Here is my 'Olympic Walks' Brochure...
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OLYMPIC WALKS 2012
The Olympic walks take place daily - whatever the weather - and the meeting point is Bromley-by Bow station, here you will be met by one of our many Blue Badge guides who will take you on the tour.
Bookings can be made online or you can just turn up on the day. You can join a group or have a previously booked private guide.
The tour will start here at the Mill House. This is one of the original building of the stratford area and is a contrast to all the regeneration. These buildings remain as they were in the 1800's and its a good place to start the tour, on the river Lea, which is one of the rivers to travel through the Olympic site.
Not far from the Mill House you will find this memorial of two clasping hands. It has replaced a cross which was vandalised. The story it signifies is of four men who were working on the sewer. The first man went down and was overcome with fumes, and died. The second man worried for his co-worker went down to find him. The same thing happened and he too was over come by fumes and died. This happened four times before they realised what was going on. It was a tragedy. This symbolises the men trying to help each other from the sewer. The sewer system is a big part of the Olympic site with miles of new pipeworks.
The whole area has been completely revamped and the parkland areas have transformed Stratford. Here we have granite Table Tennis Tables, which are vandal proof - possibly !!
What a great idea, table tennis is a simple sport and great fun for anyone to play. Hopefully these tables will be used and enjoyed and maybe produce a future champion - which is what its all about.
A Riverside London 2012 Garden stretches for half a mile between the Aquatics Centre and the Olympic Stadium, featuring 120,000 plants from 250 species across the world. The parklands will be a haven for wildlife . 4,000 newts are going to be relocated from the Olympic Park to the waterworks
nature reserve.
The waterways have been dramatically cleaned - with ongoing works - to get the rivers back to a safe and desirable standard. Already wildlife is returning to the waterways. The rivers are now a more pleasurable place to be - people are now choosing to live in narrow houseboats. All of this area is being regenerated, Tesco and Ikea are both involved in regenerating the area including housing, which is still in the very early stages and will continue on long after the olympics is over.
Everyone is excited to see the stadium, its progression to completion.
The development is ongoing ...... lets hope its finished in time...... not long now to go until the start of the games..
Here is the impressive Olympic Stadium, with a plan / map of the area in the foreground. The top of this building is removable, if we hadn't found a use for this stadium after the games then it could have been taken to pieces and used for another venue or the next olympics. The centre piece of the games, the 53m high olympic stadium, has an 80,000 seat capacity, which will be reduced to 25,000 afterwards. The building you can see here doesn't have any toilets !! only one for the Queen. All facilities and refreshments will be at the base, otherwise the building would have to have been a lot larger to allow for toilets / refreshments / and people queueing etc... Also the tickets are sold in 2 hours slots - so go beforehand ... The main food contractor is McDonalds.
This red steel construction is not a roller coaster but a viewing platform, The Orbit. It was designed by Ariah Kapoor and structural designer Cecil Balmond. The tangled steel lattice incorporates the olympic rings, it has been built with 1,500 tonnes of steel. During the games it will be used for VIPs and corporate functions.
After the games the public will be able to go up the tower to view the Olympic Park. It is expected to attract a million visitors each year. However there is a lift up but you have to walk down the spiral staircase, about 700 people an hour will be able to go up it.
This is as tall as the Statue of Liberty, USA .. 22.7m
There are various stadia which are temporary, like the waterpolo. The swimming is permanent but it has extra seating for the games which will be removed after. There is a media centre with no windows so that broadcasting can happen to various different countries and their broadcasters can stay in their relevant time zones, it is 29,000 sq ft. There is housing for all the athletes and restaurants producing 15,000 meals three times a day. The dining room is the size of three football pitches and seats 5,000.
The velodrome is permanent and in the 35m high basketball arena the doors are 8' high.
Finally, just one stop back from Pudding Mill Lane station is Stratford International, here you will find yourself at Westfield Shopping Centre. This is to be the entrance for the Games. If you go to the third floor of John Lewis, via the olympic gift shop, you will find a viewing window looking at the Olympic Park from another angle. You can treat yourself to a new keyring or Olympic purchase as you leave.
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