Photo courtesy of, and copyright, Gordon Muir
Hornchurch (code RD) was a Central area garage which operated RLHs on the following routes:
| Route number | Route | Miles |
Low- bridge? |
Dates of Operation | Allocation |
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248 Route map Timetable |
Upminster (Hall Lane) - Upminster Station - Cranham | 2.20 | Low (St. Mary's Lane) | 16/03/1955 - 18/9/1970 | 3/4 |
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248A
Route map Timetable |
Upminster (Stn) - Corbets Tey | ?? m | High | 4/1959 - 18/9/1970 | 1 (peak only) |
| 249 | Upminster Park Estate (Front Lane)- Corbets Tey | ?? m | High | 3/1955 - 19/08/1958 | 1 |
| 252 | South Hornchurch - Collier Row (White Hart) | ?? m | High | 19/08/1958 - 4/1959 | 1 |
The RD code came about because the garage was called Romford when it was built in 1924. It was renamed Hornchurch in 1935, but retained the code. It was located on the south side of Hornchurch Road (near the junction with the present day St Leonards Way) but closed in September 1988. The RD code was later reused for the present Romford garage (Harold Wood).
Four RLHs were allocated to Hornchurch garage in February 1955 (RLH 21, RLH 22, RLH 23 and RLH 76). The allocation was increased to five in early 1957, at which level it remained until the end in 1970 (a graph of the allocation can be viewed here). Over this time, the majority of the red RLHs (24 in total) were allocated to Hornchurch at one time or other.
The RLHs were principally used on lowbridge route 248. One was also often used on a series of short highbridge routes in peak times as the years progressed; starting with route 249, briefly route 252, then over 10 years on route 248A.
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RLH 71 in the summer of '69
Photo courtesy of, and copyright, Gordon Muir |
The low bridge on St.Mary's Lane, Cranham (pictured above) is still known as Wantz Bridge. Generally 'Four Wantz' = Four Ways, and the bridge is on what amounts to a cross roads - a T-junction with fourth prong a little offset the other side of the bridge. The Roads involved were there a long way back in history (Upminster was still little more than a village until between the wars) and one presumes that name stuck.
The 248 ran from Cranham (Moor Lane/ Front Lane junction) to Upminster Station (1.25 Miles), with some journeys extended to 'Hall Lane/ River Drive' (a further 0.95 miles). The latter section was also covered by routes 86 and 193 - at times (eg Saturday after 18.00) it was not covered by the 248; during weekdays three of the six buses an hour ran the full route.
At Hall Lane the route turned right into Avon Road, buses then reversed into Severn Drive, and stood time at the stop at the top of Avon Road.
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RLH 71 again
Date and photographer unknown |
Front Lane (above) was a full turning circle/u-turn at a busy T-junction which took some skill to drive around in one go.
Steve Dean remembers; " I always preferred to terminate at Front Lane as the railway yard security office was opposite the stand. In the morning just before the rush we used to have toast and a brew with the railway man, who used to supply many of the bus crews from his little billy can ... (made of white enamelled metal and the top formed a cup). All underground crews on the District line had them as there were no facilities on their route.
You will notice the young conductor wearing his Gibson ticket machine like we all did. We were always being booked for this by the 'jobsworth inspectors' if they couldn't find anything else wrong with the bus. Another reason to book us was not wearing your PSV badge on your lapel, many had it back to front so if you was cheeky to any of the passengers they struggled to report you. "
Four Buses were allocated on Weekdays (running numbers RD 100 - 103, albeit RD 103 ran in Rush Hours Only). Two vehicles were allocated on Saturday. The Sunday service was withdrawn from 15/11/64.
The RLHs were replaced by SMS type single deck one-man-operated buses in 1970, the last vehicle to operate from Hall Lane to the garage (arriving at 2325 hours) being RLH 68. The conductor on this bus, Mr Ken Gratton, writes in 2007 "my badge number is 113103 and I still have it ... [my mother] was [originally] on the rota to do the duty as a clippy with her driver Joe Wallace... my brother Alan also worked at RD then moved to Leyton ... the last ticket in service went to an inspector in the output when all the public had gone".
The route was extended to Romford. In later years, it was withdrawn between Cranham and Upminster so that normal height double deckers could be used on it. At the time of writing in 2006, route 248 again goes from Upminster to Cranham, except it avoids the low bridge by taking a northerly routing via Avon Road instead of St. Mary's Lane.
The last bus left Corbets Tey about 1915 and went directly to the garage. The crew then took their meal relief and completed their second half on route 248.
The route was the shortest bus route in London, with a 6 minute journey time!
Steve Dean writes; " (I) recall being the last conductor to operate the peak hour service route 248A. I was only 19 at the time and was amazed at how many enthusiasts travelled from far afield to take part in this last journey. Normally the last trip was almost empty but this time it was standing room only. My driver and myself were taken for a cup of tea in the cafe opposite the terminal at Corbets Tey, if you can call it that, more like a plot of waste ground. Upon our return to the bus RLH68 we found many of the 'mind your head' warning discs missing from the back of the seats and a number of other un-screwable parts. I believe if we had been in the cafe much longer the whole bus would have been stripped by collectors. Our picture was taken for posterity but I have never seen a print. My badge number was N108063 and as a driver was N94414. I later became an Inspector and eventually a Senior Garage Inspector. "