1. New Cross Gate station bus stop

Some of this route has inevitably been covered in others but it’s worth getting out at this stop to see the plaque for the Woolworths V2 Memorial. On the site of what was once Woolworths in New Cross Gate (and is now Iceland) is the plaque that states “In memory of the 168 people who died and those injured in the V2 rocket attack that landed here 25th November 1944”. It was at at 12.26 pm on a busy shopping Saturday that the rocket fell, causing such carnage. Streets were ankle-deep in glass and blood-stained survivors lay on the pavements or staggered around in a daze or hysterics. The plaque is small and most people will just walk by without paying it any attention but it’s a fitting reminder of what happened on this high street 82 years ago.

Before getting back on the bus, take a look at the Rose Inn. The pub first opened around 1810 and was strategically built to serve travellers and workers next to the Croydon Canal (which was later filled in to build the railway line).

2. Deptford High Street bus stop

Be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time at this stop as there is so much of interest to see here. Deptford has a reputation these days for its street art so as soon as you’re walking along the main road, you’ll start to see some real gems. Most of them are by Artmongers – a group that was formed in 2003 by artist Patricio Forrester and joined by various collaborators over the years. Their aim is to create artworks that genuinely improve public spaces and give local people a sense of pride and ownership. And they certainly seem to have succeeded. Within a short space of each other are large murals and some smaller ones, each a delight to gaze at and enjoy.

Perhaps the most illustrious is Deptford Pearls. It started out as a simple, playful visual with many potential interpretations. It was about the roles we play or even different aspects of the same personality. These days it’s often considered to represent a binary heterosexual couple. Whichever way you wish to see it, it’s a remarkable piece of art and is much admired by locals and visitors alike.

Still plenty to see round here. There’s the lovely Tots in London where kids can role play in the different play stations – a well-stocked supermarket, a doctor’s surgery, a library. The brain-child of this great place is Nadia, who was inspired by having two young children of her own. With little to entertain them and at the same time feeling isolated herself, she devised this concept. Not only is there plenty of room for the kids to experiment and have fun, Nadia has provided tables and chairs in the same area so that mums and dads could work while their kids happily play nearby. It’s a great concept for parents and kids alike and it’s helped that it’s also a café serving lovely cakes and pastries. The outside window was what attracted me to the café in the first instance!

Opposite the café is the famous Deptford anchor which was a gift from Chatham Dockyard and it stands as a symbol to Deptford’s maritime heritage. Henry VIII founded the Deptford Royal Dockyard in 1513, and shipbuilding continued here for over 350 years.

Now walk round to St Paul’s Church and churchyard. It’s regarded as one of London’s finest Baroque parish churches, and was once described by John Betjeman as “a pearl at the heart of Deptford”. The most unusual feature of the building is the cylindrical tower and steeple, around which is wrapped a semi-circular portico of four giant Tuscan columns. Also unusual are the two additional, practically unnecessary side entrances in the middle of the walls, each approached by a grand divided symmetrical staircase – more suited to a Palladian villa than a suburban church!

Tucked away at the edge of St Paul’s churchyard is the former Victorian mortuary. Before modern funeral services and hospitals, bodies were often brought here to await burial or an inquest. It is a little-noticed reminder of how churches once played a central role in everyday life – and death.

Next place is Albury Street, one of the best-preserved Georgian streets in south London, built for wealthy sea captains and dockyard officials. When you look at the beautifully detailed doorcases and brickwork, you almost feel as if you’ve stepped back into the 18th century. Thomas Lucas, a local bricklayer, undertook the construction of Albury Street, then called Union Street to celebrate the Acts of Union 1707.

A few minutes’ walk from here is Deptford Market Yard, a vibrant public space that has breathed new life into what was once a neglected Victorian railway goods yard. The restored Grade II-listed carriage ramp and fourteen brick railway arches, originally used for transporting horses, carriages and goods to the railway above, now house independent cafés, restaurants, shops and creative businesses. The award-winning regeneration has carefully preserved the site’s industrial heritage while creating a lively meeting place that links the station with Deptford High Street.

Deptford Railway station is situated within the yard. Opened in 1836, it is the oldest railway station in London still in use. It was built as part of the pioneering London & Greenwich Railway, the world’s first urban passenger railway to be carried on a continuous brick viaduct. Although the station buildings have been rebuilt over the years, today’s station still stands on the original site, making it a significant landmark in London’s railway history.

