Walking the Lea Valley 11: OLYMPIC-LEA Hackney Marsh → Three Mills(2 miles)
When Olympic officials speak of regenerating the Lower Lea valley, they have in mind only a brief stretch of this 42-mile long river. But that's still a heck of a lot of land to transform. The valley between Hackney Wick and Bow is wide, with more than one waterway snaking southward, so there's plenty of room inbetween to cram a stadium, several arenas, a souped-up swimming pool, an athlete's village and as many branches of McDonalds as spectators' stomachs demand. Most of the main 2012 facilities are being constructed along the banks of the Old River Lea, or dotted at whim between the artificial braids of the Bow Back Rivers. The Lea Valley Walk, however, follows the canalised Lee Navigation, along which many of the Games' backroom facilities are being built. This should mean the towpath remains fully accessible during the construction period, but any view of what's really going on will be relatively restricted.
As I approached Hackney Wick, the legendary Lesneytoyfactory still stood proudly beside Marshgate Bridge [photo]. If you played with Matchboxcars in your youth, this now-decaying building was the source of all your miniature delight. Take photos while you can, because there's a demolition order on the place plus a planningapplication whose consultation period ended last month. Yet another chunk of history has been judged to be functionally useless, and will be replaced by yet another mixed-use development including 209 new homes and a fifteen-storey tower. Somewhat ironically, they'll all be living in matchboxes.
Olympic Park: A shady dip beneath the A12 East Cross Route, and then the Olympics hit me full in the face. Here beginneth the building site. The expanse to the left used to be Arena Fields, an open greenspace beside the former Hackney Wick Stadium. Now it's the emergent site of the International Broadcast Centre - a vast (and architecturally vacuous) shed which will also house the world's sporting journalists in 2012 (assuming any newspapers survive that long). On the opposite side is Leabank Square, whose vibrant community campaignsvociferously (though sometimesunwisely) against the noise and dust that now shatter their waterside peace. A few trees along the towpath had been singled out with tape for preservation, while the rest had been unceremoniously chopped, Alongside, the skeleton of the Park's Energy Centre stood tall [photo].
At White Post Lane I crossed over to the Hertford Canal junction for the best view of the structurally-complete Olympic Stadium[photo]. It'll be a while before the cranes disappear, but the Lea-side panorama has been changed forever. A webcam on the roof of Forman's bright pink salmon smokery was keeping its beady eye on construction, although most of the other businesses opposite the stadium remained as tumbledown and unaltered as ever. At Old Ford Lock, where the Roman Road to Colchester once crept cautiously across the river, I spied the famous BigBreakfast lockkeepers cottages. They're now a private home, somehow magically spared from the Olympic axe despite their immediate proximity to the overshadowing stadium [photo]. At the bottom of Chris and Gaby's garden a blue-boarded wall prevented my passage up the Old River Lea, while a string of barbed yellow buoys did the same for those afloat. Ah 2012 - we can look, but we can't yet touch.
Next to be negotiated was the Northern Outfall Sewer, piping half of London's excrement over my head on its way to nearby Abbey Mills Pumping station. It can't be the most fragrant neighbour for Fish Island residents cooped up in various residential developments alongside. But I enjoyed the continuing industrial desolation of the next section, because this reminded me how the Bow Back Rivers had looked before the 2012 eraser scrubbed them clean. Concrete mixers, incinerator tanks, leafy trees and a broad algae-filled river - it's reassuring that such vistas still remain as a reminder of times past. But not for long. Once the Olympics are out of the way then Crossrail will be burrowing through, emerging precisely here at the Pudding Mill Portal and this stretch of the Lea will become first unwalkable and then unrecognisable. Shame, because it's not every day I get to see a heron perched mid-river and then soaring off into the sky just a few hundred yards from my front door. (At this point I popped home for a cup of tea, and enjoyed a comfy overnight stay before returning to complete the remainder of the walk the following day. My apologies, but you probably won't have this luxury)
The most dangerous part of the entire Lea Valley Walk is at the Bow Flyover[photo]. There's a dual carriageway with multi-directional traffic to negotiate, and not a single footbridge, subway or pelican crossing in sight. Check carefully before you cross. Walkers' progress won't be helped either by the black plastic fingerpost recently mis-installed by Lea Valley Regional Park staff. The sign for "Old Ford Lock ¾ mile" points to Three Mills while the sign for "Three Mills ½ mile" points to Old Ford Lock - and both are sealed fast so that no E3 vandal can interchange them. I tried, sorry, I tried. There was no sign either to direct me off the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road, except for a small metal disc eroded on the pavement, but yes the footpath's down there beyond the Calor Gas delivery yard. I love this back route to Tesco (it's one of the few remaining bits of the Lea with post-usebydate industrial buildings on both banks) and when out shopping I rarely meet anybody venturing the other way. Again, wholesale eradication and regeneration threatens.
