100 British Bus Routes: Route 33
Henley-on-Thames to Abingdon
20 October 2024
ABOVE: Thames Travel 683 (SK17 HHN), a Wright Streetdeck, sets off from Hart Street, Henley-on-Thames, on a run on route 33 to Abingdon. All photos in this article were taken on Saturday 28 September 2024, except where stated.
Runs: Daily (with a limited part-route evening service)
Operator: Thames Travel
Weekday daytime frequency: Hourly
Estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement: Three buses*
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 84-90 minutes
Estimated route length: 26-30 miles
* Buses interwork with route 44 (Abingdon to Oxford), requiring an additional two buses
Operator: Thames Travel
Weekday daytime frequency: Hourly
Estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement: Three buses*
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 84-90 minutes
Estimated route length: 26-30 miles
* Buses interwork with route 44 (Abingdon to Oxford), requiring an additional two buses
As I sit at home, in my overcrowded town in West London, I can see three new tower blocks under construction from my front room window. There are a further four being built at the other end of my road. I sometimes forget that there are some much lovelier parts of the world in very easy reach.
One of those lovelier parts is Henley-on-Thames, in Oxfordshire, and I have just stepped off the train here after a mere 55 minute journey from my home station (which also puts it within about 75 minutes of central London).
Seeing bodies of water (whether they be rivers, lakes or oceans) always makes me feel better, and the banks of the River Thames at Henley are no exception.
ABOVE: Looking out across the River Thames on Thameside, Henley-on-Thames. On the far side of the water stands the Leander Club Hotel
A town of 12,000 people at the time of the 2021 Census, Henley is near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Wikipedia reports that the first record of Henley as a substantial settlement is from 1179, when King Henry II "bought land for the making of buildings".
They did a decent job, although the streets are sufficiently narrow that a one-way system is needed to get around the town centre.
A town that stands on the river, is surrounded by lovely open countryside and is within easy reach of London, is going to be popular with those who need access to London but are otherwise happy to live a little way away. The same Wikipedia page lists a huge number of "notable people" who are associated with the town.
And of course the annual Henley Royal Regatta brings in thousands of rowing fans, creating a major boost for the town and putting a strain on the railway branch line from Twyford - I know because I accidentally tried to visit the area once without realising it was Regatta week!!
There's small-scale "accidental" bus competiton here, involving Reading Buses route 28 (Reading to Henley) and Carousel Buses route 850 (Reading to High Wycombe via Henley), both of which were introduced at the end of July 2024 to replace the 800 / 850 services (Reading to High Wycombe via Henley) that used to be run by Arriva before its latest retrenchment. I say "accidental", as both companies presumably saw an opportunity and registered services, each probably unbeknown to the other.
ABOVE: Reading Buses 443 (YR14 CGX), a Scania K270UB ADL Enviro300SG, powered by natural gas, passes from Reading Road into Bell Street, Henley-on-Thames, and will navigate the one-way system to the stand on Hart Street (which it is now crossing), on route 28 from Reading.
Carousel did run a replacement route 800 briefly, which was exactly the same routing as the 28, but the company quickly decided to concentrate its resources on the 850, which is now every 20 minutes instead of hourly as a result.
The 28 and 850 follow different routes between Reading and Henley so there is limited overlap, and I feel that there is room for both services.
No such competition on route 33, which is a straight-forward run to the town of Abingdon, 20 miles away to the north-west as the crow flies. The hourly service is provided by Thames Travel. Formed as an independent in 1998, it became a subsidiary of the Oxford Bus Company, within Go-Ahead Group, in 2011.
My bus for this journey is to be a Mercedes-Benz Citaro, and the 0957 departure sets off from Hart Street, in Henley town centre, on time at 0957. There are four passengers on board.
ABOVE: The imposing Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin keeps watch as Thames Travel 865 (FF57 OXF), a Mercedes-Benz Citaro O530, approaches the finish / start point of route 33 in Hart Street, Henley-on-Thames. The exact origin of the church is unknown, but is thought to be around 1000 AD.
I have mixed views about Citaros. There are some funny seat layouts - especially towards the back - but one cannot deny that the ride is smooth, and my seat today has decent legroom, which is always nice but distinctly rare.
Once we have cleared Henley town centre, it only takes a few minutes to bring us out into wide roads and open countryside as we enter the Chiltern Hills. Quickly through the village of Bix, where scenes were filmed for the 1971 film "The Blood on Satan's Claw", we reach Nettlebed.
From medieval times until early in the 20th century, Nettlebed was the centre of a thriving brick business. The bricks were produced in bottle-shaped kilns. One such kiln remains in the middle of the village, and is the only bottle kiln preserved in the country today (background information taken from the Chilterns National Landscape website).
