Festive Revelation At Falcon Road
A street walk from one side of Clapham Junction station to the other would take you via Falcon Road. In general terms it was not a very attractive environment for a stroll!
Until now, that is.
Ever changing coloured lighting has been installed plus stove enamelled decorative panels on the walls. The pictures were taken when the road was closed to traffic for the official launch.
The bridge is now named officially ...
... and is a vast improvement on the previous gloom!
The wall panels were made by Isle of Wight firm, A J Wells, also renowned for London Underground signage. Peter Wells was a regular preacher at the fbbs' IoW church and Peter's boy, Alex, is a good friend of the fbbs No 1 son. All Peter's progeny have, at various times, been regular attendees at the fbbs' Bible groups. A J Wells has always been run on Christian principles.
They do excellent stove enamelling and also make excellent stoves!
Back To The 344
This route is relatively new in the lengthy near-century of London Transport history.
The story begins with route 44. which, in 1950 replaced Trolleybus 612 ...
... seen here at its Battersea terminus.
It's ancestor, Tram 12 which only ran to Wandsworth.
Bus 44 ...
... ran every 5 to 6 minutes Monday to Friday, slightly less frequently on Saturdays and every 10 on Sundays.
In May 1991 the 44 was cut back to run from Vauxhall to Tooting and a new 344 was introduced to cover the deleted bit.
The 344 ran, and still runs, from Liverpool Street to Clapham Junction.
The route must have been successful ...
Best not try to cope with the 344 map on the TfL web site.
Ian Armstrong tells us that the 344 has had a wide variety of rolling stock. In its early days it enjoyed (?) diddy midi buses.
... as it now runs a 24 hour service, every TEN minutes at night!
The daytime service is designated as "frequent", which means the timetable may well be fictional - whilst maintaining a frequency of less than every 10.
The timetable terminus is opposite the exit of the shopping arcade at Clapham Junction ...
... as seen in this map extract.
Here is the alighting stop c/o Google Maps.
After disposing of its passengers, the 344 trots off to its little "stacking" area.
It picks up outside the arcade.
Also terminating and picking up, like the 344, are two night services.
The N19 is much less frequent than the 344.
Also a night time terminator is the N31 ...
... sharing a joint frequency with part of the N28.
So there are plenty of night travel options from Clapham Junction!
There are, of course, other stops on Falcon Road and Grant Road. The ever helpful London Buses does not now produce a 'Spider' map for Clapham Junction, so unravelling what stops where is always a challenge for the non expert.
So best of luck if you are intending to change from train to bus or bus to bus.
Thanks TfL!
It Did Set
The station fence did stick to the wodge of foliage-encrusted hillside.
Latest carriage to join the Peterville collection ...
... is a bit of mystery.
Tomorrow we expect to go to the North West of England ...
... or is it Australia?
Next Pot hole house blog : thu 29 Oct
Re the 344: one day last year I was in the area when heavy rain suddenly started. I was up St John's Hill near the 344 stop and one appeared. So I boarded with my ENCTS card and went upstairs. I was the only passenger.
ReplyDeleteJust before the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill the driver stopped and switched off the engine, then came upstairs to ask where I was going. I was vague so she asked if I was going to Vauxhall and I agreed. She then said she had been told to go directly to Vauxhall out of service and continue from there. I must have pulled a face because she said I could stay on till Vauxhall even though she would be running non-stop and off route. That suited me very well - my private double-decker - even though the rain prevented any forward view, but luckily it did abate before Vauxhall.
AHEM!! Bus timetables are never "fictional"; they provide the wherewithal for ALL bus services to be operated, and allow controlling staff, on a "minute by minute" basis, to rectify any problems and provide a decent service to the travelling public.
ReplyDeleteWithout a timetable, there would be anarchy!!
The 44 bus replaced both the 612 trolleybus (Mitcham-Battersea) and the 12 tram (Wandsworth-Borough). Until 1937 the 12 tram had operated Mitcham-Borough and the intention had been to extend the 612 on to Borough at a later date; but the War intervened and the overlapping services remained until both were replaced by the 44. This enabled Wandsworth Depot to do away with all electric traction (it had been a mixed tram and trolleybus depot).
ReplyDelete