The railway at Witham dates from 1843 and the branches to Braintree and Maldon from 1848; the cross-country line to Bishop's Stortford was opened in 1869.The passenger service on the Bishop's Stortford - Braintree line was withdrawn in 1952 and, after the publication of the Beeching Report in 1963, the same fate was scheduled for the other branches.However the Braintree branch survived and, together with Witham, is a busy commuter line.In this book we take a journey over the line from Bishop's Stortford to Maldon via Braintree and Witham to view what has changed over the last 165 years.Unusually for today the Braintree branch line survives, and 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 town's road bypass.