Route History

Date of introduction	Gar	Mon-Fri	Sat	Sun
19.08.59	BK	21RT	15RT	11RT

BARKINGSIDE High Street - Tanners Lane - Horns Road - Newbury Park - Ley Street - Ilford - Ilford Lane - BARKING London Road
Trolleybus replacement route for 691

11.11.59

BK

21RT

15RT

11RT

BARKINGSIDE High Street - BARKING London Road - Ripple Road - Movers Lane - THAMES VIEW ESTATE Remploy Factory ( Mon-Fri peak journeys)
Mon-Fri peak journeys introduced to THAMES VIEW ESTATE Remploy Factory

28.02.62

BK

21RT

15RT

11RT

HAINAULT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE (Mon-Fri peak journeys) Forest Road - Elmbridge Road - New North Road - Fenpiece Road - BARKINGSIDE High Street - BARKING - THAMES VIEW ESTATE Remploy Factory ( Mon-Fri peak journeys )
Mon-Fri peak journeys extended from Barkingside to Hainault Industrial Estate

09.10.63	AP	5RT	--	--
	BK	13RT	15RT	8RT

HAINAULT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE (Mon-Fri peak journeys) - BARKINGSIDE High Street - BARKING - THAMES VIEW ESTATE Remploy Factory ( Mon-Fri peak journeys )
Mon-Fri Seven Kings (AP) allocation added.

01.03.64	AP	5RT	--	--
	BK	13RT	15RM	8RM

HAINAULT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE (Mon-Fri peak journeys) - BARKINGSIDE High Street - BARKING - THAMES VIEW ESTATE Remploy Factory ( Mon-Fri peak journeys )
Weekend Routemaster allocation introduced.

07.04.65	AP	9RT+	--	--
		1RT/148
	BK	--	16RM	7RM

CLAYHALL Caterham Avenue ( Mon-Sat ) Basildon Avenue - Hurstleigh Gardens - Fullwell Avenue - BARKINGSIDE Fulwell Cross (Suns) - BARKING - THAMES VIEW ESTATE Remploy Factory (Mon-Fri peak journeys)
Route diverted at Barkingside to Caterham Avenue - the journeys to Hainault Industrial Estate continued but were renumbered 169B.
The Barking (BK) allocation transferred to the 169B

18.04.66	AP	10RT	--	--
	BK	--	16RM	7RM

CLAYHALL Caterham Avenue ( Mon-Sat ) - BARKINGSIDE (Suns) - BARKING London Road
Remploy Factory journeys withdrawn.

07.09.68	AP	10RT	4RT	--
	BK	--	14RM	4RT

CLAYHALL Caterham Avenue - BARKING London Road
Saturday Seven Kings (AP) allocation introduced.
Sunday service extended from Barkingside High Street to Caterham Avenue.

19.07.69	AP	5RT	11RT	--
	BK	11RT	5RM	4RT

CLAYHALL Caterham Avenue - BARKING London Road
Mon-Fri Barking (BK) allocation re-introduced with the 169B withdrawal

18.07.70

BK

16RT

15RT

4RT

CLAYHALL Caterham Avenue - BARKING London Road
Seven Kings (AP) allocation withdrawn.

31.07.71	AP	--	--	4RT
	BK	16RT	15RT	--

CLAYHALL Caterham Avenue - BARKING London Road
Sunday Barking (BK) allocation transferred to Seven Kings (AP)

	RT1039 Caterham Avenue busmap.co.uk

01.09.73

BK

19DMS

17DMS

3DMS

CLAYHALL The Glade - BARKING ( Mon-Sat ) - BARKING Oban Road (Suns)
Daily service converted to One Person Operation.
Sunday extended from Barking London Road to Gascoigne Estate.

	DMS549 Gascoigne Estate busmap.co.uk

01.06.80

BK101+

16T

17T

5T

CLAYHALL The Glade - BARKING ( Mon-Sat ) - BARKING Oban Road (Suns
Converted from DMS to Titan operation

04.09.82

BK101+

18T

17T

7T

CLAYHALL - THAMES VIEW ESTATE
Extended from Barking to Thames View Estate replacing 179 and 199 on this section.

04.11.83

BK101+

18T

17T

7T

CLAYHALL - THAMES VIEW ESTATE or REMPLOY WORKS (Fri mid-day journey)
Remploy Works journey introduced on Friday afternoon.

