• Oh now that was careless. Pre-Olympic construction on the Bow Back Rivers has disturbed a rather enormous unexploded bomb on the bed of the Prescot Channel. It's a biggie, the largest WW2 German explosive to be uncovered in the capital since the 1970s. The bomb weighs a ton, which is not great news when you live in the neighbourhood. I was expecting some Army jobsworth to insist that I be unnecessarily barred from my home for 48 hours but thankfully no, they've only insisted on a 200m exclusion zone, not a kilometre. •The bomb's in the river between Three Mills Studios and the AbbeyMills sewage pumping station, so it could cause major hassle if it blows. And this is an area you know very well indeed, because the first two series of Big Brother were filmed in the field nextdoor. Olympic plans have already required the demolition of Davina'sBridge so that new lock gates can be built here, allowing construction materials to sail upriver to the main 2012 site. And it's this building work that has uncovered Hitler's belated delivery. If Big Brother 9 were still being filmed in Bromley-by-Bow, then this megabomb would have completely shut down yesterday's opening night. • I popped down to the Prescott Channel after work yesterday to take a look (yeah, going deliberately closer to an unexploded bomb, there's sensible for you). I was surprised to see nothing whatsoever from the train, immediately alongside, given that the police keep insisting on shutting down the District line in the vicinity. But all construction work on Prescott Lock (and all activity at Three Mills Studios) appeared to be halted while brave Army boysprepared for safe detonation. No sign of the brave army boys either. There were a handful of policemen guarding the courtyard outside the House Mill, armed only with a strip of blue tape. But life elsewhere was dangerously normal. So I went shopping at Tesco nextdoor (no panic, not even a sign near the door warning of unexpected death) and then walked back along the Lea towpath with my shopping, opposite an unevacuated riverside apartment block. • With a bit of luck the Royal Engineers have cleared the mudbanked warhead overnight, because East London tube travellers are getting a bit tired of circuitous replacement bus services. But, with the Olympic Park being really so very huge, who knows what they'll dig up next?
• Meanwhile, London 2012 bosses announced yesterday that they intend to build fewer stadia to save money. They're shifting the fencing events to the ExCel Centre and they're shifting the basketballarena to the space where the fencing would have been. If I understand this change of heart properly, there'll now be no Olympic events taking place in Tower Hamlets (bar a couple of road races). I no longer live in a properly Olympic borough. And this stadium shift also means that an entireindustrial estate has been needlessly demolished, just so that a few houses can be built in their place in five years time. It may save a bit of money, overall, but I'm unexpectedly gutted.
Olympic update
• Oh now that was careless. Pre-Olympic construction on the Bow Back Rivers has disturbed a rather enormous unexploded bomb on the bed of the Prescot Channel. It's a biggie, the largest WW2 German explosive to be uncovered in the capital since the 1970s. The bomb weighs a ton, which is not great news when you live in the neighbourhood. I was expecting some Army jobsworth to insist that I be unnecessarily barred from my home for 48 hours but thankfully no, they've only insisted on a 200m exclusion zone, not a kilometre.
• I popped down to the Prescott Channel after work yesterday to take a look (yeah, going deliberately closer to an unexploded bomb, there's sensible for you). I was surprised to see nothing whatsoever from the train, immediately alongside, given that the police keep insisting on shutting down the District line in the vicinity. But all construction work on Prescott Lock (and all activity at Three Mills Studios) appeared to be halted while brave Army boys prepared for safe detonation. No sign of the brave army boys either. There were a handful of policemen guarding the courtyard outside the House Mill, armed only with a strip of blue tape. But life elsewhere was dangerously normal. So I went shopping at Tesco nextdoor (no panic, not even a sign near the door warning of unexpected death) and then walked back along the Lea towpath with my shopping, opposite an unevacuated riverside apartment block.
• I popped down to the 