197: Croydon to Peckham
Quadrant: London southeast
Length of journey: 10 miles, 65 minutes
Because it's 19th July I've been out riding the 197, because that's the Bus Route Of The Day. My apologies for the repetition.
In the roulette game of "where on earth do buses in Croydon currently start from", the answer in the 197's case is the Fairfield Halls. It then weaves round the iconic Threepenny Bit building, stopping not quite outside East Croydon station, before ejecting itself from the town centre along a canyon of newbuild flats. According to signs this is now Lower Addiscombe, which seems a lot more takeaway-focused than Addiscombe proper, which we're skipping. Instead the 197 ploughs a lonely furrow past a pandemic academy, a shabby Londis and a car showroom called Classic Automobiles which appears to sell anything but. Blackhorse Lane marks the 1½ mile point and I don't know about you but I can't face the rest on the bus so I'm bailing here to catch the tram.
When the 197 reaches South Norwood it starts to shadow the 157, and I've already done that this week so let's not bother. In Anerley it splits away and heads for Penge, but then just shadows the Overground so what's to see? It splits again at Forest Hill and crosses most of Dulwich on its eventual way to Peckham, but I've already been there this week on the 177 so it seems I was right to alight several miles ago. The problem with Buses of the Day is that they too quickly get too repetitive, even in abbreviated form, so let's not even consider droning down the Uxbridge Road tomorrow.