21.11.87

BK161+

16T

18T

5T

CLAYHALL - THAMES VIEW ESTATE
Remploy Works journey withdrawn.
Running number sequence changed

14.09.91

BK161+

9T

10T

4T

CLAYHALL - BARKING Town Centre
Withdrawn between Barking and Thames View Estate - this section replaced by New Routes B1 and B2

20.03.93

BK161+

9DA

9DA

4DW

CLAYHALL - BARKING Town Centre
Daily converted to single deck operation but Sunday to midibus.

17.07.94

BK161+

9DA

10DA

7DW

CLAYHALL - BARKING Town Centre
Sunday new jointly compiled schedule with Route 387.

	DA15 Ilford busmap.co.uk

17.09.95

BK161+

9DA

10DA

7DRL

CLAYHALL - BARKING Town Centre
Sunday service upgraded from DW to DRL.

24.03.01

BK161+

9DA

10DA

8DA

CLAYHALL - BARKING Town Centre
New contract awarded - all night service commenced (N169) and Sunday converted from DRL to DA.
After this date I am a little confused when the DA type was withdrawn and replaced by TA type ?

25.03.06

BK161+

11TA

11TA

6TA

CLAYHALL - BARKING Town Centre
Contract renewal

26.03.11

BK161+

12TE

11TE

8TE

CLAYHALL - BARKING Town Centre
Contract renewal with new Enviro type

Operating Garages

AP Seven Kings
Changeover point Ilford Hainault Street

BK Barking
Changeover point London Road - Barking

 

Recollections from Barking driver Mick Haven

I recall that in later years, they messed about with the route and introduced the 287. The 87 wasn’t my service routebut it was one I was put on for over time. You may remember I said I had two spells at BK, after my one year on ‘stand by’, I was given the 62 and the 169. The problem here is I can’t remember in which order I did them. I think I did the 169s first 1972/73. This had taken over from the former trolleybus route, 691. It ran from Barking London Road to Barkingside High Street. As a trolleybus route it had been an all nighter, but when the RT replaced them, the all night bus was replaced by a very early and a very late duty. These duties signed on at 03.42 on earlies, and signed off at 02.15 on lates. I still recall getting up at quarter to three in the morning for that route. The 62 was a nice duty, although for shorts, BK Gascoigne Estate to Chadwell Heath could be tedious. A BK London Road to Barkingside High Street saved the day. On Sundays, this would continue on from Barkinkside High Street to Ilford, where the bus stand was opposite a café, which was great if we got there with enough time for a cup of tea. At Barkingside High Street, we parked outside the swimming pool, which had snack bar. Didn't’t the 169 go down to Clayhall on Sundays? that’s another one which rings a bell, no pun intended.                                                                                                                                                                          

