Open House London Walking Tour: September 22

Beyond the Olympic Park – the Lower Lea Valley from Hackney Wick to Leamouth

I’ve teamed up with Ralph Ward, a former regeneration advisory for the Olympics and Thames Gateway, to organize a walking tour of the Lea Valley on September 22 during the Open House London weekend. Between my study of the environmental and social history of the Lower Lea Valley and West Ham through to the early twentieth century and Ralph’s wealth of knowledge derived from working in the region during its recent transformation, we’ll provide a broad overview of the the Lower Lea’s history. If you read my recent post on the history of the region, you’ll see that I believe the history needs to be taken into account as a part of the Olympic legacy. As I’m a Canadian who lives in Toronto and only visits London, I’ve got a pretty limited role to play in British politics and can only share my knowledge of the important history in the region and hope some Londoners will work with Ralph to lobby the government and developers to keep aspects of the 19th century industrial history intact. During the somewhat lengthy walk we should have lots of time to talk as group about the different possibilities for the regions future. Along the way we’ll pass a number of other Open London sites, including the 18th century House mill, the Abbey Mills Pumping station, the site of Cedric Price’s unrealised Fun Palace, and Trinity Buoy Wharf.

Meet: Sat 2.30pm Hackney Wick overground station, E9 5LH, London, England

Tour Times: Saturday, 2.30pm-5pm
First come basis. Duration approx 2 1/2 hours. Ends at Royal Victoria DLR.
How to get there
Overgound: Hackney Wick