On your way to the last place to visit at this stop, you’ll pass some more street art, also created by Artmongers. This is called Av a Look! Av a Look! and is a collaboration between students of The London School of Muralism and Deptford’s market traders. It shows a Still Life at Deptford Market with portraits of local traders and colourful characters, reflecting the energy and community of the market.

And so to the Albany, one of London’s best-known community arts centres. Its origins date back to 1894, when the Deptford Fund was established to improve the lives of local people, and the original Albany Institute opened in 1899. The venue became famous in the 1970s as the Albany Empire, hosting pioneering community theatre and early performances by bands including Dire Straits, Squeeze and Elvis Costello. After the original building was destroyed by fire in 1978, a new Albany opened on Douglas Way in 1982 and continues to be a thriving centre for theatre, music, creativity and community life.

3. Miller House bus stop

Still in Deptford, there is some interesting outdoor art in a space that’s above the Thames Tideway Tunnel. Four tall weathered-steel columns form an abstract public sculpture, being one of the contemporary artworks installed as part of the regeneration of the Deptford Creek area. It is deliberately non-representational, intending to evoke Deptford’s shipbuilding and industrial past, as its towering forms recall the funnels, chimneys and machinery that once dominated the busy Creekside. Nearby is an attractive steel pergola, again reflecting Deptford’s industrial past.

Walk towards the Cockpit Studios, an award-winning social enterprise, home to over 175 independent creative businesses, providing studio space and in-house business support to creative and talented individuals. Cockpit’s name comes from their first studio site at Cockpit Yard, Bloomsbury. Originally a 17th century cockfighting arena, the yard was taken over by a cabinet maker in 1745 and has been a site for art and craft ever since.

Outside the Cockpit stands one of London’s overlooked engineering feats. Brick railway arches form part of the London Bridge–Greenwich Railway Viaduct, completed in 1836. It’s one of the world’s earliest elevated railways, and still carries trains today, nearly 190 years after it opened. The viaduct stretches for over three miles from London Bridge to Deptford Creek and contains 851 arches, making it the longest continuous run of brick railway arches in Britain. You can see many of them from this spot.

From here, it’s a quick walk to Deptford Creek which is the tidal stretch of the River Ravensbourne, where centuries of maritime industry met the Thames. Once crowded with shipyards and wharves, it is now a surprising haven for wildlife as well as a reminder of Deptford’s rich industrial past. It played a vital role in the nearby Royal Dockyard and even the Golden Hind was moored here after Francis Drake returned from his circumnavigation in 1580.

Look around here and you’ll see Deptford Creek’s Lifting Bridge, one of London’s hidden engineering landmarks. The current vertical-lift railway bridge dates from 1963, replacing earlier movable railway bridges from 1838 and 1884. It carried trains on the historic London & Greenwich Railway while allowing sailing vessels with masts to continue up the creek. The central section could be raised vertically whenever a boat needed to pass beneath.

Next to the bridge is the Ha’Penny Hatch footbridge. From 1836 till the 1920s, people paid half a penny to cross the creek here, giving the crossing its memorable name. The modern pedestrian bridge commemorates that historic route.

4. National Maritime Museum bus stop

Many other routes go through Greenwich so this time, head for St Alfege Church, one of the Hawksmoor Churches surviving in London. It was built between 1712-1714. It would be good to go inside to have a look around but on the day of my visit, there was a private function taking place. Still, the exterior is impressive, as would be expected of one of Sir Christopher Wren’s disciples’ creation. From the side seen in the image, you can see that Hawksmoor combined a striking baroque style with the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. The church is built on the site where St Alfege, then Archbishop of Canterbury, was killed by the Danes in 1012 AD. At one time, Thomas Tallis was the church organist.

Around the corner from the church is the Stephen Lawrence Gallery. The gallery was the initiative of Paul Stigant, then Dean of the Woolwich faculty at the University of Greenwich, working in close partnership with Stephen’s mother, Doreen Lawrence, who had been a student at the University in 1993 when Stephen was murdered. The gallery looks like a shop front, so it’s easy to just walk past without glancing inside but you’d be missing a treat. On display at the moment (July 2026) is Drawing Thinking, “a major interdisciplinary exhibition celebrating the role of drawing as a dynamic tool for conceptualisation, experimentation, and discovery.” The gallery puts on six curated exhibitions a year and all are open to the public. Pictured below is Melting Planet by Kenzaf Chung, reflecting the exploitation of natural resources and Essex 39 by Lab Mo, featuring the 39 Vietnamese migrants who were trafficked and then died in the trailer of an articulated lorry in Essex in 2019.

