The 386 Experience

Thursday 20th June 2024

I joined around 50 members of London Transport Museum Friends on a fantastic day out last Wednesday recreating London’s most iconic rural bus route and loved every nostalgic minute of it.

And it really was a personal memory jerker as one of the first bus routes I ever travelled on as a child, almost 60 years ago, on a Green Rover in London Transport’s Country Bus area, was the very infrequent route 386 which stretched right across the northern boundary of London Transport’s operating area between Bishop’s Stortford and Hitchin.

I don’t have any photographs of that trip (I doubt I took any with my basic Kodak Brownie 127 camera) so just have sketchy memories of a green RF bus taking me on one of the most delightful journeys through picturesque Hertfordshire villages and along the narrowest country roads I’d ever experienced before.

Thanks to Mike Harris’s extensive collection of London bus photographs here (above and below) are a couple of photos of route 386 in action in the 1970s.

When I saw LTM Friends was organising a ‘386 Experience’ day using a GS and RF travelling from Bishop’s Stortford to Hitchin and back again, my application for a ticket went off straight away.

Back came confirmation of my place and closer to the day a very impressive brochure along with a ticket and badge to wear for when we enjoyed a cream tea at Pearces Farm Shop and Café on the return journey. The organisers even gave us a reproduction copy of a London Transport Country Area bus map for June 1952 so we could follow the route as well as a smart pin badge.

A fascinating history of route 386 was included in the brochure together with a route map and details of both the GS and RF classes of bus.

The 386 was quite a complex route with different variations on different days of the week. When I knew it in the mid 1960s it ran on Tuesdays between Buntingford and Hitchin (where it was market day) with four return journeys; on Thursdays between Buntingford and Bishop’s Stortford (where it was market day) with three return journeys and two more to/from Standon and then on Saturdays the timetable comprised end-to-end journeys between Bishop’s Stortford and Hitchin as well as some short journeys.

There was also a 386A variant linking Buntingford with Hertford on Thursdays and weekends via the 386 to Wellpond Green and then Much Hadham, Hadham and Ware. This ceased in 1958 along with the Sunday timetable on the 386.

People’s of Ware had begun the route in the 1920s passing to London Transport on its formation in 1933 and was left unchanged for many years as it performed its role as a Market Day route well.

It was always worked by Hertford bus garage rather than either Hitchin or Stevenage and in 1965 the positioning journeys were included in the timetable for passengers to use adding to the complexity of the timetable presentation.

The route’s eastern terminus became the Havers Lane estate in Bishops Stortford in 1959.

What’s left of the route today is in the hands of Central Connect comprising four and a half return journeys on Mondays to Saturdays from Bishop’s Stortford to Buntingford but missing out the lovely section through Wellpond Green and then runs via Baldock and Letchworth Garden City to Hitchin before continuing direct to Stevenage which is now the western terminus.

Today’s route also misses out the narrow country lanes through Ardeley, Cromer and Walkern.

Our ‘386 Experience’ set off on time at 10:00 from alongside Bishop’s Stortford rail station (at the ‘Interchange’) with GS17 leading the way and RF180 following behind.

First off we made our way to the original terminus at Havers Lane for the first photographic stop of the day…

… much to the surprise of residents and dog walkers passing by.

Then it was back through Bishops Stortford town centre where our Tour guide pointed out the former General bus garage in the town…

… now a tyre depot.

The first of many photographic stops along the journey was in the gorgeous village of Wellpond Green.

It was then onward through Hertfordshire’s finest rural lanes…

… and countryside via Standon and Puckeridge…

…until we reached Braughing where the organisers had arranged with the owner of the former station building now used as a residence to allow us to visit this amazing property.

The station on the Buntingford branch line had opened on 3rd July 1863 by the Great Eastern Railway and was in use, including with a cattle dock and capairty for 50 wagons, until it closed in November 1964.

It would be fair to say while we were all impressed with the former station and the buildings and platforms still extant, the family who live there, and who came out to join in the fun, were as impressed with the two buses that had arrived in their drive, especially the young children.

After that interlude it was onwards to Buntingford for a prolonged toilet stop – due to the gents being closed and only the accessible toilet and ladies open so it took a while to clear the queue (!), but thanks to the marshalling and organisational skills of Pat, the gents were able to use the ladies much to our relief – and then we headed towards the second village near Buntingford that uses the name Hare Street (which has always struck me as odd) and to Ardeley along the narrowest stretch of road ever to be used by London Transport buses.

Appropriately enough, it’s called Blind Lane – and we managed to successfully negotiate it only meeting one other vehicle towing a trailer too…

… but whose driver skilfully managed to reverse back to a wider section so both the GS and RF could gingerly pass.

And then it was another photo stop along this extremely narrow road.

Enjoy this clip of the GS heading along part of Blind Lane.

The route then took us via Cromer and Walkern before reaching the outskirts of Stevenage where we passed the new bus station, went close to the old bus station and Arriva garage, then via Arriva’s current bus garage in the town and then to Stevenage High Street in the Old Town for another photo stop.

Leaving Stevenage we passed the site of the original railway station in the town and then onwards to Hitchin, where the 386 operated via Titmore Green and Great Wymondley, so naturally we did too, and finally arrived at the terminus in Hitchin St Mary’s Square for a lunch stop.

The return journey was on the current direct route via Baldock and Buntingford before taking the A10 (Ermine Street) down to Pearces Farm Shop for a very welcome cream tea.

Then it was back via Wellpond Green again arriving into Bishop’s Strotford at about 17:15 making for what had been a truly splendid day out.

My thanks to Keith (the GS driver) and Stephen (the RF driver) who both drove superbly along the narrow roads as well as to Julian our Tour Manager and to everyone involved in putting the tour together including Mike Kaye of course.

It was also lovely to meet so many blog readers on the trip and thanks for your appreciative comments especially the shared cream tea with Pat & Mark and Greg & Jill; it was also good to catch up with Mike of Greater London Bus Map and Transport Photographs 1973-2000 fame and Alex at some of the stops.

Roger French

Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS with occasional Summer Su extras, including this Su.

Comments on today’s blog are welcome but please keep them relevant to the blog topic, avoid personal insults and add your name (or an identifier). Thank you.