A Bus Ride Through Essex: Romford to Clacton-on-Sea
14 January 2024
ABOVE: Go-Ahead Hedingham 601 (SN10 CFE), an ADL Enviro400, loads up at Clacton-on-Sea for a mid-afternoon run to Colchester. All photos in this article were taken on Friday 12 January 2024.
It’s a very busy scene outside Romford station in North-East London – but then again, when isn’t it?
Courtesy of the Elizabeth Line, I have arrived just in time for the morning school run. Schoolchildren are mingling with other commuters at the two bus stops which, between them, serve about 17 bus routes (not including school or night services). Three 174s, all heading to Harold Hill, are stacked one behind the other, mingling with various other services.
But I bet no-one else who is boarding a bus here this morning is planning to travel as far as me; my journey today is going to take me across Essex, to Clacton-on-Sea. It's 44 miles as the crow flies, but that includes a six-mile stretch across the water, from Bradwell to Seawick, so I'm taking a slightly longer way round...
I have made this trip once before, about nine years ago on a summer Saturday, when I travelled the whole way from West London to Clacton by bus. It took about eight hours. Today, as there are only a few hours' light available, I have skipped most of the London section.
Courtesy of the Elizabeth Line, I have arrived just in time for the morning school run. Schoolchildren are mingling with other commuters at the two bus stops which, between them, serve about 17 bus routes (not including school or night services). Three 174s, all heading to Harold Hill, are stacked one behind the other, mingling with various other services.
But I bet no-one else who is boarding a bus here this morning is planning to travel as far as me; my journey today is going to take me across Essex, to Clacton-on-Sea. It's 44 miles as the crow flies, but that includes a six-mile stretch across the water, from Bradwell to Seawick, so I'm taking a slightly longer way round...
I have made this trip once before, about nine years ago on a summer Saturday, when I travelled the whole way from West London to Clacton by bus. It took about eight hours. Today, as there are only a few hours' light available, I have skipped most of the London section.
ABOVE: A typically-busy scene in South Street, Romford. Stagecoach London 37532 (YX68 UMG), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, takes centre stage on a route 165 working from Rainham, Essex. Behind is a New Routemaster on route 5 from Canning Town (operated by Go-Ahead London / Blue Triangle), and to the left is a rather tatty Arriva London VDL DB300 Wright Gemini 2, DW212 (LJ09 SSO), on route 103 from Chase Cross to Rainham (assumed, as it has no front destination blind)
When I was a child, three bus operators would meet in Romford – London Transport of course (home territory), London Country, for the services heading away from London to the north, and Eastern National for the deeper forays into Essex. Today, all services from here seem to be operated by Transport for London (TfL).
The 498 to Brentwood only runs every 20 minutes. I have deliberately not looked up timings in advance, because of the uncertainty of my arrival time in Romford. But, now that I’m actually here, I will have a look.
Except that, as is customary for TfL these days, there’s no timetable panel for the 498 in the stop. I have to resort to the London Bus Routes website, which publishes full timetables for every TfL service (as does Bus Times). Other online timetable sources may be available - just not from TfL.
The good news is that the bus is due imminently. And, just as I confirm this, the Countdown display suddenly reveals the existence of the bus, three minutes away.
It turns up as foretold. There are about 10 people for this service. Once we have loaded, a driver-change takes place (here is where TfL is ahead of the game – loading people up before the driver change takes place, rather than leaving us all waiting on the pavement – it’s not all bad).
It’s quite a slow changeover and it’s about three minutes before we are underway. Just before we’re ready to go, an automated announcement is made that "this bus terminates here”. The driver instantly shouts out that this is a mistake - “ignore that”. But that doesn’t stop the man in the seat opposite me from jumping up and heading downstairs, swearing under his breath and muttering about what “a joke” it all is.
Misunderstandings cleared up, we’re on our way at 0826, about four minutes late. We’re on an Enviro400 MMC operated by Stagecoach London (a TfL contract).
ABOVE: Stagecoach London 10335 (SN16 OKT), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, passes Balgores Lane, Gidea Park, on a route 498 journey towards Romford
Roads out of town are clear; we turn eastwards onto Main Road. The initial light load is probably explained as we follow the same route as the 174 out of town – those three buses having hoovered up most of the demand.
We reach Gallows Corner, a major road junction where the A127 (the Southend road) meets the A12 (which will take you all the way to Lowestoft in Suffolk). There's a flyover for the A127, from the south-east, to join the A12 heading west into London. But, if you're coming from the north-east and just want to stay on the A12, you have to venture through the roundabout.
At the height of the rush hour, the traffic is heavy, with queues of cars and buses on every approach. After we eventually get into the roundabout, I note a 174 towards Romford trying to find a gap in the traffic from our left. There’s no such gap in prospect, so how it will ever make it I have no idea... For all I know it's still there.
ABOVE: Gallows Corner
Incidentally, there really was a gallows here, where executions took place in the 16th and 17th centuries at least. Apparently the bodies of those hanged would be left as a warning to others. Whether this worked is uncertain, as there is also a record of highwaymen being active here. (They wouldn't be able to operate nowadays as they would never get away through the traffic...)
