The trouble with the High Street is the cycle lane which goes the opposite way to the motor traffic. Also, I have never yet seen a bike on it, and there is a quiet parallel road round the back of the High Street they could use anyway, so the money spent on it was an utter waste. Sometimes there is a step down to it, and sometimes not. When it is flat it looks like a step because of the kerb stones along it. When there is shallow step, the kerb hides it. Very easy to stumble when it looks flat and you don’t expect a lower level.
I went to school in Earls Colne in the early 1960s and remember Halstead when it had a station, two cinemas (the Savoy on Trinity Street and the Empire on Butler Road, which had double seats at the back - both buildings still exist) and swimming baths.