It was ironic I ended up working at Barking Garage and in some ways inevitable, because my mum worked in the canteen, so she frequently took me there. By the time I started there in ’71? some of the older staff were still there and remembered me as a kid. I grew up all around Dagenham, Barking, Ilford, Romford, North Romford, Havering, Hornchurch, Rainham and all around the area within a radius of about 20 miles, most of it near ‘The Chequers’ on Ripple Road, Fords, and Dagenham Heathway. Consequently, I grew up with the 87,139,145,148,174 and 175. The 62 wasn’t a ‘local’ bus, and didn't’t become significant until I started at BK. The 103 was another local but not, if that makes sense. I encountered it hundreds of times due to its route and geographical location, but it did’t pass near home. It did run past Dagenham East station, where I later worked. It was my girlfriend’s (now my wife) local bus. It would also terminate at Rainham War Memorial as did the 87. Other very familiar ‘local’ routes, e.g. those I would see frequently, were the 25,66,86,144,162,193,238,247,248,250 and 721 and 722. The 287 came  later when the 87 was split up and shunted around. There must be others. I think I wrote before about doing the 15 and 101 at ‘U’ when ‘loaned out’. At Aldgate the 10, 42 and 78 were frequent sightings. The 175 to Chipping Ongar was a hike out into the Essex countryside, but I only ever drove it as far as Stapleford Abbots. I think Chipping Ongar was Sundays only. A real treat back then was a ride on a Green Line, the 723 which passed by The Chequers from Aldgate to Grays via Barking. After visiting family in Barking on a cold winter night, the Green Line with its doors, was a welcome alternative to waiting for an 87, even though the fare was 1/6d compared to 1s on the bus. I believe they were originally RTs, and were replaced by RFs and RMCs, with their doors. Due to the higher fares, a ride on one was a special occasion, on top of which, once they came into red bus areas, they stopped at only half the number of stops as red buses. Great! Another Green Line which featured heavily in my junior years was the 715 from Oxford Circus to Guildford, and certain London Country Guildford buses, but that’s another story. I mentioned the 106 in an e mail. This was a Hackney bus which came down our way on Sundays. We would take this from The Chequers to Hackney Mare Street to visit relatives. This was eventually withdrawn and taken over by the 173, which went to Stratford. I was older by then, didn’t go to Hackney as often, so the need for the 106 became less relevant. Looking down your list of blinds, it’s really disappointing to see how so many routes were altered. I looked at them and thought, “I don’t remember that”. When did the 87 start going to Brentwood? I left Dagenham in 1990, and trips back there were sporadic afterwards, however I remember seeing 87s with Brentwood showing. By then there were already changes in place, the 5 had arrived at BK from WH or was it U?, and I think BK had lost the 23 by then. When did the 5 start going to Romford Market? The biggest change obviously was the withdrawal of the RMs. Everything was going o.m.o. One of the biggest shocks, and disappointments, was seeing my old 62 running around as an Ensign bus. What! Have they still got that big depot on the old A13 near Purfleet?                                                       

 I can’t remember all of it, a least not all at the same time, there’s far too much, so moving on, I looked in on Google maps, at Barking Garage.  South Park Drive, alongside the garage shows the original red brick walls still in place. That at least was heartwarming. The front of the garage is completely new. In the 1950s, buses used to drive in to the garage right, on the corner. The Google picture shows a shutter a few yards along to the right. This was the entrance I knew. The old entrance had long been closed and boarded up by the time I worked there. I see also there is what appears to be a staff car park in South Park Drive. This wasn’t there either in my day, we had to park in the surrounding streets, wherever we could. Looking in on Wiki, I can’t find any reference to the original Barking Garage. It says that it opened in 1992? Presumably that means after L.T. ceased and was taken over by its new owners, because Barking Garage was already very old by the time I worked there. The list of routes there now was baffling to say the least. The only one I recognised was 173, and that was never a BK bus. I’m surprised they’ve still got one of the old routes as all the ones I knew seem to have gone. I believe the 103 and 174 still run out of Romford, but I couldn’t be sure. So all in all, nostalgia isn’t always recommended. I’ve only been back there two or three times in the last five years and then only passing through. The whole area has changed. What happened to the 148 which used to go from Dagenham New Road to Leytonstone Green Man? The last time I went up there, there was a little Dennis Dart with a number I didn’t recognise, was it a three something?

I’ve attached a picture of my L.T. badge which I still treasure. I really ought to pay a visit to the museum in Covent Garden and Acton. I worked in London for eleven years through the 80s and 90s and have never been. Better put it on the list of things to do. One other minor faux pas, I wrote that the 165 and 248 were at Romford Garage. Almost right except that Romford, RD was actually in Hornchurch and we knew it as Hornchurch Garage. I believe this was because it was originally Romford Garage, until North Street came into being, was that in the 1950s?, hence North Street becoming NS and Hornchurch remaining as RD. That’s enough now. Please feel free to enlighten me with any info you may have from those days, or give me corrections to my thoughts. I won’t be offended as it was all a very long time ago.  I’ve been digging around the ‘net to see if I can find any pictures of the old BK garage and buses. Found loads on Flickr. Many had a picture of a BK bus at a familiar landmark including one of an RT 87 outside The Chequers pub, exactly how I knew it. This was a five minute walk from home as it was at the time. There are also pictures of the garage kit which I have seen advertised in the popular model magazines. It is almost brick for brick how it actually was when I worked there, including the original old door on the front corner of the building, exactly as I tried to describe it earlier. There are pictures of a silver RM, number 9, reg. no 650 DYE, with the destination blinds showing Becontree Heath, parked up outside the garage, and Kensington High Street as the bus drives out of the garage. Must have been a tribute

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