A return to the River Thames Crossings today, following my
sojourn along the London Loop. As I’ve enjoyed my travelling into Essex so much
I’ve decided to return to cross the Queen Elizabeth II bridge between Purfleet
and Dartford using the Ensign X80 Bus between Lakeside and Bluewater and then
walk home from the first bus stop on the southern side of the river.
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| Railway Station |
To avoid having to wait at Lakeside for the an hour for the
19:00 bus I leave work early at 16:30 which will enable me to catch the 18:00
bus, but first I must catch a train to Chafford Hundred a “new town” created
during the late 1980’s early 1990’s, had it been built at the beginning of this
century I expect it would have been named Chave Hundred. I must admit I was
taken aback by the number of people of alighted the train at this small station
on a single track line that also serves Lakeside. Apparently more than half the
flats (in the estate) were repossessed during the early 1990s housing slump,
impacting it so significantly that prices fell by half.
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| Covered Bridge to Lakeside |
It’s a quick walk under the railway along a covered
footbridge down some stairs to enter the House of Fraser (the shop not the
undertakers from Dad’s Army) and entry into Lakeside shopping centre, or should
I say the Intu Lakeside Shopping Centre as it likes to brand it’s self.
I remember visiting the Shopping Centre when it opened in the early
90’s in the midst of the previous recession, there were lots of people there
but only window shopping, not many bags were in evidence. This evening it’s
quite being just before six, its had a face lift since I was last here, and as
far as Shopping Centre’s go it’s not in the same league as Bluewater, which
appears slightly more upmarket, if that’s possible for a Shopping Centre.
Bluewater has more exclusive stores whilst Lakeside has a lot of high street
names and a rare example of an HMV outlet. In typical Essex fashion plumb in
the middle of the main thoroughfare of the centre is a glitzy Champagne and
Cocktail bar with a huge cut glass chandelier (I doubt it’s cut glass).
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| Cocktail and Champagne Bar |
Tracking down the bus station was a feat of map reading as
its located behind Debenham’s at the far end of the centre. I wanted to get
there in plenty of time to ensure I got the top front seat so as to give me
uninterrupted views whilst crossing the Thames. I think I may have queue jumped
as I was the second person on board. Unfortunately the ticket machine was
playing up and I had to wait whilst the driver called up support from the
depot, well a small hut across the bus station. I ended up being the last one
on the bus. However, no one had taken the front seats so I had these all to
myself, all four of them and the front window was particularly large just right
for the wide vistas I was eagerly anticipating.
The downside however was the sun, which was extremely hot
and being intensified by the marvellously large window, it was like sitting in a greenhouse. I could hear other
passengers commenting on this as they moved to sit on the shady side of the
bus.
It’s a quick trip to the Bridge, just one stop on route, even
during the height of the rush hour on a Friday evening, our driver was
manoeuvring his bus to move into the left hand side lane, which took as behind
a three decker sheep transporter and even being in the confines of the bus I
could smell them. Travelling in that heat can’t have been nice, although they
did have the benefit of free flowing air as the sides where open. It was an
Italian lorry so I hope they were not going all the way to Italy.
I was not disappointed by the views which were immense up
and down the Thames and the hinterlands of both Essex and Kent. There were
large boats in the river a small yacht tacking backwards and forwards. Eurostar
and HS2 trains zoomed past on route for Paris and St Pancreas. There were power
stations, jetties, oil containers, and all manner of industrial building alongside the wider areas of marshland. The only downside was the traffic, big
lorries kept overtaking and my view to the right would be obstructed temporarily.
I was now in the hands of Google Maps to get me home, well
that’s not entirely true as I of course knew exactly where I was but normally
I’m here encased in a car. Google deemed it a good idea to direct me
along the A206 to Crayford where I could pick up the road that goes in a
straight line through Crayford, Bexleyheath and Welling and up Shooters Hill.
Unfortunately the A206 is a duel carriage way without any footpaths. I had to
negotiate my way around a series of new housing estates weaving in and out of
roads and paths trying to keep as close as possible to the A206. Finally I ran
out of alternatives and had no choice but to walk along the duel carriageway,
however, I was not alone as I passed a couple of people on route and there was a
pretty well defined path in the grass along the side of the road.
It was about 9 miles to get home and the trip was
uneventful, Bexleyheath was beginning to busy up for Friday evening, whilst the sky was beginning to darken as the storm clouds began to roll in . It was a race home to
beat the forthcoming storm. It finally broke as I was walking across Oxleas
Meadow with fork lightening and loud rumbles of thunder, the rain held off just
as I got home only to pass my daughter who was on her way out to watch the
storm with Flosi!
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