In the London Country
Part One
16 March 2025
ABOVE: Go-Ahead Metrobus 6962 (YP58 UGC), a Scania N270UD OmniCity, passes along Merland Rise, between Tadworth and Tattenham Corner, whilst working route 460 towards Epsom. All photographs in this article were taken on Saturday 25 May 2024, unless otherwise stated.
When you mention London Transport of old, most people will, I suspect, picture red buses. But London Transport stretched very much further than its successor does today. Beyond the traditional red bus area was its green bus 'Country' area. Running from Hitchin in the north to Crawley and East Grinstead in the south, and from High Wycombe and Windsor in the west to Grays in the east, the Country area formed a circle of green bus operation around the red bus area.
I'm too young to remember green London Transport buses (yes, really)! In 1970 they were transferred to the National Bus Company and became London Country. And of course I remember green buses operating as London Country!
London Country faded after deregulation in the 1980s, but it's that former territory that I am travelling through today. It's a lovely late Spring morning as I reach Epsom High Street, in Surrey.
This is a 'border' town between Transport for London (TfL) and other operators, so red TfL buses on various routes mingle with others in a variety of colours. Those others would traditionally have been green. And, actually, so would some of the red ones!
ABOVE: The Saturday market is in full swing in Epsom High Street, as a Falcon Buses ADL Enviro200 MMC picks up on route E16 to Worcester Park. The Clock Tower - the foundation stone of which was laid in 1847 - keeps a bird's eye view of proceedings.
I'm here to ride the Go-Ahead Metrobus route 460 service to Crawley. It's due out at 1112 and a Scania N270UD OmniCity arrives in good time. The doors are open for loading several minutes ahead of our departure time.
But it becomes obious that there is going to be a delay to departure. After I have taken my seat (upstairs at the front, of course), there's the sound of a brief argument downstairs. The argument ceases, but the departure time comes and goes and we don't move. It transpires that the altercation has been about someone refusing to pay their fare - possibly with an out-of-date pass. They are now sitting on the bus and we're not going anywhere until they pay up or leave. (Perhaps they should have got on a TfL bus - they would probably have been waved through and shown the best seat!)
After about 15 minutes, and now 10 minutes after our scheduled departure time, the driver gets out of the cab and comes upstairs to warn the passenger that the police are on their way. This prompts the passenger into action, and he pays his fare.
So, with the stand-off over, and the police stood down, we are finally on our way at 1124, 12 minutes late.
ABOVE: Another view of Epsom High Street shows a BYD D8UR ADL Enviro200EV of Go-Ahead London General on route S2 (Epsom to St Helier). This is one of TfL's newest bus routes, having been introduced in March 2024.
The 460 is a descendent of the London Transport (country area) route 406, which ran from Kingston to Redhill, and still runs from Kingston to Epsom today, now as a red TfL service. The route (406) was established in 1920 by the East Surrey Traction Company, and it looks like the principal routing has remained intact ever since - albeit now split at Epsom between the 406 and the 460.
The 460 heads due south out of town, and a mile-and-a-half out we reach Epsom Downs, home of the Epsom Derby. Described as "one of the five classic English horse races", the Derby first took place in 1780, and the first-ever recorded race on the Downs was back in 1661.
The traditional 406 service over this route is the reason why the raceday special extra buses from Epsom as far as the racecourse are numbered 406F - this special service has existed since 1936. When I visited the Derby a few times in the 1990s / early 2000s (not sure exactly when it was now), there was also a rival 306F service. You had to be careful which route you used in the morning, as the return ticket would only be valid on the same route back. The 406F seemed much more plentiful on the days when we needed a 306F!
ABOVE: Part of the Epsom Downs Racecourse, one week before the 2024 race
We come to Tattenham Corner. By the 1770s, Tattenham Corner was the established name for the top section of the Epsom Racecourse, referring to a sharp bend in the racetrack. The area beyond the racecourse developed with the arrival of the railway.
It looks attractive and welcoming.
ABOVE: Tattenham Corner
It's somewhere around here that a 'companion' route 420 joins us from Sutton, and will be with us most of the way to Crawley.
We pass through Tadworth, where we dig into a housing estate. Our troublesome friend - he of the "I don't have to pay" brigade -leaves here silently, tail between his legs.
Our next village is Walton-on-the-Hill, a place I associate with red London Transport buses. The 80A from Morden, and the 280A from Tooting that later replaced the 80A, both came here until the early 1980s. Most journeys on the 'companion' route 420 bypass it, though.
