Railway Bridge at White Colne

Hi all. I'm new to this forum and i was wondering if anyone can help me with a question i have. A few years ago i read in my local paper that a disused railway bridge near the village of White Colne in Essex was to be demolished as it was deemed unsafe. The local residents were up in arms about it as it had names and unit details scratched into the stones that made up the upper part of the bridge. These had been made by members of the USAAF during the war. As i'm also interested in railways i went there one afternoon to take some pictures. Sadly i only took pictures of the bridge as the writing was too small for the camera to focus properly on. I now wish i had gone there after dark with something that i could lever a couple of the stones off with as i have recently discovered that instead of the stones being given to a local museum such as Ridgewell, Parham or Duxford they where simply buried on site. My question is this, does anyone know if this was unique to this bridge and if so why was this bridge chosen. Im assuming that it wasnt unique and that possibly bridges located near other old bases have similar pieces of graffiti on them. Thanks rob.

Welcome raptor309

During WW2, the USAAF had a munitions Forward Depot located on a number of sites in the Bures area to the north of White Colne.

wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm?lat=5...1733&gz=14&oz=7>=1

This is an interesting site relating to Bures:

www.bures.me.uk/FAD/trialpage.htm

There was also the USAAF airfield at Earls Colne.

wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm?lat=5...8281&gz=14&oz=7>=1

If you could be specific as to the location of the bridge at least it would increase the chance that the graffiti was their work. There was a railway (now disused) running west east just north of Earls Colne so by 'disused bridge' you mean one which crossed that tracks but serving a road?

It is likely that there were other USAAF encampments in the White Colne area and if that is so other members more knowledgeable than I will provide details.

An interesting yet overlooked subject!

Thanks for the link, Peter. I have frequently visited the Bures/Pebmarsh area and, as the saying goes, 'I had no idea...'

What an excellent link regarding the Bures / White Colne area Peter. I will certainly pay a lot more attention next time im in the area. Regarding the railway bridge it was located in a road called Lane Rd. It was a road over rail bridge and was the second bridge after Chappel and Wakes Colne on the old line to Halstead and Haverhill. Rob.

Then it's this bridge shown on the 1940's OS.

wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm?lat=5...5391&gz=15&oz=8>=6

Looking at it in present day satellite view the small railway cutting has been in-filled although the trace of the railway can be discerned by soil disturbance.

It is quite likley that USAAF servicemen were billeted out in surrounding properties, perhaps even the adjacent Lane Farm, and 'doodled' their marks onto the bridge capstones.

Yes Pete. I asked at a house nearby and the owner said that that was what had been done. He said "if you have a good shovel you may be able to dig some of them out!" lol. I think its bad really that some where not offered to any of the local museums as they are a part of the local history but there you go. Rob.

Can anyone clarify which bridge this is referring to? (On that map, is it the bridge to the left of Janke's Green?)

Dave, welcome to AiX.

The WW2 railway was lifted post war and the trace has been practically eliminated in that area by back filling the cutting (?). Consequently, the bridge parapet stones, if still visible, may well be at foot level. From the information provided by the OP, the bridge was on Lane Road just south of Lane Farm. You could ask at the farm for guidance.

PETERTHEEATER;74258 wrote:

Dave, welcome to AiX.

The WW2 railway was lifted post war and the trace has been practically eliminated in that area by back filling the cutting (?). Consequently, the bridge parapet stones, if still visible, may well be at foot level. From the information provided by the OP, the bridge was on Lane Road just south of Lane Farm. You could ask at the farm for guidance.

Ah, okay. I was looking at the wrong place on the map!

I'm in the area a fair amount, and know a few people there, so I might have an ask around and see what I can find out.

I had a look today.

What was the "bridge" is now essentially a mound upon which the road passes up and over. It didn't look like the earthworkings around it were too accessible (the crops are sprouting at the moment, so the farmers are unstandably not keen on people wandering across their fields) and it's also quite overgrown at the moment.

Interesting, perhaps, to note that there is layby near to it that has some masonry hardcore laid down on it - perhaps some of the bridge work was dumped there?

There doesn't appear to be any traces of the line left (at ground level), other than the humpback bridge near Chappel Station, this mound and White Colne station house (in fact you can probably see just as much from Google Street View)