IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Cotswold Gardens, ILFORD, IG2 7DW

This building is directly above the northbound tube tunnel, and the southbound one runs behind it, at fairly shallow depth as they emerge a short distance to the north Image There was probably a substation here from c. 1947 when the tunnels extending the Central Line to join an existing railway at Newbury Park were completed, but this building looks more recent than that.

Early morning spring sunshine on cherry blossom

The Great Eastern Railway built their Woodford and Ilford Branch through here and opened it in 1903. With the taking over of most of the branch by London Underground after the Second World War and with the opening of the new Central Line underground route between Newbury Park and Leytonstone in 1947, passenger services were withdrawn from this section. Freight services continued to 1956, and the track was lifted shortly afterwards. Today this section, between Glebelands Avenue to the left and Stainforth Road to the right, has been converted to allotments. This is the view from Image

I can only say these road restrictions are accidents both waiting to happen and no doubt happened. I hope in the future people look back on these photos and wonder why anyone would ever have damaged the roads in such a dangerous fashion.

Looking south from the A12 bridge. The grassy area in between the two tracks used to be a branch line from Hainault to Ilford, connecting the Central line with the Great Eastern main line. It closed in the 1950s and much of it is now overgrown and used as allotments by the Goodmayes Allotment Society. The westbound (London-bound) tunnel is out of sight since it is around the right hand bend and slightly underneath the ground surface.

The bridge on the summit used to carry Wards Road over the former Great Eastern Railway's Woodford and Ilford branch. However the railway has long since been demolished and only this bridge and two other similar ones in the area remain as reminders. Wards Road actually predated the railway and all the residential development being shown as Wards Lane on the Ordnance Survey map of 1864. When the railway came the road was known as Wards Road West and Wards Road East on either side of the bridge, as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1919. This side was Wards Road East.

Construction of the line from Ilford through Barkingside and Chigwell to join the Epping and Ongar line at Woodford started in 1900, although powers had been obtained as early as 1846. The stations were built to high standards. Passenger and local freight operations started on 1st May 1903. At first the service worked from either Fenchurch Street or Liverpool Street and then back both ways round the loop. Everything was done to prepare for heavy passenger traffic, misplaced optimism being shown by the stations which all had substantial buildings and long platforms. Barkingside was the most handsome of the six stations. Barkingside station at least had a village and Dr Barnardo Girls' Home to serve, both one quarter mile west of its platforms. Newbury Park station at the time of its opening had new houses being erected nearby at the north-eastern edge of growing Ilford. Despite all this, patronage was very low until the building boom of the late 1920s and early 1930s when almost all the land between the eastern bank of the River Roding and the Hainault Loop was filled with small houses up to a point well north of Barkingside. Eventually pressure from commuters in the new houses and the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board led to the proposal to extend the Central London line from its then terminus at Liverpool Street to Stratford and on to Leyton to join the Loughton line. At Leytonstone the new Tube would be made under Eastern Avenue as far as Newbury Park where the Underground would take over services on the Hainault Loop. Work was well underway from October 1936 when they stopped in 1940 because of the War. Plessey used the tunnels during the War for the manufacture of aircraft components, but after the War work began again and the first Tube trains were operated between Leytonstone and Newbury Park from Sunday 14th December 1947. LNER steam ran for the last time on Saturday 29th November 1947. Hainault was reached by Underground trains on 31st May 1948 and Woodford via Chigwell on 21st November. The connection between Newbury Park and the main line east of Ilford was disconnected on 17th March 1956. Much of the old track was filled to ground level to provide allotments as seen here from Wards Road and the road overbridge still remains.

Construction of the line from Ilford through Barkingside and Chigwell to join the Epping and Ongar line at Woodford started in 1900, although powers had been obtained as early as 1846. The stations were built to high standards. Passenger and local freight operations started on 1st May 1903. At first the service worked from either Fenchurch Street or Liverpool Street and then back both ways round the loop. Everything was done to prepare for heavy passenger traffic, misplaced optimism being shown by the stations which all had substantial buildings and long platforms. Barkingside was the most handsome of the six stations. Barkingside station at least had a village and Dr Barnardo Girls' Home to serve, both one quarter mile west of its platforms. Newbury Park station at the time of its opening had new houses being erected nearby at the north-eastern edge of growing Ilford. Despite all this, patronage was very low until the building boom of the late 1920s and early 1930s when almost all the land between the eastern bank of the River Roding and the Hainault Loop was filled with small houses up to a point well north of Barkingside. Eventually pressure from commuters in the new houses and the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board led to the proposal to extend the Central London line from its then terminus at Liverpool Street to Stratford and on to Leyton to join the Loughton line. At Leytonstone the new Tube would be made under Eastern Avenue as far as Newbury Park where the Underground would take over services on the Hainault Loop. Work was well underway from October 1936 when they stopped in 1940 because of the War. Plessey used the tunnels during the War for the manufacture of aircraft components, but after the War work began again and the first Tube trains were operated between Leytonstone and Newbury Park from Sunday 14th December 1947. LNER steam ran for the last time on Saturday 29th November 1947. Hainault was reached by Underground trains on 31st May 1948 and Woodford via Chigwell on 21st November. The connection between Newbury Park and the main line east of Ilford was disconnected on 17th March 1956. Much of the old track was filled to ground level to provide allotments but the road overbridge at Wards Road still remains as seen here.

This is the view looking in the opposite direction to Image The A12 Eastern Avenue crosses the line on the concrete bridge in the background. The Central line goes underground shortly after it (it passes under my house about midway between Newbury Park and Gants Hill stations). View taken looking south.