ABOVE: Nettlebed also boasts this fine four-sided shelter on The Green. The kiln funnel can be seen behind. Also in sight, to the right, is one of two "pudding stones" found here, that are thought to be more than 50 million years old.
We're back to the river as we cross into the town of Wallingford. There's been a river crossing here since around 1068 (see this page for more background), and the current bridge dates from a rebuild, following a flood, in 1809. The bridge is too narrow for two-way traffic so flows are signal-controlled.
ABOVE: Wallingford Bridge
Wikipedia records a significant history for this market town. It saw the surrender of Stigand, an Anglo-Saxon churchman, to William the Conqueror in 1066, which led to William taking the English throne, and to the creation of Wallingford Castle. Eighty-seven years later, in 1153, the Treaty of Wallingford was signed here, ending a civil war (known as The Anarchy) between King Stephen and Empress Matilda.
During the English Civil War, Wallingford held out as the last remaining Royalist stronghold in what was then Berkshire, before surrendering after a 16-week siege. Fearing that Wallingford Castle could be used in a future uprising, Oliver Cromwell ordered its destruction.
More recently, the "Queen of Crime", Dame Agatha Christie (1890-1976), lived here for over 40 years until her death. By what I assume is a coincidence, that great crime series "Midsomer Murders" also has an association with Wallingford; the Market Place in Wallingford has been used as a setting for external scenes of the fictional town of Causton. Through 136 episodes, there have been 423 deaths in total, of which 388 were murders, and an additional 250 attempted murders or suicides (with a 100% clear-up rate of course)!
ABOVE: Wallingford Market Place
Wallingford is, thankfully, safer than its alter-ego, and I get out in one piece! Most of the passengers from Henley have left by now, but a few new ones have joined in Wallingford.
ABOVE: Thames Travel 231 (WF10 OXF) in St John's Road, Wallingford
Just outside Wallingford is the village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell; originally two separate villages.
ABOVE: High Road, at the junction with Greenmere, in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell
Beyond the village, I see a wonderful road sign which just seems to encapsulate the Britishness of this kind of territory. It points to Clifton Hampden, Long Wittenham, Aston Tirrold, South Moreton and North Moreton. Five villages, all off the beaten track, that I have never heard of! So many new places still to discover!
But not today; the 33 is now on the outskirts of Didcot. On the edge of town is a Tesco store which, whilst unremarkable in itself (presumably - I'ver never been in!), used to be the terminus of one of Britain's shortest bus routes, route 90 from the Town Centre. The 20-minute frequency service took four minutes from the town and five back. It was axed at the end of 2022, but not before Roger French, the "Bus and Train User", took the opportunity to sample it.
This is an opportune moment to mention that the 33 has a little brother; the 33A, providing hourly journeys on Mondays to Saturdays to double the frequency of the 33 between Wallingford and Didcot, before taking a deviation to Great Western Park, a residential development outside Didcot. On Saturdays, there's no service west of Didcot, so the 33A is just a short working of the main route.
ABOVE: Thames Travel 861 (BF57 OXF), a Mercedes-Benz Citaro O530, on Hadden Hill near the Didcot Tesco store, working a 33A service from Wallingford to Didcot Parkway.
In the 16th-century, Didcot was a small village of landowners, tenants and tradespeople with a population of about 120. But the coming of the railway in the 19th century changed all that. The population in the 2021 Census was more than 31,000.
ABOVE: In the heart of Didcot Town Centre
It's a slow run to to Didcot Parkway station due to traffic congestion. Didcot station became Didcot Parkway in 1985. It's a busy station, with a good range of destinations available, courtesy of Great Western Railway's inter-city services.
The Didcot Railway Centre, a museum and preservation site, sits just behind the main station, whilst a bus station sits on the railway station forecourt. It's also the junction with the line to Oxford - a triangular junction runs to the north of Didcot Parkway station and encloses the Railway Centre entirely (access is via the station subway).
ABOVE: A Great Western Railway Intercity Express Train stands in platform 1 at Didcot Parkway station, heading west
ABOVE: A Wright Streetdeck passes Didcot Parkway's bus interchange (outside the railway station), working route X2 (Didcot Town Centre to Oxford via Abingdon)
There's a driver change here but we're soon on our way, crossing the railway line and driving alongside it (towards Swindon) for a short time. We pass the Didcot Power Station, although the six famous cooling towers have all now gone.
ABOVE: Didcot Power Station, photographed from a train on Monday 30 September 2024.
Didcot is surrounded by one of the largest scientific clusters in the United Kingdom, with several major science and technology campuses nearby, one of which is Milton Park, which we now pass through.
I've been through here before, when I remarked about the bus stop numbering system, but all of the bus stops seem to have been renamed in the intervening period - we now have Milton Park East, Olympic Avenue, Milton Park Central, Backhill Tunnel, Signal Yard and Milton Park West. That list may give you an idea of the scale of this site, which has nearly three million square feet of floor space across 300 acres, and spreads across about a mile from the East stop to the West one.
