Thank you, this was well worth doing and well worth watching! WRT unoccupied Bishop's Ave properties, at least one saw an extended Xmas/New Year squat party in the mid '80s, the stuff of legend \m/
It would be interesting to know why so many of the properties in that area or empty ... is it because they are bought as investment properties by people who have no intention of living in them, but can just use them to launder money, or is it because there are not enough people around willing to pay stupid money to own a house several times bigger than they could possibly have a use for ...
I don't live in London, so when I visit I make the most of all the public transport I can. One time, I decided to go out of my way to do sister route H2, and it was honestly a very fun experience. The tiny Optare Solo SR seemed so out of place in London, and it's amazing how such a small (for the UK!) bus route runs every 7-8 minutes and still gets popular. Some of the roads were very tight, and it was my first Hail and Ride experience. I would love to try the H3 someday! Great video.
I haven't been down The Bishops Avenue for a long time. Last I heard, a lot of the houses were pretty much derelict. Maybe that's just the East Finchley end. Quite a few were just bolt-holes for wealthy Arabs to stay when they came over to have the fun they're not allowed to in their home countries. They were crazy! You'd go into their houses and they'd dump an entire forest of 'herbs' on the table and tell you to help yourself. Then it was off to a club to meet ladies. One guy used to park illegally outside Harrods because he'd rather pay the fine than walk a couple of minutes. The amount of parking fines those guys racked up. I don't think most, if any, were ever paid. Crazy times! I always thought it was strange that buses were driving down it, but now I think about it, it's a long-ish road so I imagine it's used by the people who work in the houses, which would explain why it runs infrequently.
I think the only reason this gets to shuttle the poor through the truly bizarre Bishops Avenue is that its dinky and cute - no thundering double decker damaging the view - they know the cleaner needs to get to work but prefer it were done as unobtrusively as possible. I like your description of Ingam Ave as 'Georgian' - its the pastiche of the style that was popular in the '30s and gave only a superficial lip service to overall lack of ornament/detail, with the houses shapes/groundplan more closely resembling a Lutyens country house - the very idea the Suburb was aiming for - posh arts and crafts in the country feel, but still close enough for Fortnums to deliver. The style was also keenly adopted by the London Boroughs but most powerfully by the London County Council - the first unitary authority for the capital - with the result that LCC Georgian council blocks and estates sprang up all over London. I think that helped to give a veneer of equality to the city struggling to overcome the damage inflicted during WW2. Sorry about this lengthy digression, but I think it shows the quality of your vids, dosnt just answer the original questions, creates new ones as you watch!! Very much enjoyed this, who would think a dinky little bus route could be so interesting? Thanks , well done,m keep up the good work etc, all cliched but true stuff.....loved it
You’re very welcome! The 102/210 have both used The Bishops Avenue on diversion before as DD routes, so it is possible to operate DDs down there and the roads are definitely wide enough for them, although there are low trees and there’s signs dotted up much of the road about it :)
Yes, most of the big houses around there use classical cliches, but they are way more 'vulgarama' than they are neo Georgian. Millionaires with taste shun them and buy a real Georgian house in Hampstead village, rather than this ghetto for 'the on the make' second hand car salesman type. (And they left the apostrophe s out of The Bishops Avenue to help householders spell where they live.) I use the 210, and often when its on diversion it fair rattles down there. The horror shown by the natives, as they turn around to see plebs like me on the top deck ogling their au pair in a top window....😀....
5:04 - ruddy heck, I've driven N161 YEG long after that picture was taken when she operated for Shamrock of Pontypridd Well, well, well... Fancy seeing an old friend Great video as always - keep up the good work Edit: 7:28 - my home city gets a mention!
@@somenorthlondoner Oh, they were indeed... EYMS (I'm from Yorkshire) had a load of them - mainly operating in Scarbrough - but also a few in Hull and I used to love travelling on them as a kid. When YEG was withdrawn, it was really rather sad and I felt rather sentimental and gave her a little wash so she went to the scrappers with some dignity and rolled the blinds round to show she was ready for service
