Haystacks opposite the Queens Head on the Colchester Road. During the time it was possible to stand in the road without being flattened.
During WW2 a bomb fell almost exactly on this spot at 09.45 on 8th October 1940. ‘This is the report filed;
‘Roads blocked due to air raid damage A120 Braintree- Colchester road near the Queens Head public house. I beg to report that an enemy bomb was dropped on the verge of the Braintree- Marks Tey main road about 200 yards east of the Queens head Inn, on the morning of the 8th inst. The road was subsequently close by the police owing to the suspected presence of unexploded bombs in the adjoining meadows. The crater formed in the explosion is approximately fifteen feet in diameter and eight feet deep. Nine yards of granite kerb have been displaced and the six-foot concrete haunch fractured and raised for approximately six yards. The two-inch asphalt surface has been cracked across the entire width of the twenty foot carriageway. A one-inch water pipe has been broken. ‘
Special gangs were on permanent standby to keep communication routes open after bomb damage. A team were quickly set to work and the road was reopened by the next day.
Date; c1935?
Ref; 44/05