Three Mills: There are, of course, two mills at Three Mills (although there used to be eight in medieval times). The House Mill (1776) [photo] is reputedly the largest tidal mill in the world, used for grinding flour until the 1940s, more recently fully restored. A group of volunteers open up the building to not-many visitors every Sunday from March to October, and I can vouch that the tour is excellent. Try Open House Weekend if you want to look round for free, although I suspect the owners would prefer your cash on one of the quieter weekends either side. Across the cobbles is the Clock Mill (1817) [photo], boasting twin oasthouse chimneys and a characterful canopied belltower. There's a lovely view from the riverside, especially sunlitat low tide with the Lea rushing noisily through the millrace. International filmmakers certainly know about this place - many's the famous director to have recorded at the Three Mills Studios, also home to the first two seasons of UK Big Brother. But for most Londoners Three Mills is a historical delight that they will never even notice, let alone visit.
Walking the Lea Valley
When Olympic officials speak of regenerating the Lower Lea valley, they have in mind only a brief stretch of this 42-mile long river. But that's still a heck of a lot of land to transform. The valley between Hackney Wick and Bow is wide, with more than one waterway snaking southward, so there's plenty of room inbetween to cram a stadium, several arenas, a souped-up swimming pool, an athlete's village and as many branches of McDonalds as spectators' stomachs demand. Most of the main 2012 facilities are being constructed along the banks of the Old River Lea, or dotted at whim between the artificial braids of the Bow Back Rivers. The Lea Valley Walk, however, follows the canalised Lee Navigation, along which many of the Games' backroom facilities are being built. This should mean the towpath remains fully accessible during the construction period, but any view of what's really going on will be relatively restricted.
Olympic Park: A shady dip beneath the A12 East Cross Route, and then the Olympics hit me full in the face. Here beginneth the building site. The expanse to the left used to be Arena Fields, an open greenspace beside the former Hackney Wick Stadium. Now it's the emergent site of the International Broadcast Centre - a vast (and architecturally vacuous) shed which will also house the world's sporting journalists in 2012 (assuming any newspapers survive that long). On the opposite side is Leabank Square, whose vibrant community campaigns vociferously (though sometimes unwisely) against the noise and dust that now shatter their waterside peace. A few trees along the towpath had been singled out with tape for preservation, while the rest had been unceremoniously chopped, Alongside, the skeleton of the Park's Energy Centre stood tall [photo].
Next to be negotiated was the Northern Outfall Sewer, piping half of London's excrement over my head on its way to nearby Abbey Mills Pumping station. It can't be the most fragrant neighbour for Fish Island residents cooped up in various residential developments alongside. But I enjoyed the continuing industrial desolation of the next section, because this reminded me how the Bow Back Rivers had looked before the 2012 eraser scrubbed them clean. Concrete mixers, incinerator tanks, leafy trees and a broad algae-filled river - it's reassuring that such vistas still remain as a reminder of times past. But not for long. Once the Olympics are out of the way then Crossrail will be burrowing through, emerging precisely here at the Pudding Mill Portal and this stretch of the Lea will become first unwalkable and then unrecognisable. Shame, because it's not every day I get to see a heron perched mid-river and then soaring off into the sky just a few hundred yards from my front door. (At this point I popped home for a cup of tea, and enjoyed a comfy overnight stay before returning to complete the remainder of the walk the following day. My apologies, but you probably won't have this luxury)
Three Mills: There are, of course, two mills at Three Mills (although there used to be eight in medieval times). The House Mill (1776) [photo] is reputedly the largest tidal mill in the world, used for grinding flour until the 1940s, more recently fully restored. A group of volunteers open up the building to not-many visitors every Sunday from March to October, and I can vouch that the tour is excellent. Try Open House Weekend if you want to look round for free, although I suspect the owners would prefer your cash on one of the quieter weekends either side. Across the cobbles is the Clock Mill (1817) [photo], boasting twin oasthouse chimneys and a characterful canopied belltower. There's a lovely view from the riverside, especially sunlit at low tide with the Lea rushing noisily through the millrace. International filmmakers certainly know about this place - many's the famous director to have recorded at the Three Mills Studios, also home to the first two seasons of UK Big Brother. But for most Londoners Three Mills is a historical delight that they will never even notice, let alone visit.
