Hi All,
I’m Amy. This blog is about the 213 bus route. I probably spend about 1.5-2 hours a day on this bus going between Worcester Park (where I live) and Kingston (where I study and work). I like eavesdropping on conversations (sometimes people talk so loud you can’t escape the minute details of their personal lives), looking at the first storey of shops and meeting people, I often take a cheeky nap and nearly miss my stop. I also watch the time as life zooms/crawls by outside the window, worrying if I will be late for work…again… even though I left 1.5 hours to get there.
I am completing a Masters degree at Kingston University called ‘Heritage (Contemporary Practice)’. I’d like to do a project about engaging communities in their local heritage and exploring the meanings behind what often seem mundane realities. Thinking about this on the bus, it struck me that a project about a bus route, my bus route, the 213, could be a good project. Why does it connect Kingston with Sutton? Why does it stop where is does? Who uses/used it? What stories and memories do people have about being on the bus, or looking out of its windows? More broadly, why and what do people (dis)like about living in Kingston, Norbiton, Coombe, New Malden, Old Malden, Worcester Park, Cheam and Sutton? Broader still, how can heritage professionals engage with local communities to make something meaningful and truly collaborative?
I hope to update the blog weekly with musings about where I have been (my next blog will talk about the London Bus Museum), and things I have read, things I have overheard on the bus. It is mainly a record of my research for personal use, but I open it to you in the hope of finding some collaborators – please comment away with your own stories of bus trips, time spent in the places on the 213 route and anything else really.
Thanks for reading!
213bus 
Some lovely graphs http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/businessandpartners/buses/boroughreports/routes/performance-route-213.pdf
Thank you dear! I think I may have opened Pandora’s Box here. This blogging malarky is most addictive. P.s. can you see my ‘Images’ tab on the page? I can’t figure out how to put it on my sidebar permanently. Grr.
You have Home, About & Images as pages. To add things to the sidebar go to Dashboard> Appearance> Widget and drag and drop the boxes on the left into the side bar on right. It’s addictive! and very easy once you’ve played around a bit 🙂
Hi Amy,
I am an MA student at Royal Holloway studying Public History living in Worcester Park. The times I have got this bus!!! What a great project!
I currently work at Whitehall in Cheam and the curator is always looking for new temporary exhibitions about the local area. This could really work and I would love to help out/get you in contact.
I am also tasked with creating a project involving communicating history, so something could work out (even if away from our courses).
I’ve left my contact details below. Thanks!
Shawney
Hi Shawney!
I work with Kingston Heritage Service so I’m sure there are plenty of opportunities for collaboration! I love Whitehall, Cheam and was thinking of it as a possible location for an exhibition. The main problem is money to produce the display. I’m hoping to develop a bus tour for the course and maybe apply for funding to put an exhibition together afterwards.
When do you work? We should meet up, maybe we could go for coffee on WP High St? Please share this project with anyone who also uses the 213!
Thank you,
Amy