replacement" was the current 322 which followed a more wiggly itinerary. To add to the fun, there was also a 2A and a 2B providing a complicated and frequent group of services.

Tomorrow, fbb will look at the 322.

Meanwhile, this block of flats is not far from Gipsy Hill station ...

... which, within its curtilage, hides a scary secret. More tomorrow.

Definitely not a secret are the next two pictures.

As you can see ...

... they both lay claim to being Gipsy Hill. As the lower picture us clearly a postcard of Southall station we can be sure that neither is our good friend close to Crystal Palace.

Neither is this ...

... unless Southern is testing a secret train design!

Isn't the internet wonderfully (un)helpful?

 Next Gipsy Hill bus blog : Thurs 23 July 

Gipsy Hill's New Look (Part 2)

Not Just Recent Changes

Careful observation reveals pretty icons for 'shelter' and one such can be seen in the distance in this view of Platform 1, for services to London termini. 

But the block with toilets and waiting room ...

... clearly also offers shelter. In the good old days both platforms had canopies, but if you are travelling eastbound these days ...

... your canopy as illustrated here is now a thing of the past. But you do have a couple of mini bus shelters.

Look at the footbridge ...

... in the past and now fitted with new overall roof.

There are no lifts, but it appears that there is a step free access to Platform 1 only; OK if you are travelling TO London ...

... but you are stuck with steps on the way back! The step free access is a bit odd as it seems to be a bit of an afterthought. At one time it was via bike stands and bins.

It now has proper signs in heritage colours.

The exit is signposted from the platforms ...

... and to the buses.

But there is a bit of an identity problem with this exit.

There are parallel roads adjacent to this side entrance.

Is it Salisbury Road ...

... Alexandra Drive or even Mountbatten Close? And what's the point of having barriers if you can get in or out avoiding them completely?

Here is a view showing both parallel roads looking towards the bike sheds.

Notice the big station sign in Southern Green?

That is beside the "Station Garden" between the station building on Platform 1 and the parallel Salisbury Road. This is part of the excellent work of the station's "Friends" ...

... which had a Fete a few days ago ...

... and has just opened a Petanque (a k a Boules) rink/court/alley for the delectation of the locals.

Nice!

There are plenty of trains at Gipsy Hill ...

... with each service running every 30 min. The xx58/28 from London Bridge is shown in full on another table.

Six trains an hour in both directions seems a good service.

Innit?

But what about those buses?

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 Next Gipsy Hill blog : Weds 22nd July