ABOVE: Walton Street in Walton-on-the-Hill
Don't mix Walton-on-the-Hill with Walton-on-Thames; they are different places, albeit only about 10 miles apart as the crow flies. Walton-on-the-Hill is a village that sits just a mile inside the M25 Orbital Motorway. The village hosts the Walton Heath Golf Club, whose former members include King Edward VIII, Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George.
The joy of Walton-on-the-Hill must be Mere Pond. My first photo of it isn't great. but I then discover that we're on a double-run... My second chance will not be wasted...
ABOVE: Mere Pond, Walton-on-the-Hill
It feels very countrified here, despite being just outside Greater London and still on the inside of the M25 motorway. We're in the North Downs, a ridge of chalk hills that stretch all the way from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover.
ABOVE: Somewhere between Lower Kingswood and Reigate (I can't pin it down any more precisely), Metrobus 6969 (YP58 UGK), a Scania N270UD OmniCity, heads for Epsom on route 460.
Finally crossing the M25, we come to the town of Reigate. The Cranston Library here was opened in 1701 and is the oldest public lending library in England. The library is named after its founder, Andrew Cranston, who was the Vicar of Reigate from 1697 until 1708. It is housed on the first floor of the vestry of the Church of St Mary Magdalene. The collection includes over 2000 books, most of which date from the 17th and 18th centuries.
ABOVE: Metrobus 6122 (SK19 FBZ), a Wright Streetlite DF, passes along Bell Street, Reigate, whilst working route 430, a local service to Merstham
On Lesbourne Road is a "Busy Bees" childcare facility. I wouldn't normally remark on this, except that it uses the former Reigate London Transport / London Country bus garage as its premises. You can possibly detect its former role from its general appearance but, to remove any doubt, the bus stop outside is called the "Old Bus Garage".
ABOVE: The "Old Bus Garage" in Reigate with (inset) the bus stop flag.
ABOVE: Another view of the former Reigate Bus Garage sees Compass Travel 1302 (YX23 OUM), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, working route 32 from Guildford to Redhill, on Friday 29 November 2024.
We're now heading towards Redhill, less than a mile-and-a-half from Reigate as the crow flies. It's not easy to tell where one ends and the other begins.
ABOVE: A view of Blackborough Road, Redhill, with the spire of the Redhill United Reformed Church in the background.
ABOVE: Metrobus 6105 (SK66 HTA), a Wright Streetlite DF, in Blackborough Road, Redhill, on route 420, our 'companion' route, which is usually operated by double-deckers.
Part of the London commuter belt, and 10 miles south-west of Croydon, Redhill sits in a natural water-cut gap in the Greensand Ridge, which connects the town with the low-lying land of the Low Weald to the south. The existence of the gap made it an obvious route for the London & Brighton Railway in the 1840s, and the development of the town is attributed to the coming of the railway.
Although we have been heading through the old London Transport Country Area throughout this journey so far, to me it has felt a long way from London ever since we left Epsom, so it's a bit of a surprise to suddenly find a red TfL bus parked up here. Redhill is the terminus of route 405 from Croydon, representing one of the most-southerly extremities of the TfL network (I think only the 465 to Dorking goes further south).
ABOVE: Arriva London HT28 (SK70 BVM), an ADL Enviro400H MMC, stands in Marketfield Way, Redhill, between trips on route 405 from / to Croydon.
Redhill has a small but functional Bus Station, located opposite the railway station, with the shops adjacent as well.
ABOVE: A selection of buses in Redhill Bus Station, all operated by Metrobus. On the left is 6901 (BJ63 UJH), a Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 2, on route 100 (Redhill Park 25 to Maidenbower). In the centre is 6709 (X68 URB), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, working route 424 (Redhill to Copthorne), whilst a Scania N270UD OmniCity stands on the right. Behind stands Quadrant House, an apartment block with some slightly odd dimensions that my photograph appears to accentuate!
When I first rode the 460, maybe 15-20 years ago, it terminated here. But nowadays it continues to Crawley, and I am going to do the same.
We're currently 16 minutes late. Again, just as well this isn't a TfL service, or it would be turned short of Crawley. That isn't likely to happen on the 460, but can we make any of the lost time up? And, when we get to Crawley, where should I head to next?
TO BE CONTINUED...
BELOW: An approximation of the route covered in this article.
