Friday, December 09, 2005
Death of an IconSadly, today is the last day that the old Routemaster buses drive their routes around London. It's especially poignant as the 159, which is a Routemaster, runs pretty much from my front door to Parliament Square, and is the bus I use to get to St. Matthew's, Westminster every morning.
I've got mixed feelings about this. Being English, we're very used to persevering with things that are horribly out of date - 50 year-old buses, Last Night of the Proms, pounds and ounces, the Monarchy, you know, that sort of thing.
The open back with no door is pretty unsafe (although you can jump on and off at will), and it's impossible to use one if you're disabled. Plus, we've discovered that you can't fit a pushchair on one.
However, for iconic value, you can't really beat the old Routmaster. It is a design classic. Thankfully some will be preserved on heritage routes for the tourists, but it's not the same as taking a design classic to work every morning, is it?