Round the corner is Ye Olde Rose and Crown Inn that sits next to the Greenwich Theatre. The pub was first established during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and rebuilt in 1888. The site of the theatre is on what was once the Rose and Crown Music Hall, built in 1855. It changed its name many times over the following years, finally settling on Greenwich Theatre in the 1960s. Its first performance in this new guise was Martin Luther King, a musical directed by Alan Vaughan Williams (no relation to Ralph). Celebrated actors who have performed here include Glenda Jackson, Susannah York and Rupert Everett. Plays by Noel Coward and John Mortimer have been put on at the theatre which is regarded as an important off-West End venue.

Still more to see at this stop. 1-4 Gloucester Circus is a grade II listed building and is a mid 19th century terraced property, originally briefly housing a bank. The Circus was built between 1791 – 1809 by Michael Searles, who had wanted to build an oval circus but never completed the north side. Many of the houses in the circus are grade II listed as is the secluded garden in the middle, for the sole use of residents.

Before getting back on the bus, you’ll walk through a small part of Greenwich Park where you’ll see the delightful St Mary’s Lodge. This is an example of a cottage orné, evoking a sense of rustic charm. It was built around 1808 to a design by John Nash. The first occupant of the lodge was the park under-keeper Thomas Stikeman, a former page to Caroline of Brunswick. By the end of the 19th century, the area surrounding the lodge had been developed and the lodge itself was continued to be used by under-keepers until 1994 when it became a café. It’s still beautifully kept – at least from the outside – but it’s not obvious if it still operates as a café.

5. Southmere Lake bus stop

After the bustle of Greenwich, it’s lovely to find a tranquil spot at Southmere Lake. The housing estate was constructed in the 1960s as part of the Thamesmead Plan to address the growing population south of the Thames. The estate surrounding the lake was built in the Brutalist architectural style, which was popular during the post-war period.

In the early 1970s, Stanley Kubrick chose the estate as a filming location for A Clockwork Orange. He felt that its architecture would be a perfect backdrop to the sci-fi story about a rising totalitarian system and a society that had crossed the point of no return and become a dystopia. In an iconic scene, protagonist Alex Delarge and his fellow “droogs” (gang members) swagger menacingly along the banks of Southmere Lake, which they call called the “Flatblock Marina.” These days, it’s a calm lake with swans and ducks swimming across its surface, with a backdrop of atmospheric architectural surroundings.

Further round the lake is The Lakeside Centre, an iconic 1960s building. It’s home to a growing creative community, with many affordable artist studios, two artist in residence studios, a community darkroom and community garden. At the present time, it’s not possible to access it easily from the bus stop due to regeneration work.

6. Thamesmead Town Centre bus stop

Final stop of the day is at Thamesmead Clock Tower, situated next to the canal. The Tower has an 18th century cupola that had been salvaged from the Great Storehouse at Deptford Royal Naval Dockyard. In 1982, the GLC spotted the historical tower being stored at Convoy’s Wharf (in Deptford). To save it from destruction, they loaded it onto a barge and floated it down the Thames. They then restored it and erected it on a 100 foot pillar and placed it here at Thamesmead. The clock movement dates from as far back as 1782.

The Tower sits next to the Pilkington Canal, originally built as a military canal by prisoners of war in the 1800s to move weapons safely. Today, the waterway is used to manage rain run-off, prevent local floods, and provide a habitat for local wildlife.

After the enormous success of the 176, I really didn’t think it was possible to find another route full of surprises, but I was wrong. I had been to both Deptford and Greenwich on several different buses since I started as Londonroutemistress so I fully expected to accept that new discoveries would be thin on the ground. What I’ve come to realise is that it’s definitely quality and not quantity of the hidden gems along the route that make it a success. As there was so much to see in Deptford that took up a lot of time, I thought I might have to restrict other stops, but there were just too many interesting places that I couldn’t ignore, like stumbling across the Stephen Lawrence Gallery that hadn’t been on my original list. I don’t know what the 178 and beyond have in store (yet) but one thing is certain – I haven’t lost my zest for adventure and discovering London.

Toilets that free and open to the public:

• Tots in London
• The Albany
• Cockpit Studios
• Stephen Lawrence Gallery