The railway at Witham dates from 1843 & the branches to Braintree & Maldon from 1848; the cross-country line to Bishops Stortford was opened in 1869. The passenger service on the Bishops Stortford
- Braintree line was withdrawn in 1952 & after the publication of the Beeching Report in 1963 the same fate was scheduled for the other branches. However the Braintree branch survived & together with Witham is a busy commuter line. In this book we take a journey over the line from Bishops Stortford to Maldon via Braintree & Witham to view what has changed over the last 165 years. Unusually for today the Braintree branch line survives & fortunately most of the cross-country line is now designated the Flitch Way. The Maldon line since closure has been put to many other uses including use as the towns road bypass.