please empty your brain below
Lovely blog, DG. A bit of everything for us today.

Closed railway station, nice walk, old church, tube train, bus ride and those 4 RMs.

Everything we've come to appreciate, all wrapped up in one delightful blog.

Thanks for going and recording the event!

Petras409 | 30.09.14 - 8:35 a.m. | #

'More worthy of Debden' indeed. A joyous irony of the place is that what appears to be a maximum security prison protects nothing more dangerous than a facility producing those winsome Clinton Cards.

Great account of the EOR event - thank you.

Roehamster | 30.09.14 - 9:23 a.m. | #

Thoroughly enjoyed this post.

CornishCockney | 30.09.14 - 10:25 a.m. | #

you managed to photograph my daughter at Ongar ... to think that if she'd been taking a photo in the opposite direction we could have had a snap of the lesser spotted DG

Caroline | 30.09.14 - 10:32 a.m. | #

That was such an enjoyable read, thank you!

O | 30.09.14 - 10:51 a.m. | #

Clinton Cards is separate - the "prison" at Debden prints the Bank of England's notes! (featured in the drama "Dirty Money"). BTW the house at Blake Hall is where the railway's owner now lives.

Kim | 30.09.14 - 11:21 a.m. | #

The abandonded stations link to Blake Hall station confidently says "The platform shown here has been demolished and will not be reinstated regardless of any future service additions."

I guess they got that wrong!

Jon Combe | 30.09.14 - 12:35 p.m. | #

I seem to recall an advertising campaign from the 90s possibly with a man on his way home from work thinking about his dinner, with the sound of the train making him think of chips with Sarsons vinegar. "SarsonsandChips, SarsonsandChips..."

David | 30.09.14 - 1:45 p.m. | #

If Kim is right then the platform is probably built for practical use.

Patrickov | 30.09.14 - 3:31 p.m. | #

I once caught a train at Blake Hall one evening, having walked from Ongar. This must have been in the mid-1970s. The notable feature was that you could tell when a train was due because the station lights dimmed. Apparently they were connected to the same supply as powering the train.

Bryn Davies | 30.09.14 - 3:45 p.m. | #

DG you say "but I suspect the odd special pauses here out of hours when nobody else is looking" ... well my daughter says that she was on the steam train going from North Weald to Ongar when the owner made the train stop at Blake Hall so that he could pop into his house and make a phone call to arrange more buses ... I gather the volunteers weren't in the least bit happy about this because it messed up their timetables no end, and also because it was rather difficult to get the steam train going again

Caroline | 01.10.14 - 1:09 a.m. | #

What a fun day out! I remember the line, which we'd use for occasional trips into that area of Essex, as well as for the North Weald air shows.

Even at Epping, the late/last eastbound 8 car trains would be turned into virtual 4 car by the guard operating from the front end and only opening half of the doors.

rashbre | Homepage | 04.10.14 - 10:45 a.m. | #

Just came across your blog via a re-direction from Pinterest in May 2020. (I was looking at disused stations) I'm really impressed by your enthusiasm for turning the mundane into must read articles with great attention to detail. Very thorough research and lots of interesting stories told with a very keen eye for unforced humour. Keep up the good work. Have bookmarked your blog for further investigation.

Peter from Sheffield

Peter W | 03.06.20 - 11:29 p.m. | #

May I say "Caroline's" anecdote at 01.10.14 is plainly a lie. The Underground didn't stop at Blake Hall after 1981. The idea a steam train on the Epping Ongar volunteer line stopped here - we all know Blake Hall has had a fake platform since 2013 - the idea it stopped because some rich man "owner" (on the EOR?) said so is a class war lie.

WHS | 25.02.24 - 7:12 p.m. | #

You can say it, but your conclusion is ridiculous.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 25.02.24 - 7:18 p.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy