1. Catford Bridge station bus stop

It wasn’t so long ago that I visited Catford Bridge station but there is a lovely small display of artwork and I couldn’t resist seeing it again, especially as one of the paintings is of a red London bus. They were all created by students at St Dunstan’s College and all are themed around Catford and/or the Cat.

2. St Dunstan’s College bus stop

Despite it being mid May and springtime, the weather was pretty awful with plenty of rain and thunder so the first few places on the itinerary had to be abandoned and will be picked up on a different route. The main college building of St Dunstan’s College was designed by architect Edward Middleton Barry in 1854 and is in Gothic revival architecture style. The original school operated from mid 15th century until early 16th century, providing education for boys aged 7–11 in the City of London. In the late 19th century, the opportunities of the Industrial Revolution spurred the parishioners of St Dunstan-in-the-East to re-establish the school on lands owned by the church. and so it was that the school moved here in Catford.

A sad fact associated with the school is that during WWI, 977 former or existing St Dunstan’s pupils enlisted, of whom 233 died during the conflict. Since then, the school has gone from strength to strength and has added buildings and became co-educational in 1994. There are some eminent alumni including Sir Michael Grade, Martin Evans who won a Nobel prize for his work on genetics and David Jenkins, former Bishop of Durham.

3. Crofton Park station bus stop

The bus stops over the road from Crofton Park library, one of the historic Edwardian libraries, that was opened on October 21, 1905, funded by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Even today, it serves as a prominent local landmark known for its Dutch gable and octagonal tower. Outside there is a metal sculpture by the sculptor John Pitt whilst inside currently (May 2026) is an exhibition by Carry Hornby on Chinese Calligraphy Art. The display is part of the Brockley Max Festival 2026 and she describes her art as being “centred with a mindful process of using the Four Treasures – brush, ink, stone and Xuan paper”.

Walk down the road and you’ll come across the Rivoli Ballroom, which is the only intact 1950s ballroom remaining in London. The current building was originally the Crofton Park Picture Palace which opened in July 1913 and became The Rivoli Cinema in 1929. The last film there was “Reach for the Sky”, shown on 2 March 1957 after which the building was converted to a dance hall by local businessman Leonard Tomlin. Refreshing that it wasn’t pulled down and converted into flats! The frontage is an Art Deco design and dates from 1931. It looks somewhat jaded as can be seen by the pilasters which should have urns on both sides but only one seems to be there.

Brockley Cemetery is nearby, having been opened in 1858. There are a number of interesting people buried here – one being poor Jane Clouson who was murdered in 1871 – but it’s difficult to locate individual graves. Many graves are highly decorated with urns atop and interestingly, the cemetery is now an important nature conservation site, being a haven for wildlife and flora of all kinds.

Brockley cemetery is adjacent to Ladywell cemetery which can be approached from the next stop.

4. Braxfield Road bus stop

As stated above, this is the stop for Ladywell cemetery. Along with Brockley, it’s also a nature conservation site. The cemeteries were originally opened within a month of each other in 1858. Until 1948, the two were completely separate, being divided by a wall. Now there is a path which follows the route of the old wall and it’s just possible to make out where the wall was actually situated. Ladywell’s entrance gates and chapel are grade II listed, both being in a florid Gothic style.

Just a few minutes’ walk from here is Hilly Fields – if you go there, you’ll immediately understand how it got its name. The climb up isn’t really arduous, but steady. At the top you will be rewarded by seeing a stone circle, set near the Hilly Fields Orchard. Taken from Mount Struie in Scotland, the stone circle is thought to be the only one of its kind in the city and a pilgrimage site for London pagans. The stone circle is made up of twelve large granite stones and two tall shadow-casting stones. The circle is arranged in a roughly circular formation around a central sun clock and each stone is engraved with various symbols and motifs that reflect themes of time, nature, and human creativity.

