Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-10-27 00:00:00

THE FLOODS AND THE EASTERN COUNTIES

RAILWAY.

' The announcement on Saturday of the suspension of traffic over a
portion of the main Ii a of the Eastern Counties railway, upon the
whole of the Hertford and Ware, and North Woolwich branches,
created a considerable degree of excitement. It was at first supposed
that an immense amount of damage had been done to the railway
and it was rumoured that several of the bridges had fallen. The
injury done, however, has been comparatively trifling. On Thursday
night it appears that one of the cu everts near the junction of the main
line and the Her e rd and Ware br_nch gave way, in conssqueece of
an immense body of water coming don from the direction of the
river Let, and which the water courses were not wide enough to
admit of being carried away. About half a miie further on, another
culvert, with br ckwork supporting the timber for the road, gave way
from the same cause. This second culvert has Lem completely
repaired, and indeed so slight hae been the damage that the engines of
the company crossed the spot with safety, although :t was not con-
sidered prudent to run the passenger trains over it. A temporary
stage has also been constructed over the culvert netts the Roydon
statien, over which the passengers had to walk. By thn indefatigable
exertions of a body of up cords of 100 men, who having been working
day and night dace the occurrence, a temporary bridge, with one line
of rails, was completed on Friday night, and the whole of the traffic
was resumed without interruption upon the main line. Tee Hertford
branch, for alms t the entire distance 13syoud the junction with the
main line, was un 'er water on Friday, and the traffic was suspended.
This was also the cats on the North Woolwich branch, 'there the
water at one tme was from five to six feet In depth. The stoppage
of the traffic was not, however, owing to any fall of the bridges, or
destruction of the permanent way, but from the immense floods which
covered the railway. Passengers we: Wormed on Friday, in 'eking
tick is for places beyond Roydon, that they would have to change
carriages at that spot, and walk a short distance, and were told that
the; might proceed by the Great Northern line without inteiruption,
but in every case the piss ngers I referred to go by the Eastern
Counties rather than patronise the other line, weich appears to be an
uneopular with the travelling public as it is with Its own, preference
shfeeholders. Mr. I ove, the a hferman of the company, was engage]
during the whole of Saturday in the neighb,urlsocd of Roselon
superintending the exertions made by the engineers and work Den
in rerairi g the damage wits'ese had been done.
For the last forty -; ears such a scene has not been witnessed as that
which the whole of the Lea Marshes present. don Saturday. A heavy
and continuous call of rain on Thursday had swollen the River Lea
and its tributaries to an unusual extent, and it is supposed the
embankments of the river have s.iven way in one or more places, as
it is not easy to account on any other g ound for the rapidity and
volume of the flood which has ceverel the immense area now under
water. The water came down the valley in a torrent, covering the
country for miles with water, to the depth, in many places, of flee or
six feet. The destruction of property is very considerable. Hay
stacks, or rather the remains of them, were floating about
and men in boats w. re pick'ng up the floating ruins ehich
everywhere abounded. Toe station on the Huth Woolwich
line, at Stretford, was inundated to the depth of several feet,
and the officials had only just time to make off with the ticket
apparatus bsfore the whole place was fisocied. Tee water was
g adnally subiding throughout a greater part of Saturday. At seven
o'clock that night it hal fallen three inches at Stratford, and shored
there be no further fad or rain it sell pass off in the course of a day
or two. The whole of the. Lea Marshes were on Fri :ay morning
dotted with boats, an I, as far P$ the eye could reach, might be seen
small white sate, whichs with the tops of trees and a few of the tallest
hedges, formed the only objects visible over tee flooded country.
In the direction of Meedon and Crouch very lags tracts of land
were flooded, and numbers of sheep were drew. ed' in the fells. Mr.
Kemp, an extensive farmer, has lest LO sheep, besides some cattle ;
and on the farm of Me H rtya neiehbottring gentleman, wbo'e fields
may be said to have been carried away, as the upper aril over many
acres has been swept off by the for e of the wate a ; while the farm
buildings and bares were inundated to the depth of several feet. All

the farms•aad v Rages in a dtrection towar :a the coast for milt s. I ear
traces of the havoc commit:ed, many hou.es having been inundated
and much property injured. At Burnham, it is saidoss.td catast-ophe
oc:urred. A wedding in the town that day had been attended by a
party of young farmers from the neighbouring dbtrict, and tan) of
them ee e on their way home at night, iu a hor sand gig, when
they we, e met by the fib ,Cl, and one of them, Mr. las. Rham, jumping
out to secure the horse, was swept-away by the torrent and drowned.
His body was-found next day some distanie from the spot At Col-
chester Ca the storm of Thursday night was severely felt, and a
high wall adjoining the military read was carried dagn by the wind
and the flood.

L kte on Satar lay night the who'e of the repairs had bean completed
oa the railway, and the traffic oa thamain line is now uninterrupted.
Some omnibtues sent down by the General Omnibus Cosnpmy to
convey the passengers over the break do the journey, as well as some
waggons of th. railway company forwarded for the conveyance of
the luggage, have returned to town.

Between liertf4rd and Welwyn the rising of the wa`or has been
very gree. The lower parts of the facmer town have been flooded.
At a neighbouring villags, Mardm, a blacksmith, named Edward
Williams. who left hom- on Tivirsday evening, was overvoms by the
flood, and was cs Med away by a straaraleading from Seacombe pond.
His body, much mutilated, was found cn the faowing morning.
At Chelmsford, the Chemsr overfloia ed its banks, end .a young
farmer is reportsd: to have lost his life.

At Co'chester the st.rri was truly appeling. The rain came
down in Orrents; an i f r an hou e or ho on Thursday vt as accom-
panied by thunder anlli,htn ng.

In Lot and Surrey the fall of rain rppours to have lo.emnearly as
great as oa the northern side of the metropolis.

At Greenwich, Lewisham, and on tier lowlands on the banks of
th• Rwensbourre,-the cr:at d gr,at. destruction of property.
The velocity with which th 3 torrent bore dowa from the hills was
truly al trmi g, svveepiig away in its course trees, plantations, stacks.
and indeed a`mest e-e-ythifig that came is is way. For:several
ho rrc the lower part of Lzwisham was corn, letely under water, the
houses we e inan.da-ed, and the inmates were compelled to seek
refuge in the u;per floors, where they lv.rd to remain until hood
had vub.ided. A similar rcece was witnessed in some parts of
Greenwich, whom several houses we e indaneat,d to the extent of
three or four f.xt,

Up to Saturday ri_zhi; the waters wer3 still coming Cowu with
much force, but-I; WAS thought they 'ad spent their far/. The
loss to the inhabitants must be very coLsiderable. The authori-
ties had lent them the use of the fireenginv, and the water was
being pumped out a the loser floors of the