Book Review – Branch Line to Ongar; including the Hainault Loop

Connor, J. E., Branch Line to Ongar; including the Hainault Loop,
(Middleton Press, 2007), £14.95

The book presents a collection of interesting photographs, postcards and
some maps relating to the stations and trains Ongar railway line,
Commentary accompanies each of the illustrations, which are arranged
under the 25 stations on the line.

A summary of the history of the line is included at the beginning of the
book. It may be remembered that the L.N.E.R. operation of the line
ceased in 1957 when the underground was introduced. Blake Hall
station closed on the 30h October 1981. (Was Blake Hall really the
favourite station of John Betjeman?) ** The line from Epping to Ongar
closed on 6h December 1982.

One reproduction of a poster advertises a farm collection and delivery
service from Ongar, Blake Hall and North Weald. From 15h October
1928, L.N.E.R. were prepared to deliver agricultural traffic to and from
farms. As displayed:

"The charges for the service will be:
Up to 1 mile 2/- per ton
Over 1 mile and up to 3 miles . . 3/-
Over 3 miles - 6d. for each additional mile,

Minimum charge as for 20cwts.

Special charges will be made for the cartage of Hay and Straw."

** Yes. Blake Hall was a favourite of John Betjeman ...
From a book. "John Betjeman. On Trains" by Jonathon Clanoey
(Methuen. 2006):

"This bucolic line was to become the most unlikely electric outpost of
London Transport's Central Line when the last steam trains ran in 1957.

Betjeman once said that his ideal job would have been station master a1
Blake Hall, a pretty little red brick station (now a private residence)
along a line that might have been two hundred miles for the City of
London in the 1950s