Very near the circle is an Ordnance Survey triangular station, one of only 24 in London. It was part of the 1936 post-war effort to re-map Britain using concrete pillars on high ground. The 4-foot high concrete pillar was designed by Brigadier Martin Hotine in 1935 to form the National Grid network.

One other place to note in Hilly Fields is the Pistachios café, most notable for the sign on the door and inside saying that weekday lunchtimes and all day at the weekends, it’s a Screen Free zone. Going in to avoid another downpour, I noticed that everyone was obeying the rule and friends were actually sitting and talking to each other.

5. Marquis of Granby bus stop

As the stop suggests, alight here for the eponymous pub. In fact, within a few metres of each other, there are at least 3 significant pubs in this area. There are many pubs with the name Marquis of Granby in London, being rooted in the legacy of General John Manners, the Marquess of Granby (1721-1770). He was a highly decorated military officer and hero of the Seven Years War. He was particular noted for his practice of setting up soldiers as pub landlords. The exterior of the pub is fun – designed by Artmongers, it’s a colourful mix creating a dose of visual breathing space in an area which is busy and noisy. It works!

Round the corner is The New Cross House. It is believed that the district of New Cross took its name from this hostelry. The original name of the inn is beautifully set in stone high up on the exterior masonry of the building. On the street side is another piece of masonry that bears the shield of the City of London. It might indicate that the building was owned at one time by the City of London or at least connected in some way with the City.

The last of the trio of local pubs is the New Cross Inn – not to be confused with the House over the road. This one however is quite different – as well as being a bar serving food, it’s a venue for live gigs and in fact its doors only open at 6pm. It was originally a coaching house and it has roots dating back to the late 18th century, with the current Victorian building established around the 1890s. In earlier days, the pub served as a venue for the International Anarchist Agitator Group for meetings and speeches. These days, it hosts live music 7 nights a week.

Back at the bus stop and while you’re waiting for the 171 to arrive, have a look at the building behind you. There’s a large public artwork to commemorate the events of 13 August 1977 – “The battle of Lewisham” when thousands united against racism and fascism. What was this battle? Under the pretext of demonstrating against street crime, the far right National Front organised a march from New Cross to Catford. Attempts to ban the march had failed, resulting in hundreds of NF supporters gathering in New Cross. At the same time, a peaceful march was arranged and attended by local activists, community leaders, the mayor of Lewisham and the bishop of Southwark, all of whom tried to block the NF’s route. Police attempted to clear the area and there were violent confrontations with clashes in Lewisham town centre between police and the counter-demonstrators. At this point and for the first time on the British mainland, the police deployed riot shields that would become such a hallmark of law and order in the 1980s.

In front of the artwork is Chromorama, a 21-metre tall artwork which features 35 primary colour lightboxes, created by artist and Goldsmiths’ Emeritus Professor of Art, David Batchelor. When installing the sculpture, Batchelor said of it: “I imagine the work will be kept on during the day and evenings. The quality of light will change as the ambient lighting conditions alter. It will be significantly brighter at night but it will not dazzle passers-by.” It certainly is a distinctive landmark and brightens up the area.

Not ready to get back on the bus? Then make your way to Fordham Park, a small green space nearby. It’s mainly known for the memorial stone to commemorate the people who died in the New Cross fire in 1981. This happened on the 18th January, when a fire at a house party in New Cross killed 13 young Black people. Many suspected a racist attack, but nobody has ever been charged. The youngest was 14 years old and more than 50 were injured. A 14th person took their own life two years later. It’s still talked about locally and deemed to be a terrible tragedy that should never have happened.

6. New Cross Fire station bus stop

Another rather imposing building can be seen here – the old Fire Station. This is the oldest operational fire station in London, having opened in June 1894, as part of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. The station cost £16,000 and accommodated a steam fire engine and a manual fire pump, plus four fire escapes and a hose van in its two bay appliance room. A long ladder was kept in the station yard. When motorised fire engines came into service, the station was issued with an escape van, a pump fire engine and, by 1920, a turntable ladder. New Cross was built as a superintendent station. It would have received all the fire calls from the street fire alarm systems in the area. The station then passed the call to the closest station to the fire alarm.