We venture onto the A12, a dual carriageway with two-to-three lanes each side and one of the key trunk roads out of London. We'll be sticking close to this road for much of my journey today.
Progress is now swift, although the bus is doing steady trade all the way. Just over two miles from Gallows Corner is junction 28 of the M25, London's orbital motorway. As we pass underneath, we leave Greater London and TfL's official operating area, and drive straight into a traffic jam caused by temporary traffic lights.
ABOVE: Traffic queue (due to temporary lights) in Brook Street, on the outskirts of Brentwood. Incidentally, the car on the left, outside the Nisa store, is parked! (And yes, that is a bus stop immediately beyond!)
It takes a few minutes to pass, leading to another passenger further back bemoaning the delay. People on this route don't seem to have much patience.
Or maybe they're just cold. On this chilly morning, there doesn't seem to be any heat on this modern bus...
Once free of these lights, it's a short, brisk run into Brentwood, where we reach the High Street at 0859, just a couple of minutes late.
ABOVE: Another Enviro400 MMC on route 498 passes the Kings Road / Weald Road junction with Brentwood High Street
I can imagine this being quite a challenging route to operate, given that it uses the major A12 road and passes under "Britain's Biggest Car Park" (the M25). The scope for traffic delays must be quite severe. We have come through unscathed, though.
The 498 has dropped me off exactly where I need to pick up my next bus. A quick check of the bus stop information shows comprehensive "where to board your bus" information, but also something that shouldn't be there on 12 January - a poster for the EnsignBus Heritage Running Day of 2 December 2023, complete with the relevant timetables that operated that day.
ABOVE: EnsignBus Running Day timetable still in the stop nearly six weeks after the event (the panel below the main poster is part of it)
Next run for me is the 351 to Chelmsford, operated by First Essex. The 0908 departure arrives from Brentwood station, just down the road, in good time for a punctual departure.
This journey marks the official start of my travels for 2024. I count London buses, such as the 498, separately, so they do not feature in my main, "non-London" statistics. Twelve days into 2024, just after 9am, I am on my travels again. Who knows what this year will bring...!
The 351 is an Enviro200, and we set out from Brentwood High Street with eight passengers on board, but more and more join as we go and I estimate that about 25 people board during the course of the journey.
We pass and cross the A12 regularly, using the roads that were presumably the original version of the A12, before the fast dual-carriageway was built.
The vast majority of passengers go all the way to Chelmsford - just a handful leave at earlier points during the journey. We pass Ingatestone and Margaretting and seem to reach the edge of Chelmsford about 20 minutes before we are due in. A detour through the residential areas to the south of the city centre uses up that seemingly-surplus time and we come into the centre on schedule. I leave in the Town Centre, one stop short of the bus station.
ABOVE: A trio of ADL Enviro 200s from First Essex. On the left is 44539 (YX13 AHO), a 10.8m example, which has just brought me from Brentwood on route 351. On the right is 44914 (YX09 AGZ), a shorter version (8.9m) on a local service. At the back, in between, is a service 31 from Burnham-on-Crouch.
Chelmsford is known as the birthplace of radio, thanks to its connection with Guglielmo Marconi, who opened the world's first wireless factory in the city in 1899. In 1920, Marconi made the first official publicised sound broadcast in the United Kingdom, featuring Dame Nellie Melba at the New Street Works, the first purpose-built radio factory in the world.
But Chelmsford's history goes back a lot further. Wikipedia tells us that the remains of a Neolithic and a late Bronze Age settlement have been found here, and it is well known that the town (as-was) was occupied by the Romans.
After a cuppa, and a visit to the town's essential facilities (with their prominent signs warning that drug-taking will not be tolerated), I'm heading over to the bus station for the 371 bus to Colchester, another First Essex service. It should leave from stand 3, but the signage on that stand is not as comprehensive as for neighbouring stops:
ABOVE: Route numbers covered up on stand 3 at Chelmsford bus station and the electronic information display is switched off... Recent changes or future ones?
To be fair, there is timetable information in the stop, and the bus station also has a departure screen pointing me to this stop. I am further reassured by the other intending passengers waiting, and by the presence of the bus on the stand.
ABOVE: First Essex 67742 (SN62 AKO, right), an ADL/TransBus Enviro300, awaits the off at Chelmsford bus station. It is accompanied by 44173 (YX11 AFO, left), an ADL Enviro200 on local route c5, as well as 69421 (AU58 FFH, centre), a Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban on route 31, and an Enviro400 MMC behind.
This journey is going to be undertaken on an ADL/Transbus Enviro300, a model that was designed for inter-urban routes like this one but is no longer in production.
The 1020 departure leaves with five passengers, but we have trebled that number within a couple of stops. This is a basically hourly service, but there is also a limited stop variant, the X71, providing off-peak only services on Mondays to Fridays, making two buses per hour at these times.
