I went for a local walk, saw stuff, took photos, then went home and did some research. There's always something new to discover locally.
Bow Free Wharf
This is a narrowboat called We're Here heading up the River Lea and about to pass underneath the Bow Roundabout. I like how the photo looks like an oil painting. No jiggery-pokery has taken place, it's all thanks to my local skyscraper and the rippling reflection of the boat. The small dog looking in my general direction only adds to the appeal.
Research: According to the heavily graffitied information board installed by the Canal & River Trust, "When the River Lea was canalised to become the Lee Navigation in the late 18th century, this was one of the few places where the course was unchanged. The waterway flowing past Bow Free Wharf has been here since prehistoric times." It's a useful reminder that the waterways in and around the Olympic Park are entirely artificial, with a second bout of reconstruction in the 1930s altering things even further. It's quite hard to imagine the waterway at Bow Free Wharf as unchanged, passing as it does between old industrial buildings that either have been or are about to be demolished, but it's nice to know that this is precisely where Middlesex and Essex always met.
Research: I'd never previously spotted that the TfL website has a subpage called Delivering goods by water targeted at businesses who might be tempted to consider eco-friendly sustainable waterborne transport. Bow Free Wharf is one of the suggested unloading points on the Lea Navigation, not that I think I've ever seen anyone using it, nor do I imagine it'd be a practical long-term consideration. Other waterways on the TfL site include the Regent's Canal, Grand Union Canal and River Thames, and although I can't help but be impressed by the project's scope I'm unconvinced it's especially useful.
Bromley Hall School for the Physically Handicapped
This most peculiar cluster of buildings lies just east of the A12 dual carriageway on what's left of Bromley Hall Road. I'd always assumed it was something industrial, based on its surroundings, but had never scrutinised it carefully until lockdown saw me walking past more often. All that was visible through the locked gate were a couple of square structures with high black roofs and slanted skylights, plus a pile of rubbish outside and a security van perhaps keeping an eye on things. How much further back did this jagged skyline extend?
Research: It turns out this was once Bromley Hall School for the Physically Handicapped, as you'll have picked up from the spoiler in my title. It was built in the late 1960s as a special school for 120 disabled children, because education wasn't so integrated back then. The building had an inward-looking cellular plan with classroom pavilions alternating with enclosed courtyards, one per unit. A dining hall, assembly hall, library and medical unit occupied the central core. The eastern corridor led to three specialist classrooms, originally for woodwork, housecraft and typewriting, overlooking a small enclosed garden. But the school closed in 2002 and has been vacant since. It looks like it'd be an incredible place to explore.
Research: This whole area is ripe for redevelopment, indeed the adjacent brownfield Ailsa Street site is pencilled in for 782 flats. But the school ought to be safe because - and this came as a joyful surprise - it's Grade II listed. English Heritage also put it on their At Risk register, but Tower Hamlets have plans to turn it into a mainstream school for 420 pupils with Y2-6 pupils in the refurbished units and younger children in a purpose-built single-storey block alongside. It looks well impressive, although nothing seems to have moved on since planning permission was granted in 2017 so there's every chance this project has (alas) stalled.
Aberfeldy Millennium Green
The Aberfeldy Estate is one of Tower Hamlets' more deprived areas, cut off between the A12, A13 and Bow Creek. It's approximately triangular in shape and at its heart is a triangular greenspace with a bit of a playground, a small banked amphitheatre and (at present) a smattering of daffodils. It's pleasant and I'd thought unremarkable until I noticed a sign declaring this to be a Millennium Green. I know about these because the village where I was living in the year 2000 gotone, but I hadn't realised inner London had any.
Research: 250 Millennium Greens were planned across England, courtesy of the National Lottery and the Countryside Agency, of which 245 were eventually completed. Each was intended to be suitable for recreation, wildlife and public events, and on completion was handed over to a local charitable trust in perpetuity. The project was deemed one of the better long-term millennial successes, even though some greens have subsequently had to be taken over by their local authority.
Research: Hurrah, a database of Millennium Greens exists, as well as a Wiki site which aims to include individual details. Using these I managed to confirm that there are 8 Millennium Greens in Greater London, one of which is less than half a mile away from Aberfeldy...
