Transport

by Pat
We are very lucky in Hainault in that we have the Central Line underground and several bus services.  These give access to many other routes enabling residents to travel all over London and beyond.

The Underground - Background

The construction of what was then called the Central London line was first discussed in Parliament in the 1889-1890 session.  This proposal was eventually approved in the House of Commons, but rejected by the House of Lords.  However, after changes to the suggested route MPs and Peers finally agreed and the Bill received the Royal Assent on the 5th August 1891.

The agreed route was to be from Bank, Post Office, Chancery Lane, British Museum, Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Circus, Bond Street, Marble Arch, Lancaster Gate, Queens Road, Notting Hill Gate, Holland Park and Shepherds Bush.

Tunnelling was by Greathead Shields, where clay was excavated by miners who were protected by a metal drum (the shield), which was forced forward by pneumatic rams.  The tunnel behind the drum was lined with cast-iron segments which were to be lined with concrete, but to cut costs, only short sections near to stations were lined.

Some tunnelling was by a Thomson excavator.  This was like an electrically driven bucket conveyor which was pivoted at one end so that the other could be swung to make contact with the tunnel face.  The clay was ground away by teeth at the end of the buckets which also took away the debris.

Access to the platforms was to be by lifts from surface level.  Construction of tunnels, stations, ticket halls and passages meant that many gas, water and telegraph services had to be moved.

Electrical supply was from a power station at Wood Lane Depot from which high tension current was distributed to sub-stations at Notting Hill Gate, Marble Arch and Post Office.  This in turn was fed to the track. 

Current passed to the locomotives by a conductor rail which was situated mid-way between two running rails.

One problem encountered was a persistent nasty smell in the tunnels and on platforms.  This was eventually solved by installing fans to draw out the foul air at Post Office, Bond Street and Wood Lane.  Eventually other fans were installed at stations along the line.

In March 1900 some trial running took place and the railway was formally opened on 27th June 1900 by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward V11) who travelled by train from Bank to Shepherds Bush to perform the ceremony.
 
Since that time the line has been extensively extended, the eastern end of the Central Line using lines original built by Eastern Counties Railway and their successor, Great Eastern Railways.

 Notable dates are:-

• 1903 – Frank J Sprague, an American, was responsible for a new design of train which fitted the electrical equipment into the carriages themselves.  The first of these trains went into regular service on the Central line in this year.
• 1903 – The introduction of the “dead man’s handle”.  A security device which applies the brakes and turns off the power if the driver lets go of the controls.
• May 1908 – Shepherds Bush to Wood Lane.
• July 1912 – Bank to Liverpool Street, which was the first station on the Central Line to have an escalator.
• August 1920 – Wood Lane to Ealing Broadway.
• September 1933 – Opening of Holborn and closure of British Museum.
• December 1946 - Liverpool Street to Stratford.
• May 1947 - Stratford to Leytonstone.
• June 1947 - North Acton to Greenford.
• December 1947 - Leytonstone to Newbury Park and Woodford.
• May 1948 - Newbury Park to Hainault.
• November 1948 - Woodford to Hainault and Loughton.
• November 1948 - Greenford to West Ruislip.
• September 1949 - Loughton to Epping
• November 1957 - Epping to Ongar, (although this part of the line has now closed).

The line now runs from Ealing Broadway and West Ruislip, the lines merging at North Acton. At Leytonstone the lines divide again, one branch going to Epping via Woodford and the other to Hainault via
Newbury Park.  This line also continues on “the loop” to Woodford. The journey from Epping to West Ruislip is said to be the longest possible
underground journey without change, being a distance of 34.1 miles, but an actual route mileage of 45 miles, including the Hainault loop.

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The Central Line during the Second World War

During the Second World War a bomb fell at Bank Station and the entire roadway fell into the station subway, causing a huge crater, which had to be bridged by the army.  The station was closed for three months.

Also, the Plessey Company of Ilford used the tunnels stretching some 2 1/2 miles from Leytonstone to Gants Hill as an underground factory, manufacturing parts for Bomber and fighter planes.