There are lots of retail and commercial parks on the outskirts of Chelmsford and this feels like a town that has been designed with car users in mind. A very well-loaded Wright Streetlite (looks smaller than our E300) passes by on the inbound 371 service.
Again we stick close to the A12, passing alongside it at certain points (once again, we must be on the 'old' road).
ABOVE: One stretch where the 371 bus parallels the A12 trunk road
We pass through Hatfield Peverel, which I think I may have driven through one August Bank Holiday, after abandoning the jammed A12 and changing my planned destination from Clacton to Southend. Then on to Witham, the most sizeable intermediate town on the route. Many of the properties here were built as part of the London Overspill programme, which sought to move people out of London, due to housing shortages and substandard dwellings in the capital.
We make a couple of short forays onto the A12 itself, on sections where there is no other option available. Once through the village of Kelvedon, we're very quickly into the outskirts of Colchester. We are only one minute late when we reach the Essex County Hospital at 1145, but traffic delays heading into the city centre cost us 10 minutes on a stretch that should only take one minute, so it's 1155 when I am dropped off in Head Street.
ABOVE: Traffic build-up in Headgate, Colchester
Although having both a railway station called Colchester Town, and a Town Hall, Colchester is a city. And a bustling one today. Lots of people are mingling around, shopping or just taking a lunch break. I do the same.
ABOVE: Arriva Herts & Essex 4468 (MX61 AXJ), a VDL DB300 Wright Gemini 2, loads up in High Street, Colchester, on local route 1 (Shrub End to Greenstead). The Town Hall clock tower can be seen directly behind the bus, whilst the other significant structure is the "Jumbo Water Tower", a 19th century structure comprising of 1.2 million bricks and 819 tons of stone and cement.
The last part of the run will take me to Clacton-on-Sea. This is via route 74. The last time I did this run, the route was operated by First. But First pulled out of Clacton a few years ago as part of its retrenchment and much of the local network was picked up by Hedingham and Chambers, a Go-Ahead Group company.
So it's a Hedingham and Chambers service I am now taking. We're due off the blocks at 1311, but it's a couple of minutes after when the bus appears. It's 1318 by the time we are loaded and ready to go. The upper deck has returned - this is an ADL Enviro400.
ABOVE: Colchester High Street (or High Stree according to the bus stop flag)! First Essex Wright Streetlite DF 47421 (SK63 KMJ) passes on local "Shuttle" route S7
After a circuit of the town, to call at the "bus station" (which is just two rows of stops, on Osborne Street and round the corner on Stanwell Street), I spot the St John's Abbey Gate - a c.1400 gatehouse that is all that remains of St. John's Abbey itself.
ABOVE: St John's Abbey Gate
Finally out of the city, we're making a sharp change of direction now. Ever since we left Romford we have been heading broadly north-east. Now, we turn south-east. We pass the various buildings of the University of Essex, which has a large presence to the south-east of the city centre.
ABOVE: The University of Essex - the 74 bus will shortly pass through the barrier and will run across the campus
Once clear of the university, the road becomes much more rural, and its a brisk run through the country villages that make up this side of Essex. But it's a well-driven ride - my previous trip some years ago was rather more ... shall we say brisk and spirited.
ABOVE: First Essex 32673 (SN55 HFA), is a Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini, in "Lest We Forget" commemorative livery. It is working route S1 on Boundary Road, near the Wivenhoe Nature Park.
We pass through Wivenhoe, a port for Colchester on the River Colne, as large boats couldn't get any further up. Then Alresford, and on to Thorrington.
Hedingham ADL Enviro400 no. 643 (LK08 FLP) is seen in Thorrington on a route 74 working to Colchester
We're soon coming into Clacton-on-Sea, a popular seaside resort. Again according to Wikipedia, the area was historically in the parish of Great Clacton. The development of the seaside resort began in the 1870s, and was called Clacton-on-Sea to distinguish it from the older village about a mile inland.
The seafront is south-east-facing (to do a proper crossing of Essex and end up east-facing I probably should have gone to Harwich)! We haven't been able to make up the lost time and have reached the town at 1425, about 10 minutes late. Buses terminate on Pier Avenue, just a few hundred yards from the seafront and pier.
The bus is quickly loading and heading back to Colchester, which it should have left for at 1422. The bus has brought a decent crowd in, and there's a similar crowd waiting for the return journey, proving its worth I think.
ABOVE: The Albert Buildings in Clacton-on-Sea surely have a history that is more glamourous than their eventual accommodation of an Edinburgh Woollen Mill store! To the right is Pier Avenue, where buses in Clacton terminate. A Scania K230UB OmniLink can just be seen on local town circular 137
And that's where my first trip of 2024 ends. Whilst it has been bearably cold for most of the day, the chilly winds blowing in off the sea here have maybe tipped the scales here towards the less-bearable. But, with the light also starting to fade, I have achieved what I intended to do today. It's taken about six hours (including an hour for lunch), which feels quite lightweight by my standards!
