The Braintree Branch

The railway came by Hatfield Forest in 1869, with the opening of the Bishops Stortford to Braintree branch line along the northern edge of the Forest. This almost immediately became part of the Great Eastern Railway.

 

The owner of nearby Great Easton Lodge, the Countess of Warwick, was a noted society hostess in the later Victorian period. A station was provided nearby, in 1894, specifically for visiting guests. A frequent visitor was Bertie, Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, so it is likely he would have travelled on this branch line, on his way to Great Easton Lodge.

 

Until 1923, the nearest station was at Takeley, about 1km away. In 1923, in an attempt to boost passenger traffic, a new, unmanned, request stop was added by Takeley Hill Gate, at the north east corner of the Forest, named Stane Street Halt. This was approached by a narrow footpath just beyond the bridge over the Takeley to Hatfield Broad Oak road. The Halt had a low level platform at track level, requiring specially adapted carriages. Steps were provided on each side of the third coach, with the guard lowering and retracting the steps using a lever located in the carriage.

 

As well as local passenger traffic, the line was important for transporting agricultural produce - sugar beet for the British Sugar Corporation beet factory at Felsted, and, more latterly bananas for the Geest ripening depot at nearby Easton Lodge.

 

During the Second World War, munitions trains supplied the local United States air force bases at Stansted and Easton Lodge and the British Army dumps in the Forest.

 

The railway line was finally closed in 1972 and the track lifted. The disused track bed now forms the Flitch Way, an attractive traffic-free foot and cycle trail running from the outskirts of Bishops Stortford via Dunmow to Braintree, created in 1989.

 

 

Further reading: The  Bishop's Stortford, Dunmow and Braintree Branch, Peter Paye, The Oakwood Press, 2010.