During WWII, New Cross was one of the training schools for the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) recruits. The training programme for a firefighter lasted 60 hours and split over a series of sessions. The training included included practical drills working with hoses, ladders and pumps. It was at this time that women were allowed to work in the Fire Service for the first time and 1938 also saw the first Black man to join the AFS – here at New Cross.

A major upgrade took place in July 1912, adding self-contained houses for the superintendent and foreman and flats for additional married officers. A sliding pole was installed to give quick access to the engine room, which was expanded to incorporate the now redundant stable block.

One other place of interest near the fire station is Hatcham Liberal Club. This was built around 1880 in Queen Anne Dutch style architecture. Designed as a prominent Victorian working men’s club, it served as a social hub for decades before closing in 2007 and being converted into (yes you guessed!) residential apartments. In its heyday, it was a popular venue with its large hall for hire, parties, and concerts throughout the 20th century.

7. Hanover Park bus stop

Walk round to Peckham Library, outside of which is a large globe as well as a mural along an adjacent wall. These were placed here as part of  The World Reimagined project, to transform how the Transatlantic Slave Trade is understood. The library itself is something of an architectural wonder, with its unusual overhang and its shape like an inverted capital letter ‘L’. It was difficult to get the full impact of the building as the rain was torrential at the time of my visit.

From the library, take a walk to Rye Lane Market, luckily all indoors. The market contains 56 distinctive shops that between them, capture the essence of the local community, offering a diverse range of goods and services. Outside the market is a large mural called “Flavours of Rye Lane”, where a women’s beads are transformed into colourful fruits and vegetables, thus celebrating the vibrant spirit of Rye Lane. It embraces the generational traditions passed down through time, whether through shared recipes, or the proud hairstyles of the women who keep them alive.

Next place is Peckham Levels, a cultural hub lovingly transformed from a former multi-storey car park. It’s a meeting place for arts, enterprise and community action. Co-working spaces and studios are offered, creating a neighbourhood providing ground-breaking arts, an integrated network of businesses, and a trustworthy space for community action.

Before entering the building, you’ll notice a row of paintings along the side wall. This exhibition, “Peckham is beautiful” by artist Shauna Fox explores how multi-culturalism has shaped the Rye Lane area, and she specifically wanted to do this outdoors on the spot usually covered in graffiti. She has captured the essence of the people and places of Peckham, in what can only be described in a humorous and colourful manner.

Venture up the stairs inside Peckham Levels and find yourself in another cultural space, where there are paintings by artist Gina Southgate. She has played or painted at many gigs over the past 30 years and these here on display capture the artists “live” at events such as We Out Here Festival – as these are.

Almost everywhere you go inside the Levels, you’ll find artwork adorning most wall spaces. There are images of people from all walks of life, such as Andreas, a yoga teacher explaining how he got to the place in which he now sits. See a long wall mural “A Walk down Rye Lane” by artist Natasha Taheem. Mirrored walls in corridors and coloured stairways lead to artist studios and the bar at the top level. There are so many places to explore or just sit and while away time over a cocktail and people-watch.

So ends route 171. Having low expectations after last week’s delightful route 170, and despite the intermittent heavy rain, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. I found the Chinese Calligraphy intriguing and Gina Southgate art beguiling. I discovered historical facts such as the Battle of Lewisham and the fire at New Cross. Even though I had visited Peckham on a couple of other occasions, I managed to find Rye Lane market and Peckham Levels – neither of which I’d seen of or even heard of prior to the visit.

I do realise – I might have stated this before – that the more routes I take, the more difficult it will be to find new places to see. What I also realise though is that it isn’t important that each route is awash with exciting places. The journey is the thing – both the bus and my own.

Toilets that are open to the public and free of charge:

• Peckham Library
• Ladywell cemetery
• Café at Hilly Fields
• Crofton Park library
• Peckham Levels