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Red RF routes
Route 227
Originally Tilling route 109 between Penge and Chislehurst,
the route was renumbered in 1934 into the single-deck series as
227. It still operates over some of the same roads
today.
Dates of RF operation
5 Nov 52 to 1 Jan 71
(total 18 years, 2 months, all crew operation).
Destinations
Crystal Palace to Chislehurst
RF350 is seen on the
famous Crystal Palace Parade stand.
Photo ©
Adrian Clarke, Ian Armstrong collection
Route history
Tilling route 109 dates back to 1914 and was operating
daily from Tilling's Bromley garage (TB) by 1924, using
single-deck Bs, replaced in 1927 by Tilling TS7
petrol-electrics. The route ran every 12 minutes on a radial
route round London's outskirts linking Penge, Beckenham, Bromley
and Chislehurst Queens Head.
Under the Bassom scheme introduced on 1 Dec 24, the Penge
terminus was registered as Crystal Palace Entrance, but the route
ran (as the 109A) only from Penge Crooked
Billet. On 16 Jun 26, the route was extended north from
Chislehurst via Mottingham to Eltham High Street and
renumbered 109 as the Crystal Palace Entrance terminus was
withdrawn. By 1927, the frequency had increased to every 10
minutes and the TS7s were assisted by three Bs from Sidcup (SP),
these being replaced by K-types from 1930.
 Single-deckers were required both due to the low
bridges at Clock House and Shortlands and the famous Chislehurst
Water Tower at the top of Summer Hill, through which all traffic
from Bromley to Chislehurst had to pass until it was demolished in
1963. A batch of AEC Regals (3T3s, numbered T307-318 and
specially designed to fit the Chislehurst Arch) was bought by
General in 1932 for Tilling to operate and replaced the TS7s
at TB; ED's Ks were also replaced by Ts.
The Chislehurst Water
Tower, dating from 1860
In 1933, the route was extended from Eltham to Welling Guy
Earl of Warwick and the vehicle allocation further varied
(temporarily) by weekend operation of four Ss and an LTL by
Nunhead garage (AH).
A sister route from TB, the 609, was added on 1 Apr 31,
running between Penge and Bromley North Station but routed to the
south of Shortlands (thus avoiding both the railway bridge and the
water tower). This route became the 229 in 1934 then the
254 until, in 1940 and by then cut back to Beckenham, it was
double-decked as the 126.
The 109 was renumbered 227 in the new sequence on 3 Oct
34. By now running every 7½ minutes over most of the route,
larger buses were required and LT Scooters from Elmers End (ED) had
joined the Bromley Ts. SP added three more Scooters on
Saturdays from 1936.
On 4 May 38, the route was cut back to Chislehurst Gordon
Arms, running from the Common along Green Lane in both
directions. The sections to Welling was covered by new routes
160 and 161. On the same day, the TB and SP allocations were
withdrawn, leaving the route to ED's Scooters, in sole charge until
1951. During this period, the vehicle requirement grew from
11 to 21 during the week, 17 to 24 on Saturdays.
On 2 May 51, the route moved wholesale back to TB, its home
from then until today except for a five year contract 1992-97 with
Kentish Bus out of Dunton Green. The Scooters moved with it,
Bromley's first single-deckers since the double-decking of the 254
(to 126) and 232 (to 138) in 1940, the duties replacing part
of the 47 that moved to Catford, in turn replacing the 36 which
moved to the brand new Peckham garage.
On 27 Jun 51, the 227 was extended from Penge to Crystal
Palace, although this was always a minority of buses, two or three
turning in Penge for every through bus. The LTL Scooters were
replaced by new RFs in November 1951, with the first 3 buses
licensed on the 5th and the remainder being delivered during the
month (the last two were not licensed until 1 December). It
is interesting to note that the nickname 'Scooters' lasted on to be
applied to RFs at Bromley, but not generally elsewhere.
RF415 was delivered new to Sutton in January
1953, but the following month sees it loaned to Bromley and using
the blind from a Scooter. The effect of the cream band is
more striking without the indicator ears.
Photo © AB Cross
During 1954, there were detail changes to the route at
Chislehurst. The terminal working was unchanged (the
stand was in Alexander Road, beside the Gordon Arms, with the buses
leaving via Edward Road), but from May the route arrived and left
via Albany Road and the High Street, changing again in October to
arrive via Albany Road and depart down Green Lane to the
Common. Other than this, and a gradual reduction in weekend
frequencies, the route remained unchanged for approaching 20
years.
Just before the end of the RFs, LOTS reported that 'RF348 was
taken from outside Bromley garage at 3am one morning and the
joy-rider ended up crashing into the front of a shop. When the RF
was seen being towed through Bromley it looked a complete
write-off. The joy-rider was not found.' RF348 was indeed a
write-off, it was one of two scrapped at Aldenham the following
year.
The route was the
second last crew-operated RF route (the last was the 236) when converted to OMO Swifts on 2 Jan
71, having been the only RF route operated out of Bromley for all
that time. The last bus in service was driven by Fred
Chapman, a proud RF owner to this day.
