London icons: double decker red buses

That red double decker bus just shouts 'London' at you!  My visitors are very keen to make sure I build a ride on a bus into their itinerary and once on board we head for the top deck and if we can grab a front seat that's even better. It feels like a proper London experience and is a brilliant way to see the sights for the price of a bus ticket.

Last weekend all of us bus lovers got the chance to see a Bus Cavalcade on Regent Street which was closed to all other trafffic for the day so the buses could take over.  2014 is the Year of the Bus and the London Transport Museum were making sure we all got out and enjoyed a sunny Sunday on the buses. 

The whole length of Regent Street was a ride backwards or forwards through history, depending which end you started from.  I started at Oxford Circus with the new state of the art hybrid revamped Routemaster designed by Thomas Heatherwick, most famous for bringing us the fabulous Olympic Cauldron of flame.  These buses bring back the famous Routemaster feature of the hop-on hop-off back platform - so useful in busy traffic - but in terms of advanced technology we are assured they are one of the best in the world!

The new Routemaster

The hop on hop off back door and stairway

At the southern end of Regent Street was the earliest bus, one of the horse drawn models which were in service from 1829 to 1914 and only withdrawn because the horses were needed for war service in the First World War. The wonderfully restored bus on show with its calm and patient pair of sturdy horses dates from 1898. There was a great poster telling us all about the buses' history and the difficult conditions of the drivers and conductors who often worked a 14 hour day in harsh condition on to of the bus in all weathers.

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Good to have your photo with the horses

Rear entrance

Nattily dressed driver and conductor

 Regent Street is normally a really busy thoroughfare but for Bus Cavalcade day they put up seats and a canteen in the middle of the road for weary shoppers and bus fans alike to rest up. 

Far from the usual busy traffic

One up on the usual works canteen

  Lego had got in on the fun with a bus stop made out of Lego bricks - what a great idea!

All along Regent Street you could trace the development of the London buses from horse drawn through to early engine powered through to the modern hybrid and outside each one was a crowd of people waiting to go inside and explore, getting a sense of travel from bygone eras.  Here is a selection of my favourite old buses for you:

 

Put some muscle into it!

Advertising is nothing new!

  

 I was surprised to some green buses and discovered that these ran on the country routes and red ones were for inner London. 

After exploring all these buses the only thing to do was to hop on a working bus and ride home to Notting Hill!

Bye for now,
Sue
@itsyourlondon
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk

Loving Notting Hill Carnival!

I go to carnival every year and still love it just as much - the music, the parade with mad costumes, the food, the noise, the people watching, the colours, did I say the noise?  Some residents of Notting Hill head for the country while others, like myself, make the most of one of the world's best street carnivals coming to their doorstep. 

Firstly the history bit:  the roots of the Notting Hill carnival are way back in the Caribbean in the 19th century, particularly in Trinidad, when freed slaves wanted to celebrate the end of of slavery and these traditions are carried forward into what we see now. Our carnival dates from the late 1950s/early 1960s when it started as a celebration of Afro-Caribbean cultures and traditions at a particularly difficult time for race relations. We have 2 women to thank for this amazing event - Claudia Jones and Rhaune Laslett. These days over 1.5 million people come to have a great time, watch the parade, enjoy the sound systems, eat the Caribbean food (mostly jerk chicken, goat curry, rice and peas and my favourite - ackee and salt fish), have a few drinks and dance!

The weather was great for both days and day one, which is the kids day was full of fun and families trying to navigate the crowds with double buggies - rather them than me!  I've picked a selection of day one photos for you to enjoy:

Waiting for the parade to start

Anyone can join it!

Great viewing spot

These kids were having such fun

Colours and feathers - and a head in the background

How heavy do you think this is?

Classic London routemaster bus getting in on the act

Cooking up a smokey BBQ

Even Dr Who dropped in with some famous enemies

This group weren't even in the parade, just turned up anyway

I said it gets busy....

There really is only one beer at carnival

Unusual window display in this butchers shop on Portobello

Beautifully made statue of The Pan Man

It can get very tiring

Great costume

A mime troop decide to  join in

Thumbs up from one of the parade floats

The happy face of carnival

 I was hoping to bring you some brilliant photos from day two of carnival and had a whole set in the camera but unfortunately I was the victim of a very sly pick pocket so the camera has gone! It's the first time in 11 years of going to carnival that this has happened to me so however careful you think you are it can still happen and you need to be on your look out. Thankfully I have a spare camera so I'll still be out and about taking photos of London for you.

Bye for now
Sue 
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon