Chesham Running Day 2018 - Part 2: Modern-ish Wandering to Wycombe

Check out Part 1 here.

At 1058, AN262 pulled up to the stop, looking resplendent in its 'NBC' London Country livery.

After the bus turned round the triangle, I boarded along with a handful of others. The majority of those sat downstairs, leaving the seat behind the stairs free for me to enjoy the warmth of the sun on the fresh day. A prompt departure, lack of traffic and some swift driving along the relatively straight route meant that, by Chalfont St Giles, we were 2 minutes early and had gained another 2 before Chalfont St Peter, where the journey between them was only scheduled to take 5! We made the right turn into Chalfont St Peter's centre and passed the Church timing point, before RT3491 thundered past on a slightly delayed service through to Berkhamsted.

We continued straight down Nicol Road, then left into Grove Lane through the uninspiring Leachcroft Estate, then along the same road into Gerrards Cross, where we powered through the High Street before pulling into the turning circle by the Packhorse 5 minutes early, at 1129. We had 7 minutes stand time anyway, so the driver decided to perform an unusual manoeuvre to ensure the bus was facing the right way for photographs.

The blinds were changed to 'Chesham Broadway via Amersham Station' (this was one of the few trips that didn't continue through to Berkhamsted) and then, a few minutes late at 1144, we duly departed and made the speedy journey back through Leachcroft Estate, then right via Nicol Road and the centre of Chalfont St Peter. The route was clearly timed for an RT or something of a similar nature, because the AN had easily made up the time lost at the stand. Just after the village of Chalfont St Giles, a decidedly empty RML2456 was spotted heading the other way on the 1140 service from Chesham.

Amersham was reached a few minutes early and it wasn't just me alighting there - another gentleman pressed the bell before I did. I said my thanks to the crew, then exited for a trip that I would've missed if I'd completed the final leg to Chesham.

The bus waited at the stop for a few minutes, as departure time had still not been reached! Luckily, however, my next bus wasn't early and I had time for a quick break before boarding. In that break, RTL554 came trundling up the road from High Wycombe on a 305 trip. Yes, the 1000 departure from Chesham that I had seen at the start of the day took over 2 hours to complete its rounder!

My next bus was also a 305 - the only single deck trip on the route that day. SNB453 barrelled down the road to arrive at the stop where it was going to pick me up.

I hopped on board the colourful vehicle (which I had donated a little money towards preserving previously through destination blind purchases) for the lengthy but pleasant ride through to High Wycombe. Luckily, it wasn't too busy either and I got a good seat. Right, left, then left again and we were back on the main road that we had taken earlier on the 353. However, we were supposed to diverge and take a right at Chalfont St Giles. The key phrase there is supposed to, as the driver and conductor seemed to not realise we were meant to take this turning, so we continued on the main road towards Gerrards Cross, but the mistake was soon noticed by some passengers and also the crew, so we found a quick turning in Chalfont St Peter. By the time Chalfont St Giles' timing point had been reached, we were 5 minutes late. The trip that ensued wasn't overly amazing, but the bus was fun as it roared through the long route via Beaconsfield and Loudwater towards High Wycombe. The routes at the event were clearly timed for 'proper' vintage vehicles, (like RMs, RTs, RFs etc) because - along with the AN trip - the bus began running early, making up around 10 minutes over the journey!

The Bus Station was familiar to me from last year's event based here - this year, there were 3 routes travelling there: 305 and 362 to Amersham (305 via Beaconsfield, 362 via Penn Street) and the 27 'Thames Valley' service to Great Missenden, linking up with the 394 at the other end. I was going to travel on the latter service, and I could see it sitting over the other side of the bus station, due to depart any minute...

Continued in Part 3 and Part 4.