I was joined once again today by MIKE DAVIES, Chairman of the RAYLEIGH TOWN MUSEUM, to look at the coming of the railway, especially as it affected Essex.
Pictures courtesy of Rayleigh Town Museum.
It seems that the first taste for the railways in Essex started with the construction of the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) and the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR), in the mid 1800’s.
As with the rest of the UK, railway mania swept through Essex in the 1840s and beyond, with new railway lines being added right up until 1913.
Construction of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR) was authorised by Parliament in 1852. This was a joint venture of the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR) and Eastern Counties Railway which eventually saw rail connections from London being extended to Leigh-on-Sea in 1855 and Southend in 1856.
The Great Eastern Railway company was formed in 1862 when the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) merged with other companies.
The Eastern Counties Railway had begun life linking London with Ipswich, Colchester, Norwich, and Yarmouth. Although construction of their first line started in 1837, work was cut short by financial difficulties and so not completed until 1843.
Eventually Great Eastern opened the Wickford-Southend section of line on Ist October I889. At that time it was just a single track railway with passing loops. Eventually this would become part of the GER “New Essex Lines” that comprised the route from Shenfield to Southend with branches from Wickford to Maldon, also to Southminster.
On the launch day of 1st October 1889, the first train was the 7.13 am from Southend to Liverpool St. and the timetable shows a maximum of eight trains in each direction calling at Rayleigh on weekdays and two on Sundays. Cost of tickets on that first day was Rayleigh to Southend 1/2d (second class) 1/0d (third Class)!
Increased use of the railway resulted in the line between Wickford and Hockley being double tracked in 1901. By 1911 Train service completely overhauled, the improved service introduced including two return Restaurant Car services between Liverpool St and Southend, with use of “Claud Hamilton” 4-4-0 for express services.
There was even a midnight train from Liverpool St including a “so-called”,supper car. And in 1920 Pullman dining car “Corsair” introduced on two services Monday-Saturday.
The first moves towards “NATIONALISATION” came in 1923 when the Great Eastern Railway was incorporated into London North Eastern Railway (LNER), this process created by the Railways Act 1921, known as The Grouping, merged many smaller railway companies into four major companies, the others being London Midland Scottish (LMS), Great Western Railway (GWR) and Southern Railways (SR).
“NATIONALISATION” proper in 1948 when the London North Eastern Railway (LNER), along with London Midland Scottish (LMS), Great Western Railway (GWR) and Southern Railways (SR), al became British Railways (BR) and later British Rail.
Electrification started in 1956, initially on the service between Shenfield and Southend Victoria.
Services were de-nationalised, or privatised from 1997. In our immediate area the new privately run service operated under the banner of “First Great Eastern” before National Express branded the East Anglian franchise as ONE in 1998 followed by “Abellio Greater Anglia” in late 2013 and then Greater Anglia from 2016 which is due to last until October this year.
Sadly over the years there have been around 15 once busy railway stations that now lie abandoned and forgotten in Essex.
Of course some of these have been transformed into attractions whereas others lie forgotten. Some of these stations were used for freight, most for passengers, and there were even lines that were used to transport soldiers and firearms.
One such station quite close to us here in Brentwood, is BLAKE HALL near Ongar which first opened in 1865 with the primary purpose of transporting farm goods from Essex to London.
In 1935, it was taken over by the Central Line and became known as the least visited station on the London Underground.
When it finally closed in 1981, reports show it had an average of 17 passengers per day.
You can listen again here to more of what Mike told me today: –
In the second hour of today’s show, and on a completely different tack, we heard about an event recently put on for the delight and entertainment for residents of a care home in Middlesborough.
Now here’s the thing, Max Hunter who was a care home manager, has since changed his profession and is now a male stripper!
So last week he combined both skills by replacing the usual “knit and natter” session at the Astune Rise care home in Middlesborough, by providing a “full on” striptease show for the residents, who twirled pants and props as Mr Hunter danced in the living room of the care home, which was decked out in red shimmer curtains.
Care home manager, Caroline Bowstead, said, “I’ve never seen a reaction like it at any event we’ve done previously. It was absolutely wild, we had a bit of underwear thrown and a lot of laughs.”
The residents are already keen to bring Mr Hunter back, and have asked Ms Bowstead if he can join next week’s “knit and natter” session.
“I used to run entertainment at retirement villages so it’s an absolute privilege to be back in a care home again putting a smile on residents’ faces,” said Mr Hunter.
Meanwhile over in the USA, and to celebrate her 104th birthday wish, a resident of the Avon Nursing Home, named simply as “LORETTA”, was taken to the Livingston County Jail, where she had her mugshot and fingerprints taken.
I guess she wasn’t provided with the option of a male stripper!
Well I very much hope that you’ll find it in your heart to join me once again tomorrow,
Scott
