Mile End to Olympic Park

Mile End Underground with central line, district line and Hammersmith & City line.

Bus routes - 25,205 & 425 stop on Mile End Road. Bus routes 277 ,D6, 339, D7 and 323 stop near crossroads.

Exit Mile End Underground station and use the pedestrian crossing slightly to your right to cross over Mile End Road. The meeting point is the large paved area in front of the Army Careers Office, 405 Mile End Road.

[1] With your back to the careers office & facing the tube station turn right toward the big crossroads and the bridge over the road. (A) Mile End and Green Bridge. Cross Aberavon Road and at the traffic lights cross Grove Road. On the far side, turn right and then bear left away from the road (before the bus station) and around the green mound to your left.  Follow the tarmac path. When you get to the open area with a hill in front of you, bear left and cross the path to beyond the hedge and turn right. This path slopes down to the Regent's canal (B). (A bit steep & leads directly to canal, so wheelchair and pushchair users CAUTION)

[2] Turn right along the canal towpath (canal on your left). (Queen Mary University of London main campus is on the opposite side of the canal). Go under the railway line - Bridge no 56, and the footbridge adjacent to The Mile End Climbing Wall. (Shire horse and other sculptures on right)

 [3] Continue under Roman Road – bridge 55 and up and over the slope that takes the towpath over the start of the Hertford Union Canal (C) and keep ahead under bridge 54 and up the slope next to Old Ford Lock. 

[4] Go past the old lock-keeper's property and turn right into Victoria Park via Arcade Gate.  Walk to the bottom of the slope (Point D ahead of you before turning right) and turn right onto the main park path. Keep ahead and pass the pavilion café and toilets on your left and follow the path to the right and exit the park through Crown Gate West.  

[5] Turn left, use the zebra crossing to safely cross Grove Road and re-enter the park through Crown Gate East. At the Y junction take the right-hand fork. Continue along this path for just over half a mile. You will pass Gun Makers Gate and Lockhouse Gate – both on your right and with bridges over the canal. (Victoria Park – see E below)

[6] You eventually come to a large crossroads in the paths – turn right here to exit the park through St Mark’s Gate. From this point you will be guided into the Olympic Park by 2012 volunteers through the Victoria Gate.

You have been walking along the Jubilee Greenway (F) for part of this walk.

(A) Mile End is recorded in 1288 as La Mile ende. It is formed from the Middle English 'mile' and 'ende' and means 'the hamlet a mile away'.  The mile distance was in relation to Aldgate in the City of London. This is on the original London to Colchester road & was one of the earliest suburbs of the City of London. The parish of Mile End Old Town became part of the metropolitan area of London in 1855 .

Mile End is in a part of London known as the East End and home to the main campus of Queen Mary, University of London. Parts of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry are also based on this campus. The main student halls of residence are also now located on this campus. You’ll see the university shortly when on the canal.

The bridge over the main road is known as The Green Bridge and carries Mile End Park over the road. 

 (B) The Regent's Canal was built to link the Grand Junction Canal's Paddington Arm, which opened in 1801, with the Thames at Limehouse. It was opened in two stages, from Paddington to Camden in 1816, and the rest of the canal in 1820. The cost of building the canal was £772,000, twice the original estimate – which equates to over £50m at today’s prices! By the 1840s the railways were taking traffic from the canals. In the latter part of the Second World War (1939-45) traffic increased on the canal system as an alternative to the hard pressed railways. The last horse drawn commercial traffic was carried in 1956 following the introduction of motor tractors three years previously. By the late 1960's commercial traffic had all but vanished. www.canalmuseum.org.uk

(C) The Hertford Union Canal is a short (1.3 miles) canal linking the Lee Navigation with the Regents Canal. For most of its route it runs alongside Victoria Park. It was built to avoid tidal waters and the long haul around the Isle of Dogs on the River Thames. This very short, arrow-straight canal is also known as Duckett's Cut after Sir George Duckett who financed its construction.

(D) The Chinese bridge or Pennethorne bridge has recently been built using the original designs produced in the 1840s. The dragons on the top of the pagoda were fitted on 20th January 2012. The Pagoda is 12m tall and will replicate the original pagoda of 1847.

(E)  Work on Victoria Park was started in 1845 following a petition by 30,000 residents. Bishop Bonner (1550 – 1569) was the last Lord of the Manor of Stepney and some of the Bishop’s Palace gardens were used to create this 218 acre park. It was completed in 1850 and since then has been an amenity for locals and others to get fresh air and exercise in a wonderful open space. It has also been used for concerts, firework displays, travelling fairs and more recently Olympic celebrations. In April 1873 Queen Victoria visited the park. A recent addition to the park in 2012 is a skateboard and BMX park – which apparently boasts a ‘full cradle’ making it the only skatepark in London to have one! www.towehamlets.gov.uk

 (F) The Jubilee Greenway Walk marks Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, being celebrated in 2012. This 37 mile walking and cycling route is exactly 60 kilometres long - one kilometre for each year of Her Majesty's reign. It will link many of London’s Olympic Games venues. It makes use of existing walking and cycling routes wherever possible and begins at Buckingham Palace and joining Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens Royal Parks with Paddington Station and the Grand Union Canal at Little Venice. It follows the Regents Canal through Camden & then connects to East London through Victoria Park to the River Thames where the Woolwich Foot Tunnel ties Greenwich and the South Bank to the Jubilee Walkway at Tower Bridge and back to St James’ via Westminster. www.walklondon.org.uk