It's the last day of normality in the Lower Lea Valley. Filthy lorries still belch down Carpenter's Road. Cyclists still whizz unhindered along the Old River Lea towpath. Buses still stream out of three large depots up Waterden Road. Barges still chug silently along the City Mill River. Boy racers still speed their souped-up cars round the bends of Marshgate Lane. Lonely walkers still stride along the overgrown footpath beside the Waterworks River. But not tomorrow. From Monday the area enters five years of Olympic quarantine, sealed off from the outside world to be made ready for the arrival of ten thousand global athletes. Lucky them.
It's surprisingly easy to lock away 227 acres of Inner London. Much of the site is already hemmed in by railways, rivers and trunk roads, as well as an existing building site at Stratford City. Only a handful of gates are needed - seven across roads and four across towpaths. The concrete posts are already in place, and a series of "Road Closed" signs are ready and waiting beneath opaque plastic sheeting. It won't take long for workmen to secure the perimeter, probably sometime early tomorrow, and then that'll be it for public access until 2012.
Well, almost. Some businesses and organisations have permission to remain behind for a little longer while they make their final arrangements to sell up and move on. The Olympic Delivery Authority don't officially take charge until 27th July, exactly five years before the Opening Ceremony, which gives the last stragglers nearly four more weeks. Some of the the allotment holders at Manor Gardens have a reprieve until the autumn, allowing them to bring one final harvest home. And two replacement bus garages needed to rehouse hundreds of double deckers, bendy buses and heritage Routemasters are still only at the planning stage.
But for the rest of us it's no go, not after today. Which is a shame, because an amble around the Bow Back Rivers is easily my very favourite local walk. Nothing quite compares to the mixture of industrial squalor, overgrown foliage and resilient wildlife to be found here where London's three poorest boroughs meet. Thankfully there'll still be alternative routes that are almost-as-good, because the Olympic Delivery Authority aren't quite closing everything. The towpath along the main River Lea navigation will remain open throughout the construction phase, as will the waterway itself. And the Greenway, which cuts right across the middle of the 2012 building site, will continue to be accessible throughout to pedestrians and cyclists alike. This footpath runs along the top of a giant Victorian sewer, which I guess 21st century planners daren't possibly tamper with. I'm delighted, because this raised walkway will allow an almost perfect view of Olympic Stadium development over the next half-decade.
Today I'm taking my camera out for one final ground level sortie around the Olympic Park-to-be. I'm hoping there'll be some breaks in the rain and cloud of recent days, allowing one last chance to experience this very special environment in full summer splendour. Because, however wonderful the planned post-2012 legacy for this long-neglected site, the future can only be a scrubbed-up sanitised version of the ramshackle natural environment that vanishes tomorrow.
Walk the Olympic Park
It's surprisingly easy to lock away 227 acres of Inner London. Much of the site is already hemmed in by railways, rivers and trunk roads, as well as an existing building site at Stratford City. Only a handful of gates are needed - seven across roads and four across towpaths. The concrete posts are already in place, and a series of "Road Closed" signs are ready and waiting beneath opaque plastic sheeting. It won't take long for workmen to secure the perimeter, probably sometime early tomorrow, and then that'll be it for public access until 2012.
But for the rest of us it's no go, not after today. Which is a shame, because an amble around the Bow Back Rivers is easily my very favourite local walk. Nothing quite compares to the mixture of industrial squalor, overgrown foliage and resilient wildlife to be found here where London's three poorest boroughs meet. Thankfully there'll still be alternative routes that are almost-as-good, because the Olympic Delivery Authority aren't quite closing everything. The towpath along the main River Lea navigation will remain open throughout the construction phase, as will the waterway itself. And the Greenway, which cuts right across the middle of the 2012 building site, will continue to be accessible throughout to pedestrians and cyclists alike. This footpath runs along the top of a giant Victorian sewer, which I guess 21st century planners daren't possibly tamper with. I'm delighted, because this raised walkway will allow an almost perfect view of Olympic Stadium development over the next half-decade.