 The Swifts were replaced by Nationals after only
6 ½ years, these lasting until the route was won
by Kentish Bus, operating from Dunton Green, in 1992. At that
time, the route was cut back from Chislehurst to Bromley North,
leaving the route as operated today. However, operation
returned to TB, now as Stagecoach, in 1997, where it remains
running between Crystal Palace and Bromley North to this day.
RF route in detail, with timing
points
CRYSTAL PALACE Parade, Westwood Hill, Crystal Palace Park
Road, Penge High St, Penge
Pawleyne Arms, Penge High St, Beckenham Rd,
Beckenham War
Memorial, Beckenham High St, Bromley Rd, Shortlands Stn, Beckenham La, Bromley High
St, Bromley Market
Place, Widmore Rd, Bickley Rd, Bickley Park Rd,
Chislehurst Stn, Summer Hill,
Bromley Rd, Chislehurst War
Memorial, Centre Common Rd, High St, Albany Rd,
CHISLEHURST Gordon Arms. (Return via Green La,
Heathfield La, Loop Rd, Centre Common Rd)
Still doorless, RF324
stands at Crystal Palace in front of Stockwell's RM930 on the
long 2 to North Finchley. The RF is one of those
converted to OMO configuration in 1970 and returned for a brief
period at TB with the doors fixed open. Crews were happy to
have the benefit of the doors, however, and reportedly often
carried a screwdriver to remove the wooden batons stopping the
doors from closing.
Garages
Garage journeys: to/from Bromley Market Place via
High St, Masons Hill, Bromley Common.
Crew change at Bromley Widmore Road.
 November 1968, two years to go, and RF404 crosses
Chislehurst Common
Photo © Colin
Stannard
Vehicle allocation
PVR 1952: Mon-Fri 24, Sat 26, Sun 15
PVR 1966: 22
New RFs delivered Nov-Dec 52: 331, 333-353, 358-360, 369, 377
(26 + 1 spare), Feb 53: 463.
Memories
Terry Cooper is one
of our readers who remembers the 227:
I remember the red RFs coming onto the 227 and used them to
travel to school and later ensured that various girlfriends lived
on it (the last bus back from Chislehurst to Bromley was well after
midnight, a hangover from when ED ran it). And what about the
morning journey that turned from Sidcup (with the correct blind
display) at Chislehurst Stn.
Later I worked at 55 Broadway and had the job of arranging
Railway Emergency Services (which they rarely actually were) in the
early 60's and Bromley's RFs were very useful, as they had around
10 spare on Sunday. One special repetitive run was when Penge
Tunnel was shut for several Sundays and Dulwich College wouldn't
allow double deckers through their private roads. We ran RTs fast
from Herne Hill to whichever Penge is on the SECR line, and RFs
calling at all stations, but they had to have mud smeared on the
legal weight, for the RFs (heavier than they should have been) were
above the limit set by Alleyn's. No-one ever knew apart from a
conniving engineer at TB.
We even used an RF from TB at Worcester Park, which was quite a
big job, but on which occasion I don't remember, except that it
took me there from Bromley for the day and brought me back
afterwards.
Roger Newport spent a
short period at Bromley as a relief Garage Inspector. He
tells the following story of Boxing Day 1969:
'I had drawn the short straw of early turn (TB was closed on
Christmas Day). Having no transport of my own, it was agreed that
the night shift fitter would come out to pick me up. We were living
at the time in Copers Cope Road, Beckenham, which is a street of
grand, not to say grandiose, Victorian villas, some of which, like
the one we lived in, were broken into flats, but some of which were
not. I seem to remember also that there was a blanket of snow, so
you can imagine the silence at 0600 on 26 December. That quiet was
broken round about then by the distinctive putter putter of an RF
approaching from the Junction, and getting louder and louder. You
can imagine my consternation, since it was, as I worried, waking
all the neighbours. And I had assumed that picking me up would
involve a car, not what - music as it might be to you and me - was
to others an earth shattering noise at that hour. In fact no one
said anything but I am sure I subsequently detected some strange
looks!'
Ian Smith remembers going
to school on the 227 in the sixties:
'Two minutes past eight. I had walked through College Slip in
Bromley from the junction of North Street, West Street and College
Road. There, unless I had walked into Bromley or the
conductor had prevented, I had dropped off the platform of an RT on
the 94 or 126. College Slip took me to the north end of Bromley
High Street, opposite the Swan & Mitre, at the top of Swan
Hill.
I still have a memory from 1952 (when I was four) of a Scooter
LTL passing the end of College Slip.
Well, now it was 8.02, some-year between 1959 and 1966.
As I crossed Bromley High Street I looked south towards the stop
at Bromley Market. If there was a Crystal Palace 227 loading there
I would take up my stand on the corner by the pub (Crystal Palaces
were always full - not worth even trying to get on). If it
was a Penge, I would leg it round the corner and fifty yards to the
bus-stop at the top of winding Swan Hill. Sometimes there
would not be a 227 in sight at all - not a good sign, as they were
supposed to have a "better than four minutes" headway.
I waited at the corner. At the stop opposite
stood a girl about my age waiting for a 227 in the other direction,
towards the Girls Technical High School at Bickley. She arrived by
47. Later I found out who she was, but too late - she was
already going out with my best friend!
A Penge bus.
Penge-bound outside Beckenham
Town Hall
Photo © MG Webber, Peter Gomm
collection
If a Penge bus didn't arrive within five
minutes it was bad news. That would herald a stream of buses
that wouldn't stop at my request stop, and after four or five I
would be in danger of being late for school. Bunching due to
fog was the worst culprit in most autumn months. By quarter
past eight I would have to run down Swan Hill to Shortlands station
to catch the (more expensive) train to Kent House.
But assuming that a bus arrived, there was the
question of which would it be. It was always a Bromley RF, although
there were occasional strangers. Could these have been the Saturday
borrowings from New Cross held over for some reason? The
Bromley RFs had no doors, but very occasionally a stranger with
doors chained open would be seen while the ban on OPO working
remained in force.
Personal favourite was MXX 2 (RF360), which
seemed to be my regular bus for the first couple of years.
RF367 and RF368 had similar memorable registration plates in those
early days, while RF361 took over in late 1961.
Once on the bus I tried to find a seat for the
wind down Swan Hill into the Ravensbourne Valley. We crossed
the river immediately before the 12 ft 0 in clearance railway
bridge at Shortlands station, where 4-EPBs, a handful of peak-hour
4-SUBs and the occasional steam express rumbled overhead on the
lines to Victoria and Blackfriars (at least in the early
days. Later it was EPBs, HAPs and CEP/BEP
combinations). Very occasionally the Night Ferry was to be
seen, with a West Country spam-can toiling London-wards with a
train of exotic blue Wagon-Lits sleepers, a full train of green
Bulleid coaches, plus a tail of Ferry luggage-brakes and fourgons,
sixteen or so vehicles.
There was a better view of the railway
junction as the bus toiled up the long hill out of the valley on
the west side. Now we were moving away from the artisan
houses of Shortlands to the more affluent suburbia of
Beckenham. Up on the hill we would meet a Green Line RF
heading for Dartford on the 725.
The bus relaxed slightly for the roll down
into Beckenham. Often we would have to stop at the traffic
lights (still a relative rarity in those days), before forking
right for Beckenham Church. Here we met the 126 route
briefly, although I can never remember seeing one there. We
turned left, away from Beckenham Junction, rolled down the hill and
turned right into Beckenham's sinuous High Street. At the end
was another rarity - a roundabout. Not a mini-roundabout but a
proper big drive-round one. We headed for Penge.
The tree-lined road headed for Clock House
Station past Beckenham Baths. Here I would alight if it was
swimming first period. Clock House was where we caught the
train to Eden Park on games afternoons. But that's another
story.

Past the hump of the station bridge we continued along to pass
under the Beckenham Junction to Crystal Palace branch. No
trams in those days, but another possible sighting of a
4-SUB. Nearly there now, we gathered or belongings and
alighted opposite the school, allowing the RF to purr away much
emptier into Penge High Street, probably to turn at the Crooked
Billet.
I don't think that I ever caught the bus on up
the hill to Crystal Palace - except possibly on a Saturday trip
with Dad, when we went up to the Palace from some direction then
caught the 654 trolleybus down towards Croydon. Early
memories of Crystal Palace parade included some awe at seeing buses
doing U-turns in the road, with trolleys turning completely round
the roundabout at the top of Anerley Hill!
Another Crystal Palace shot, this is
RF410. Photo Peter Gomm collection
Going home was just the reverse. There
was a considerable scrum at the request stop outside the
school. Buses from Crystal Palace, loaded with schoolgirls
from up the hill, tended to run straight past. The
headteacher remonstrated with us at Assembly about unruly behaviour
at the stop. But after about three or four buses I could
usually get home for the switchback return to Bromley, where I
would alight at College Slip or Bromley Market Place. The final
climb from Shortlands to Bromley was often a struggle, but I cannot
remember an RF ever breaking down anywhere on the route.
I don't remember catching the 227 eastwards
from Bromley during my schooldays, although I often traversed it on
my bike. But I made sure to do the run during the Sidcup
Running Day! From Bromley the bus would have filled up
with girls for Bromley Girls Tech, and headed out eastwards along
Tweedy Road, past the Council offices and Police Station, out to
Bickley, where it would discharge its schoolgirls before the
twisting dive down into the valley.
The route passed under the Charing Cross line,
then climbed very steeply up the long hill to Chislehurst
Common. There, until it was demolished, all traffic,
including buses, had to squeeze alternately through the tiny arch
in the bottom of the water tower. At Chislehurst War Memorial
the 227 turned left into Chislehurst Village, and ran round the
block to terminate at the Gordon Arms.'
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