Some stations along the Central Line were also used as public shelters during air raids, people living and sleeping on the platforms. Sadly there was a disaster at Bethnal Green station in 1943 during a raid when a woman carrying a child slipped and fell and those following behind, not knowing of the accident, continued pushing to gain access to the safety of the tunnel, resulting in the death of 173 people. A plaque commemorating this event is displayed over the stairs where this tragedy occurred.

The Depot site at Hainault, which was built in 1939, was used to store surplus tube stock during the war. It was also used for military purposes when the American Army Transportation Corps were stationed there, to supply air bases in Essex.

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Fairlop and its Airfields

In 1935, it was planned to build a Civic Airport on Fairlop Plain but, with the approach of the Second World War, this scheme was dropped and never taken up again.  Had it not been for  WW 11 we would be travelling across the world from Fairlop – not Heathrow!

Fairlop Plain was used as an airfield during the Second World War, for the Royal Air Force.  It had previously had two airfields in the First World War, one at Hainault Farm the other at Forest Farm.

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Hainault Station                                        

Hainault Station was opened on the 1st May 1903 by GER (Great Eastern Railways) on the branch line between Woodford and Ilford.  It was closed on 1st October 1908 as the anticipated development of the area did not happen and there were few passengers.  Nearly 22 years later, with the
expansion of Hainault and increase in the number of people needing to travel, Hainault Station was reopened on the 2nd March 1930.
                                                                            
Prior to the start of Central Line services on the 31st May 1948 the station was substantially rebuilt and much of the original station was lost, although the subway and staircases are vintage 1903.  Platform 1 was unchanged, but the other platform was adapted to allow tracks on either side.
 
Now more changes are being planned for Hainault Station.  It is to benefit from a permanent British Transport Police office as part of modernisation works due to finish in autumn 2007, which will provide a local base “as a
centre for reassurance policing in the area” (BTP Sector Commander Andy Hunt).

Step free access is to be provided during the modernisation work with the installation of two lifts.  In addition it is planned to restore heritage
features, install customer Help Points and an enhanced public address system, replace all CCTV cameras, build a new control room in the ticket hall, and install tactile strips on platforms and contrasting handrails for the partially sighted.

                                            

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The Underground - Connections

Travelling on the Central Line gives access to other underground lines, buses and British Rail stations, some of which are listed below:-

• Gants Hill for buses to Barking/Becontree Heath/Claybury Broadway /Chingford/Debden/Ilford/King George Hospital/Leytonstone/Romford/South Woodford/ Woodford/Wood Green.

• Leytonstone for buses to Dagenham/Hackney/Romford/ Walthamstow/Whipps Cross Hospital.

• Stratford for Docklands Light Railway/Jubilee line/British Rail.  In the near future Stratford will welcome Eurostar, giving access to Europe.  Outside the station is the modern Bus Station.

• Mile End for District and Hammersmith and City lines.

• Liverpool Street for British Rail/Circle/Hammersmith and City/Metropolitan Lines.

• Bank for Circle and District Lines/Docklands Light Railway/Waterloo and City

• Holborn for Piccadilly line (which will take you to Heathrow Airport)

• Tottenham Court Road for the Northern Line

• Oxford Circus for Bakerloo and Victoria Lines.

• Bond Street for the Jubilee Line

• Notting Hill Gate for the Circle and District Lines

Although there are occasional “hitches” on the line with broken down trains, signal failures, etc., the service is fairly reliable and carries many thousands of people daily.

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Buses - Background   
                          
George Shillibeer (1797-1866) and his business partner John Cavill,  were coachmakers in Bloomsbury, London.  In the 1820’s Shillibeer went to work in Paris, where he designed a horse-drawn coach to transport approximately 24 people.  This coach was first used in 1827.  He also designed a coach with 25 seats for a school in Stoke Newington, technically the first school bus.
His success in Paris made him believe that fare paying passengers would be a successful venture and he built the first two omnibuses in England.  These  buses were drawn by three horses and carried up to 20 passengers.  His London service started on 4th July 1829.  Passengers were told they would have a safer and more comfortable journey than by stage coach as they were all inside.  Unfortunately travel wasn’t available to all as the fare was one shilling and too expensive for the ordinary worker and his family.

