Olympic Park to East Ham

Starting Point  – St Mark’s Gate Victoria Park (A).

Exit the park through St Mark’s Gate and go to the end of the road of the same name. At the end, turn right into Wick Lane (returning the way you have just come if you exited the Olympic Stadium), cross over Jodrell Road and continue under the railway bridge. On the far side of the bridge use the crossing to cross to the far side of the road and continue in same direction.  You soon come to the 6 spikes in the ground at the entrance to the Jubilee Greenway (B) on your left. Take this path.

You are now walking on/above a large sewer (C) that has served East London for many years, continue along this path, firstly over the canal/river Lee Navigation with Old Ford Lock to your left.  Pass the sign (on your right) down to the canal and the Capital Ring Walk (D).  

You pass the Olympic Park (E) & main athletics stadium to your left, along with the red observation tower called The ArcelorMittal  Orbit (F) +Photo . You also pass concrete blocks with numbers on them (detailing ‘AOD ‘ -  Above Ordnance Datum-height above mean sea level). If you stop near the one with 10.01 and look across to your right, you will see a large red brick building with 2 towers – The Bryant & May match factory (G). The warm-up area for the athletes is immediately to you right.

Continue along the edge of the Olympic Park; and until the Jubilee Greenway route is complete, you need to turn right before the bright green viewtube building(café & toilets and bike hire). This diverted route is signposted West Ham, Bow, Stratford, (the only station planned to be closed during Olympics). Follow this route down to the lane under the railway bridge and eventually left in front of the station along Pudding Mill Lane. (There is no point in describing this part exactly, as it appears to change on a weekly basis)

Continue along Pudding Mill Lane, crossing Marshgate Lane on your left, and then just after crossing the canal turn left down the slope to walk along a short stretch of canal. At the lock go up the steps ahead of you, turn right into Blaker Road  and cross to the far side of the road. At the end of the road turn left onto High Street Stratford.

Use the pedestrian crossing to cross this busy road and continue in the same direction. (The new wooden bridge you can see ahead of you will join the Jubilee Green way and avoid the diversion along roads). As you go under the bridge, turn right under the support girders to re-join the Jubilee Greenway.  (View of Canary Wharf to your right). Note – still on Capital Ring (D)

Just past the Abbey Lane Bridge is the Abbey Mills Pumping Station (H & I) . Continue along and over the bridge for The Channel Sea River – look to your right and you can see the yellow spokes around the top of the O2/North Greenwich arena (another Olympic Site).

Go over the road – Canning Road – and continue on the Greenway.  Over the tube and railway lines. (divert here to West Ham station for Jubilee, H&C, National rail and District line. Just after going over the railway lines there are steps and a lift on your right …………… or a few paces ahead turn right down a slope. Each of these brings you to Manor Road. Turn left along Manor Road, cross Alan Hocken Way and under the Railway Bridge and turn immediate left into Memorial Avenue and the entrance to West Ham station is on your left)

The Greenway bears right, over another set of tube/railway lines with a sports field on your right and the large The East London Cemetery (J) also on your right.

You then come to a barrier and public road; cross over and turn left along this road – Upper Road.  Cross Chesterton Terrace and 2 or 3 more side roads and at the T Junction turn right onto Plaistow Road (Plaistow station is a 2 minute walk to your left). Use the crossing to cross to the far side and continue in the same direction.  Turn left into Clegg Street & cross to the far side of the road. Take the 2^nd right into Queen’s Road West. Follow this road , over the end of Watson Street, past the school,  round to the right and then left; it is now just Queen’s Road.  Go past some allotments on your right and cross to the left pavement when safe to do so.  Turn left along Queen’s Road.  Follow the road around to the right and make sure you stay on the left hand side with a pavement.  (The large building on your right is the indoor market at Upton Park.)

At the end of the road turn left onto Green Street. Use the pedestrian crossing to cross over and continue in the same direction (past Upton Park tube) and then take the first right along Park Road (blocked to cars) Stay on the left side with a pavement.  The railway line is on the right. Follow the road as it turns left and then cross to the right hand pavement.  At the end Park Road, turn right and immediately right again into Grangewood Street . Cross to the far side and turn first left into Elizabeth Road.  At the end of Elizabeth Road, divert a short way to the right to use the pedestrian refuge to safely cross the road and continue ahead along Milton Avenue.  At the end of Milton Avenue, turn right onto High Street North and use the crossing to cross over to East Ham underground station.

