A Dent In The Olympic Rings
I took this picture yesterday at St. Pancras International station.
A Dent in the Olympic Rings
I wasn’t tall enough to get the clock in the centre of the ring.
The Real Problem With Olympic Tickets
I did get a few tickets, but not the real ones I wanted like the cycling and the 5,000 metres. I did get some for the beach volleyball though!
I should have applied for more events and perhaps only two tickets for each, rather than the three or four I did.
The real problem isw that for some events there are just not enough tickets. And that doesn’t mean that too many are going to sponsors and the great and good.
Take the equestrian events, which are being held in Greenwich Park. I applied for the cross-country day for the eventing and got none. It should have been held in a larger venue, where they could really have spread everything out. Three venues would have offered much more space and they already have purpose built grandstands that can take over 50,000 spectators. These are the racecourses at Epsom, Ascot and Sandown. If you really want space, then you could have done it at Newmarket, the biggest horse centre in the world. After all, if you are doing the sailing at Weymouth, surely putting the eventing slightly out of London wouldn’t have been a problem.
And then of course there’s the British. And I’ll chuck the Irish in here as well. All of us, be we English, Scotch, Welsh or Irish love our sport and big events. Just look at all the fans, who are going to Glastonbury this weekend, to get filthy dirty in the mud. It’s an event and we’ll go and fill it.
When did you last here of a major sporting or cultural event in these isles, that wasn’t a success. I go to Liverpool regularly and many there will tell you how the celebrations in 2008, when the city was European Capital of Culture was a real party, something to be proud of and also an event that kicked the city into the future.
So did we do the Olympics in too small a way?
An Insignificant Plate on the Greenway
From Pudding Mill Lane, I decided not to take the easy route of transport home, so I climbed onto the Greenway and thought about having a coffee in the ViewTube. But it was too late, as the cafe was closed. There was an American film crew there, making a piece about the Olympics, as there often is, so I gave them some of the history about the area, the sewers and Joseph Bazalgette.
Marshgate Lane Plate
This plate in the Greenway, is all that is there to indicate one of the largest of the Olympic construction contracts.
To create easy access to the Olympic site and easpecially after the Games, Marshgate Lane is being lowered so that large trucks can get in. It is not an easy job, as they are effectively having to tunnel under the Northern Outfall Sewer and as the name indicates, the area used to be a marsh. People often wonder why projects cost more and run late. This is one that has a high degree of risk, although it should be ready in time, but one misplaced action could conceivably break the sewer and cover everything in the outflow from several million toilets.
Luckily, knowing Bazalgette, he built a degree of strength into the sewer that will protect everything and everyone.
Along the Bow Back Rivers
I crossed Stratford High Street and then found my way to Pudding Mill Lane station on the DLR. I passed across and along one of the Bow Back Rivers, originally created to channel water power from the River Lee to the flour mills in the area.
At present access is restricted to many of these rivers because of construction of both the Olympic Park and CrossRail. But they will become a major water feature of the Olympics. The City Mill River and the City Mill Lock have recently been restored.
Onwards to Stratford High Street
I walked onwards from Three Mills towards the Olympic Park along the Three Mills Wall River, which is part of the River Lea.
It was an interesting walk with a lot to see.
You can’t actually reach Stratford High Street at the moment, becuse of construction work.
It looks like they will be encouraging spectators to walk to the Olympic Park from Bromley-by-Bow station along this route. They have put in quite a few places to have a picnic, which you could buy in Tesco’s at Bow.
Etchings in the Evening Sun
This picture shows the decoration on the new sewage pumping station at the Olympic Park, highlighted by the evening sun.
Decoration on the Olympic Park Sewage Pumping Station
The images are taken from the original drawings from Joseph Bazalgette’s Abbey Mills pumping station.
I hope that when the Olympic Park is fully open, buildings like this won’t be hidden behind excessive security fences.
The Other Side of the Olympics
Tonight, I went to a preview day of an art exhibition at the ViewTube.
It was a series of drawings about the building of the various Olympic stadia by Jeanette Barnes, who lives close to the main Olympic Park.
In this picture the artist is shown with some of her art.
Jeanette Barnes and Some of Her Olympic Drawings
Here is a larger image of one of drawings.
The Aquatic Centre by Jeanette Barnes
And a collection of smaller ones.
More Drawings by Jeanette Barnes
I like her work and hope the exhibition goes well. Certainly, the Pimms they were serving was excellent.
Her work wasn’t the only art on show tonight.
Children's Art at the ViewTube
This was created by the local kids.
And of course starting to tower above it all is the ArcelorMittal Orbit.
ArcelorMittal Orbit
It’s rising fast.
The Other Side of the Olympic Site
Yesterday, I took the train from Stratford to Tottenham Hale. It is actually a slow train to Stansted Airport, that stops in several places on its way to the airport.
It runs every thirty minutes or so, so it is not often the most convenient way to get between the two places, but because of the various developments and countryside along the line it makes a pleasant alternative as you wander up the Lee Valley.
A New Stratford Emerges
I went to Stratford station today as it has now been announced that the station upgrade is complete.
There are still a few things to do, but as the pictures show, it’s a lot better than a few years ago.
The Mittal Orbit is Rising
I was down the Olympic site this morning and the Mittal Orbit is getting higher.
The Mittal Orbit is Rising
It can’t be getting that much higher! I like it!
The Anonymous Widower 