please empty your brain below
Great post DG, particularly enjoyed this one - As a cyclist from Ilford I frequently cycle through North Weald and Nazeing and did not realise they had such fascinating histories.

AG | 05.12.16 - 7:55 a.m. | #

My usual way of finding bus times,
Google names of towns and put bus.
This will give route numbers and operators.
Put these into Traveline site and there you are.
It took me about two minutes to find times from Ongar-Epping-Harlow this way.

Tony Martin | 05.12.16 - 8:25 a.m. | #

I too find traveline south-east pretty impressive, indeed it can sometimes give better results than the TfL site even within London.

But it does occasionally seem to have a bad day, and makes absurd suggestions like waiting until 6:30 a.m. the next day, or throwing in an (unnecessary) 30 minute walk. But nineteen times out of 20 it gives me very good results, often bettering the route I had thought of using what I thought was my excellent local knowledge.

Fascinating to read about DG's ancestry, it makes me wonder how many of us owe our existence to things like waving to the postman.

Malcolm | 05.12.16 - 9:00 a.m. | #

How soon before 'Cheesey Chips' become the next niche food product, no doubt exotic potato varieties coated with obscure cheeses made with giraffe milk matured in caves only accessible during the summer months?

Still anon | 05.12.16 - 10:14 a.m. | #

Great post. One of my recollections from a few years back is of stopping at a farm in the area to ask directions for a former USAAF airbase (not N Weald), and the farmer telling me about the numbers of glasshouses that once covered the fields for miles around: so many, apparently, that the Luftwaffe were able to use them as navigation aids.

I visited the museum last year, the same day as the last flying Vulcan bomber was making one of its final flights during its 'farewell tour' before being grounded. It's small but with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteer staff. It was hard to read this without a lump coming to the throat: flickr.com/photos/32293736@N04/21491692274

Also at North Weald, though a good distance from the market area, is a mess hut - as used during WW2 - now serving as a bar and restaurant, which is open to the public at certain times. flickr.com/photos/32293736@N04/22088412876

RogerW | 05.12.16 - 10:28 a.m. | #

"From Roydon to Nazeing his vote was amazing" "Jerry Hayes" by Atilla the Stockbroker.

A church seven miles distant? My first thoughts were yippee Greensted Church, but quickly realised that's much nearer than seven miles. Figure you've perhaps visited and written about it before. Will check later.

Lorenzo | 05.12.16 - 4:12 p.m. | #

DG: Peak importance came during the Battle of Britain, with numerous bombing runs despatched, and a handful of reciprocal attacks by German fighters endured.

North Weald seems to have been a Fighter Command field and anyway the Battle of Britain had little to do with bombing runs.

Some misteak surely ?

Mike D (in Surrey) | 05.12.16 - 4:54 p.m. | #

Ah I now see the ambiguity in 'Dispatched'.

I read it as 'sent off'

Mike D (in Surrey) | 05.12.16 - 4:57 p.m. | #

^ One of the clues to the airfield's role as a fighter station is given away by the 'gate guardian' that appears in one of the photos: it's a (replica) Hurricane

RogerW | 05.12.16 - 5:40 p.m. | #

Hmm. 'sent off' seems to carry exactly the same ambiguity as 'dispatched'. But we perhaps all know what DG meant. Or do we?

Malcolm | 05.12.16 - 5:55 p.m. | #

a maid waving at a passing workman was the start of the romance in Ethel and Ernest, Raymond Briggs' true story about his parents. The animated film was on general release recently (unfortunately I missed it, but I liked the book).

amber | 05.12.16 - 7:30 p.m. | #

Key question, Kylie Minogue or Jenner?

dg writes: The latter.

Toby | 05.12.16 - 10:51 p.m. | #











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