Originally the General's route 505, the route commenced in 1929 from Uxbridge garage, running daily using a 20-seat K-type from Uxbridge to Richings Park Estate - a destination that was left to Country Area route 459 from the second world war.  One man operated Monday to Saturday with Dennis Darts from 1930, the 505 was extended to Ruislip from November 1931, then cut back to Ickenham from May 1933.

Renumbered as 223 in October 1934, the route was reintroduced on Sundays for the summer of 1935 then permanently from April 1936.  In November of that year the Richings Park section (which served Cowley) was transferred to the 220 and the 223 was extended again to Ruislip, this time to Ruislip Manor.

In May 1938, the route was extended south, this time over new roads through Colham Green which were to be made the 223's own, to reach Ickenham (where it terminated on the route of the 222 and 224).  The logical extension to West Drayton came in January 1939, when (presumably for scheduling reasons) the Ruislip end was shortened to Ruislip Station.

RF409 is also at Heathrow Airport's central bus station, which looks as though it is still being built, although the aerial walkway still stops in mid-air to this day. 

Photo © JA Gascoine, Peter Gomm collection

At the outbreak of war, the scarcity of petrol meant that petrol-engined buses such as DAs were withdrawn and sold.  The 223's DAs were replaced by new (crew-operated?) CRs in November 1939, but all of these were put into store in early 1942 and the route converted to OMO Cubs.

As described under that route, the 223 was extended from March 1943 to replace the 224 between West Drayton and Stanwell, and the separate Sunday Staines to Stanwell service operated the the Hounslow Cub was also renumbered from 224 to 223.  This change lasted only seven months before the former routings resumed.  However, at that point, in October 1943, the 223 was upgraded to crew-operated LT Scooters.  These continued until replaced by new 14T12s in March 1946.

January 1948 saw a small extension southwards to West Drayton Mill Road, The Anglers Retreat (the section later to be replaced by the 224^A), but it was not until July 1951 that the dramatic change took place which split the route and saw it part double-decked.  The Ruislip to West Drayton Station section was converted to operate STLs during the week and RTs at weekends.  Meanwhile, the section onwards to Mill Road was shortened to run from Uxbridge (still via Colham Green) and retained the Ts.  The weekday STLs gave way to RTs between 1951 and 1953.

From this point, it is easier to consider the Uxbridge to West Drayton routes, the 222, 223 and 224, as a group, as LT made a series of adjustments over the years to react to the changes in bus use and the growth of Heathrow Airport.  See the 222 for the full story. 

To recap, the 222 and 224 ran by the direct routing through Cowley to West Drayton and thence to London Airport North and Hounslow (222) or Harmondsworth, Staines and Laleham (224), whilst the 223 from Ruislip ran via Uxbridge to West Drayton via Hillingdon Hospital and Colham Green.  The Ruislip to West Drayton Stn section was double-decked, whereas Ts operated between Uxbridge and West Drayton Mill Road, passing under the low bridge at the station. 

All the fun of the fair!  RF364 carries a good load around the turning circle at Uxbridge Station en route to Heathrow Central in 1975.

Photo courtesy busphotos

In February 1955 the single-deck section was discontinued and replaced by the T-operated 224^A, via Cowley to West Drayton Mill Road.  The double-deck section continued, but was withdrawn on Sundays between Uxbridge and Ruislip, this section being covered by the 204.

In early 1961, the main barrier to double-deck operation, the bridge at West Drayton, was rebuilt.  In March 1961, the 222 was discontinued and the 223 extended from West Drayton along the same routing to Hounslow.  At the same time, the Sunday service to Ruislip was taken back from the 204.

Ten years later, on 16 Jan 71, one-man operated RFs arrived, with more wholesale change.  The 222 regained the section from West Drayton to Hounslow and the 223 was diverted to serve Harmondsworth and Heathrow Central.  The 204 peak hour service between West Drayton and Heathrow Central via Sipson was withdrawn at the same time. 

Partial replacement of RFs by SMSs started at the end of June 1973.   Along with full conversion of the 204, the Sunday service on the 223 was converted.  The Sunday service was enhanced to double-deck with DMSs in April 1976.

The end came for the Uxbridge RFs in December 1976, when the 223 and 224^B went to DMS and the 224 to SMS.  The DMSs were replaced by Metrobuses in summer 1981.

The Sunday service ws extended in 1987 through the Heathrow cargo tunnel and via Terminal 4 to Hounslow.  Then in 1989, the Colham Green section that had always defined the 223 was handed to the U5 and the 223 took the 224's routing to Uxbridge, simultaneously being cut back from Ruislip.  The 223 was withdrawn completely in May 1993.