However, having to manoeuvre an omnibus with three horses pulling it proved difficult in the narrow London  streets and what with this and competition from railways, he was forced out of the transportation business.  He later started a funeral business with a vehicle which combined a hearse and a mourning coach.
George Shillibeer lived in Chigwell Row and obtained some 50 acres of land in Hainault Forest for the use of the inhabitants of Lambourne and Chigwell for recreation.  He put all his money back into horse drawn trams, but unfortunately mechanical transport took over, which meant that he was virtually a pauper when he died in 1866.  He is buried in the graveyard of the church at Chigwell, Essex.

Walter Hancock (1799-1852) was a British engineer who was one of the first to think of moving groups of people by road.  He had works at Stratford where, between 1824 and 1836, he made a few steam road vehicles, one of which was a 3-wheeled 4-seater car.  He built a small bus called the Infant in 1829, which carried fare paying passengers between
London and Brighton. However, due to financial problems, Hancock gave up in 1840.



In 1905, Arthur Salisbury-Jones, a member of the Stock Exchange, thought of starting a motorbus company for London’s passengers.  Then, if it proved a successful venture, he planned to expand his fleet to cover all of Britain.  He started by forming the Motor Omnibus Company and, in 1906, rented a small hut in Walthamstow and employed a staff of 6.  Parts were purchased from outside contractors to be assembled into
buses.  In 1907 a new factory was opened in Hookers Lane, Walthamstow which brought in-house much work previously supplied from outside.  By 1908 the factory had doubled in size and the work force increased to over 570.

As well as Salisbury-Jones, there were many other bus operators in London and as the system expanded, vehicles had to be purchased from a range of sources.  In fact some came from abroad.  However, this resulted in a poor safety record, with many accidents.

In the end it was decided that it was in the interests of everyone to merge all the companies into the London General Omnibus Company.  It made financial sense and also allowed for vehicle standardisation with improvements in reliability and design.

The London General Omnibus Company became Associated Equipment Company Limited (AEC) in 1912 and many types of buses and lorries were produced at Walthamstow until 1927 when the company moved to Southall, Middlesex.  However, in 1979 the Government decided to place all orders for new buses with British Leyland.  One reminder of the AEC

Is the Routemaster bus which, although withdrawn from general passenger use, is still to be found as a tourist bus in London.

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Bus Transport in Hainault

Pre 1945 Hainault was very rural and there were no houses further than Lime Grove on one side of New North Road and  Tunstall Avenue on the other.  Manford Way did not exist and a map of the area at that time shows fields, allotments and playing fields.  A local resident recalls New North Road as a small lane, with a farm where Regarder Road now is and a piggery on the site of the current Yellowpine Way.

Buses did not run to Hainault until the mid 1940’s.  Until that time one had to walk to Romford Road or Fencepiece Road.  To be able to run buses down New North Road, the road under the railway bridge had to be lowered and prisoners of war were employed in digging it out and relaying it.

In February 1947 the new 150 bus route ran from Barkingside to Regarder Road, Hainault, via New North Road.  In December of that year the route was extended to Chigwell Row.

The route was further extended in May 1948 when the bus ran from Ilford Station to Chigwell Row, via Gants Hill, Barkingside, Hainault and Manford Way.

Over the following years the 150 bus route was changed many times, some of the more notable being:-

• 1958 – East Ham to Lambourne End.
• 1963 – Becontree Heath to Lambourne End.
• 1968 – Romford North Street Garage to Lambourne End.
• 1969 – Hornchurch Garage to Lambourne End.

In April 1952 the 62 bus route ran from Little Heath to Barkingside, via Chadwell Heath, Whalebone Lane and Hainault.  This service ran from Monday to Saturday only.  In February 1954 this route was extended through to Ilford Station, via Gants Hill.

Many changes were made to the route over the following years, some being:-

• 1959 – The inclusion of Rose Lane and Billet Road to serve the Marks Gate Estate.
• 1972 – Creekmouth to Ilford.
• 1982 – Barking to Hainault, The Lowe.
• 1986 – Barking to Barking, via Marks Gate, Hainault, Gants Hill, Ilford and South Park Drive.

