The Zed Bus

Or at least that's what the temporary roadworks yesterday evening in the East Dulwich Road turned the 484 into.  Caused by a gas leak apparently, it meant that EDR became one-way westwards.  Hence the 484 I jumped onto at East Dulwich station had to divert.

And what a diversion it was.  We went all the way up Lordship Lane to Dulwich Library / The Plough, and then down Barry Rd.  And at each bus stop the driver stopped and explained to all and sundry what he was doing and how his new route worked.

Back at the Rye end of Barry Road, we went down the Rye to Nigel Rd, which was the first point where a right turn was legal.  And then back up the other side of the Rye. So it became the first bus to serve both sides of the Rye. Marvellous.

So I call it the Z-Bus.  If you squint at the new route it looks a bit like a backwards Z.

Like this:

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So finally we have a route that connects The Vale, Bishop, Plough, Clock House, Rye Hotel and Brockley Barge.  Just what the area needed, really. 

And it was making request stops at those places - or at least, when someone rang the bell it pulled up just outside the Rye Hotel, where there is no stop.  So it must be.

The 484 has a strange enough route anyway - at least near the Lewisham end. So I think they should stick with this.

Evening on the Rye

So I wandered out on to the Rye a few evenings ago.  The church spire is St John's by Goose Green.

This tree sits lonely in the middle of this part of the Rye.

The bark is interesting, close up.

Although the automatic flash rather ruined the textures in this shot - I didn't have a tripod with me.:

Getting darker.  The white building on the far right is the converted King's on the Rye pub.

And darker still.

This path cuts diagonally across the Rye, from broadly the Clock House to Nunhead Lane.

But by then it was so dark that a 343 bus on the East side just appeared as faint lights to the camera (on a normal setting).

Black Willow

I have been reliably informed (by someone who was told by someone who seemed to be an expert and was leading a tour) that this tree on Peckham Rye is a lonely black willow, or Salix Nigra. It is a lonely tree (sometimes called an orphan), because there are no other black willows near it, and hence it cannot breed and make little ones. Also, I gather it would need damper ground for any seeds to grow and fruit and stuff than it currently has - the Peck no longer keeps this end of the Rye damp and boggy as it presumably once did.

It is still a marvellous and statuesque, mature tree. I recommend it heartily. (Can you do that with a tree?)

Those who are interested will find it on the path across the Rye from the bottom of Barry Road (by The Clock House pub) that leads up to the cafe.