ABOVE: Milton Park
We then venture through the village of Milton itself, established long before Milton Park - in fact the site of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery exists here.
This is within the area known as the Vale of White Horse, named after the prominent Bronze Age Uffington White Horse hill figure that can be found about 12 miles to the south-west of here.
THe village of Sutton Courtenay is next, and very attractive it is too.
ABOVE: Brook Street, Sutton Courtenay
A Neolithic stone hand axe was found here, one of a number in this area, and the stone was traced to the Lake District, 250 miles away. How did it get here in those times, I wonder?
There's a slow section through the Appleford Road, due to heavy traffic. I subsequently discover that a weekend closure of the major A34 trunk road in the area is causing major delays everywhere, and this may be a factor.
We come into Culham, which I am only familiar with because it has a station, but I don't recall ever being on a train that actually stopped here! (Actually, the station, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is about a mile-and-a-half away!)
ABOVE: High Street, Culham Village
Once out of Culham, we're virtually into Abingdon, which we reach by crossing the River Thames again. Picture postcard images are possible as we cross.
Following a lot of rain in recent days and weeks, the river is swollen. The scale of the swelling is apparent when I compare my photograph (below) to the equivalent view on Google Streetview; If you compare the steps on the right-hand side (underneath the striped parasol), there are twice as many visible on Streetview, leading to a lower-level walkway which has been completely submerged today.
ABOVE: Looking west along the River Thames, with Nag's Head Island on the right. The spire of St Helen's Church is just visible above the trees on the right.
There's a small island here, Nag's Head Island, named after the public house that sits atop.
ABOVE: The Nag's Head on the Thames, in Abingdon
Abingdon is a very pretty town; once the county town of Berkshire, but now residing in Oxfordshire.
On a Saturday - especially a dry, sunny and mild one - it's bustling. Amongst the busy coffee shops, with their outside tables, a local brass band is performing in the Market Place.
ABOVE: Brass Band in Abingdon Market Square
The Church of St Nicolas looks out across the Market Square. Originally built around 1170, it is one of the few remaining parts of the great Benedictine Abbey of St Mary at Abingdon, and was built by the gate, partly within and partly outside the abbey precincts. The nave crosses the course of the River Stert. The river, which now flows in a culvert under Stert Street, marked the western boundary of the Parish of St Nicolas, and so the tower and part of the nave are technically outside the parish (information from Church's website).
ABOVE: St Nicolas Church, Abingdon, on the edge of Market Square
Even more striking, perhaps, is the Abingdon County Hall Museum, on the other side of the market. Competed in 1683, it was built as a County Hall for Berkshire. It housed a courtroom for the Assizes until 1867, and, unsurprisingly, is a Grade-I listed building.
ABOVE: Abingdon County Hall Museum
Abingdon also has a curious tradition of bun-throwing. This began with the Coronation of King George III in 1761, and takes place on specific days of celebration, such as royal marriages, coronations and jubilees. The event sees local councillors, in full ceremonial robes, throwing several thousand current buns from the roof of the County Hall Museum into crowds assembled in the Market Square below (I hope they're soft)... The crowds try to catch as many as possible, but apparently, the use of umbrellas to do so was banned in 2022.
The Market Square is the final advertised stop for the 33 (but see below), and we arrive, six minutes late at 1127. The town is something of a focal point for bus services from a number of different nearby areas - notably Oxford, which is only six miles away. There are at least 11 daytime services serving the town, and even a couple of night routes.
ABOVE: Oxford Bus Company 734 (BJ73 WXX), a Wright StreetDeck Electroliner, passes Market Square, Abingdon, with a service 35 to Oxford. The branding on this bus reads "taking the NOx out of Oxford", which I think is rather clever, as is the "electri city" branding for the City of Oxford, which is gradually implementing a wholly electric operation.
Around the corner from the Market Square is Stratton Way, where buses officially park up between journeys. But mine doesn't park - it turns straight into a route 44 working to Oxford. Buses on the return trip change back from route 44 to route 33 in Abingdon. One wonders why a through service from Henley to Oxford could not be advertised...
All of this means that the selection of buses on route 33 is quite a mix. My outward journey has been on a green & grey MB Citaro, but I return to Henley on a yellow Wright Streetdeck.
Is the 33 a single-decker route or a double-decker route? Having travelled on one of each today, I have no idea! But it's a very interesting, and highly recommended, drive across Oxfordshire!
ABOVE: A Thames Travel Wright Streetdeck that I believe to be 666 (SK66 HTZ) pauses in Stratton Way, Abingdon, whilst working route X2 towards Oxford