Novelty Nicety Nineteen Ninety
The P5 started in November 1990 running from Elephant & Castle to Brixton. It served areas of London that had never had a bus before, with developments from the late 1950s and early 1970s added to much older terraced property.
A 1970s Mike Harris map shows plenty of empty space ...
... between Walworth Road and Camberwell New Road later filled with the P5.
This was the Brandon Estate accessed by a right hand turn from Walworth Road ...
... followed by a series of wiggles.
There is a mixture of development but the Brandon Estate itself was built in the 1950s
So about 70 years to wait for a bus service!
Crossing Camberwell New Road, we move into Wyatt's Field estate, again with a mixture of older and 1970s property.
Here residents only had to wait 50 years for a bus.
Akerman road takes us to Loughborough Junction station ...
... another fine example of "Southern" welcoming station architecture! And then to Brixton.
But Not so fast ...
There is an extra bit of road off Coldharbour lane (above, centre right) added to the later Mike Harris map.
It is unnamed but shows P5.
In passing note the pale orange line via Landor Road.
Loughborough Park, again, is a mixture of older and newer property.
Another 50 year delay before the buses served the newer building!
In May 1993 the P5 was extended in a loop ...
... via Landor Street, Clapham North station ...`
... and back via Acre Lane to Brixton.
In May 1999 the present two way route was adopted but only as far as Stockwell station ...
... an uninspiring 1971 rebuild to accommodate interchange with the Victoria line. It used to have a dome like Elephant and Castle.
The route from Brixton to Stockwell is along roads served by other bus routes so not virgin territory.
But, at last ...
... amid dancing in the streets of Nine Elms, massed bands and a huge celebratory parade (in your dreams, fbb; this is Transport for London!) route P5 reached Nine Elms.
A bit more red was added to Mike's bus map ...
... bringing the P5 to its present terminus under the former Eurostar bridge as teased by Ray Stenning.
The Patmore Estate gained it's very own bus ...
... after another 70 year wait! It's amother 1950s estate.
But by far the best bit of the P5's ride is the bridge under the South Western main line on Thessaly Road. Under the tracks is multicoloured ...
... and the bridge fascia is just fantastic!
A London double deck might not make it!
Who would have thought a humble London bus route could be sooooo interesting?
And a reminder of the full route for those who may have become a little disorientated!
There will be a couple of P5 P.S. items in tomorrows blog.
Next Variety blog : Saturday 4th May
"It's"??? The Patmore Estate needs to learn about punctuation!
ReplyDelete