 (A)  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

 (B) 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

(C) London Sewers. The largest London sewers (including the one now incorporated into The Jubilee greenway) were constructed between 1859 and 1865, were fed by 450 miles (720 km) of main sewers that, in turn, conveyed the contents of some 13,000 miles (21,000 km) of smaller local sewers. Construction of the interceptor system required 318 million bricks, 2.7 million cubic metres of excavated earth and 670,000 cubic metres of concrete. Gravity allows most of the sewage to flow Eastwards, but a bit further along the walk you’l l see the pumping station that was built to aid the flow.

(D)The Capital Ring is a 78 mile/126km easy to follow circular walk around London using waterways, parks and other open spaces. Maps and book available. The walk is broken into 15 sections using public transport. Also see www.walklondon.org.uk

 (E) The Olympic Park is the size of 357 football pitches. There were more than 200 structures on the Olympic Park demolished before building works began. In excess of 200km of electrical cables – enough to stretch from London to Nottingham – were put into two six-kilometre tunnels built under the Park. The 52 pylons in and around the Olympic Park could then be taken down.  4,000 newts were relocated from the Olympic Park to the Waterworks Nature reserve and 500,000 plants were planted in the Olympic Park’s wetlands areas. 8.35km – total length of waterways within or close to the Olympic Park, much of which has been restored. The Stadium will have an 80,000 seat capacity, reducing to 25,000 after the Games. It is 53m at its highest point; three metres taller than Nelson’s Column.  www.london2012.com

(F) The ArcelorMittal Orbit is a 115 metres (377 ft) high observation tower in the Olympic Park. The steel sculpture is Britain's largest piece of public art, and will be a permanent legacy from the Games. Sited between the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre, allows visitors to view the whole Olympic Park from two observation platforms. The Orbit was designed by Anish Kapoor in collaboration with engineer Cecil Balmond. The project is expected to cost £19.1m, with £16m of that coming from the involvement of Britain's richest man, the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.  "ArcelorMittal Orbit", combines the name of Mittal's company, as chief sponsor, with Orbit, the original working title of Kapoor and Balmond's design.

(G) Established by William Bryant and Francis May in 1861 to make safety matches. At one time it was the biggest factory in London. In 1911 it employed more than 2,000 women and girls. The London match girls strike of 1888 started there. This led to the establishment of the first British trade union for women. A blue plaque outside the entrance commemorates the role of Annie Besant in leading demands for better pay and conditions. The factory finally closed in 1979 and the work was moved to Liverpool. In 1988 the site was derelict and became one of east London's first urban renewal projects. The factory building still stands today and has been converted to flats.

(H) The original Abbey Mills Pumping Station was built between 1865 and 1868; it was designed by engineer Joseph Bazalgette, Edmund Cooper, and architect Charles Driver, it is cruciform in shape, and in the elaborate Byzantine style.  Known by many as Bazalgette's "Cathedral of Sewerage", it originally had two Moorish styled elaborate chimneys, a relic from the pumping stations steam powered past (pre 1933).  However, these were demolished during the Second World War, as they presented a landmark for German Bombers. It has electrical pumps for use as a standby. www.eofd.co.uk/281/abbey-mills-pumping-station-london

(I)The modern pumping station was designed by architects Allies and Morrison & is one of the three principal London pumping stations dealing with foul water. One of world's largest installations of drum screens to treat sewage was constructed as part of the Thames Tideway Scheme. The site is managed and operated by Thames Water.

(J )The East London Cemetery was founded in 1871 and laid out in 1872 to meet the increasing demand from the eastern suburbs of London. The first interment was in August 1872 and remains open. The cemetery covers 33 acres (0.13 km2) and has two Gothic chapels built at the end of the 19th century that remain in use.  One of Jack the Rippers victims – Elizabeth Stride is buried here as well as the actor Jack Warner OBE – who played PC George Dixon in Dixon of Dock Green.