Celebrating a British icon 33
and into the street.
On Bishops Bridge Road
we pass close to Whiteleys of
Queensway, another one-time
department store that is now a
shopping and leisure centre. We
swing right towards Paddington
station, then left into Praed
Street, passing the works for
the forthcoming cross-London
Elizabeth Line.
Leaving behind the shops
and snack bars, thronging
with travellers and lunchtime
workers, we thread our way
through slow traffic across
Edgware Road and on to
the Marylebone Road dual
carriageway: a painstaking
process that can add long delays
to the service at peak times.
Here we join the torrent of
traffic descending from the
Westway flyover, passing the
Royal Academy of Music, Baker
Street station and Madame
Tussauds waxworks. The green
dome of the Planetarium is
a striking landmark, though
astronomical presentations ceased
12 years ago, and the building
now serves simply as an extension
to the Tussauds complex.London by Bus
ABOVE LEFT: The
barriers that lower
at night to protect
the peace of
Warwick Gardens.MIDDLE LEFT: A
dental specialist
in a mews off
Kensington Church
Street.BELOW:
Blossoming live
trees burst from
the windows of the
Maddox Gallery
in Westbourne
Grove.