This route ceased serving Hainault in December 1990.

In June 1956 the 247A bus route was changed and ran from Harold Hill to Gants Hill (M/F) and Ilford (Saturdays), via Harold Wood, Gidea Park, Romford and Hainault.

The route was extended in November 1981, running from Gidea Park Station to Ilford, via Noak Hill, Harold Hill, Harold Wood, Gidea Park, Romford, Collier Row, Hainault, Barkingside and Gantshill.  This service was renumbered 247 in September 1982.

Again, this route has had many changes over the years, at one time running from Ilford to Romford Station or Romford to Chigwell Row, replacing the withdrawn 150 bus service (June 1986).

In February 1962 the 169 bus route ran from Hainault Industrial Estate to Thames View Estate via Forest Road, Elmbridge Road, New North Road, Barkingside and Barking. 

However, in April 1965 the route was changed to run from Claybury, Caterham Avenue, to Thames View Estate.

Current Buses
Our buses are:

• 150–Chigwell Row to Becontree Heath, via Barkingside, Gants Hill and Ilford.
• 247 –Barkingside to Romford Station via Hainault and Marks Gate.
•  362 –Grange Hill to King George Hospital via Hainault and Marks Gate.
• 462 –Hainault to Ilford, via Barkingside, Longwood Gardens and Gants Hill.
• 953 – a bus for disabled passengers which runs on Fridays only from the Lowe to Scrattons Farm Estate via Romford and Asda’s at Dagenham.  On the return journey it takes shoppers to Tesco’s at Barkingside, picking them up again at 4.30pm.

This service runs only because of the lobbying of one determined lady, Mrs Habberley, with the help of Councillor Hickey at Ilford Town Hall.

Over the past few years the buses running through Hainault have been modernised and now provide access for disabled passengers and parents
with babies in pushchairs by way of “kneeling” buses whereby the bus can be lowered on the entry/exit side.  Ramps can be deployed so that wheelchair users can easily enter the bus through the double doors.  Provision is made in the bus for the accommodation of wheelchairs  and buggies, making travel accessible to all.

Other nearby routes:-

• 167 –Debden to Ilford, via Chigwell.

• 128 – Claybury Broadway to Romford via Gants Hill, Ilford, Goodmayes and Becontree Heath.

• 275 – Barkingside to Walthamstow via Woodford Bridge, Woodford Green and Highams Park.

Also available for disabled passengers is the Dial a Ride Service, which will pick them up from their homes, take them to the shops/theatre, etc and then return at a designated time to take them back home.  Currently the fare for this service is 80p in either direction.

Major supermarkets also have a free phone service for customers to order a taxi to take them home with their shopping.

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OAP’s and Under 16’s

As residents of the London Borough of Redbridge, OAP’s are eligible for a Freedom Pass which gives free travel on most public transport in London after 9.00 am weekdays (9.30 am on most National Rail services within the London region) and all day at weekends and public holidays. This is a boon as it enables older people to get out and socialise.

Children aged 16 and under have been able to travel free on buses and trams in London with a child Oyster card since last September (2005).

Free bus and tram travel will be extended to all 16 and 17-year-olds living in London from this September (2006).

From 1st April 2006 parents with children aged ten and under will be able to take up to four children aged ten and under free on the Tube and DLR during off peak hours (after 9.30am between Monday and Friday and at any time during the weekend).  However, children will not be allowed to travel for free if they are not accompanied by an adult for their own personal safety.

Acknowledgements

Pictures:

Central Line Trains courtesy of  Bob Yeldham, Cravens Heritage Trains. www.cravensheritagetrains.co.uk

Black and white photo of horse drawn bus courtesy of Jane Denholm . www.denholmvillage.co.uk

Shillibeer’s Omnibus 1829 courtesy of London’s Transport History Museum www.ltmuseum.co.uk

The Automation Steam Bus courtesy of www.leavalleyexperience.co.uk

Local Buses courtesy of Peter Mackay member of the Hainault Group, Hainault Community Association

Pat Jacobson 2006

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