Famous places within 5 minutes walk of my house Number 8 - the Bow flyover
Probably the most well-known place in modern Bow is the flyover, that gently arching slab of concrete which lifts the A11 over the A12. Perhaps more notorious than famous in fact, as it features in almost as many travel news bulletins as the Hanger Lane gyratory system. One of the most popular times for gridlock is early rush hour on a weekday evening, second only to lunchtime on a sunny summer weekend as everyone in London who owns a car simultaneously decides to head out of the capital for a breath of smog-free air. Many make it no further than the drive-thru McDonalds on the corner before giving up and returning home with a takeaway barbecue.
There's been a crossing over the river Lea here since Roman times, the first crossing being an old ford a short distance to the north. In the 12th century QueenMatilda came riding from London to Barking Forest for a spot of hunting only to get a soaking because the river was in flood, and so she ordered a bridge to be built instead. This first bridge was shaped like a bow, and this is believed to be how the nearby medieval village got its name. The original bridge existed unchanged for centuries, carrying the main highway between London and East Anglia. It was eventually rebuilt with three arches, then replaced in 1835 by a wider structure, and widened further in 1903 as road traffic continued to increase.
In the 1960s a series of new ring roads were planned to ease London's growing traffic congestion. Only small portions of the inner ringway were ever built - one being the Westway and another the East Cross Route, running south from Hackney through Bow to the Blackwall Tunnel. Whole streets and communities were bulldozed for the convenience of the motorist, and a swathe of East London was buried forever beneath concrete and tarmac. The building of the Bow flyover removed all traces of the old bridge, and the River Lea is now barely visible beside the dual carriageway beneath. Some say that the Krays buried the bodies of one of their victims in the foundations, in which case it's highly appropriate that Ronnie's funeral cortege passed over the flyover three decades later.
Famous places within 5 minutes walk of my house
Probably the most well-known place in modern Bow is the flyover, that gently arching slab of concrete which lifts the A11 over the A12. Perhaps more notorious than famous in fact, as it features in almost as many travel news bulletins as the Hanger Lane gyratory system. One of the most popular times for gridlock is early rush hour on a weekday evening, second only to lunchtime on a sunny summer weekend as everyone in London who owns a car simultaneously decides to head out of the capital for a breath of smog-free air. Many make it no further than the drive-thru McDonalds on the corner before giving up and returning home with a takeaway barbecue.
