It is good to see that the Lea Valley Walk appears in the Ramblers’ Association’s Top Ten River Walks published in The Sunday Telegraph.

The route comes in at number five and the sample section chosen is Tottenham Hale to Three Mills near Bromley-by-Bow which includes the Olympic Park.

Also featured in the top ten are the River Darent in Kent, the Derwent Valley in Derbyshire and East Lynn River on Exmoor.

There are interesting reports of sewage seen from the towpath and “vile smells” from the river.

This is just a couple miles from the Olympic Park.

Sam Amalemba, speaking at the Lee Valley Canoe and Cycle Centre near Stonebridge Lock says: “It is not as bad in the north of the river as it is further south. There’s actually a very noticeable difference. You just have to go near Markfield Park and you can smell it.”

This news comes just a day after Thames Water announced plans to stop sewage entering the downstream Bow Back Rivers.

British Waterways, the Environment Agency, Thames Water and the Olympic Delivery Authority are in talks about the situation.

Walkers on the Lea Valley Walk will be able to see a new village being built during the next five years on the edge of London. It will include a handy hotel.

The environmentally sustainable Hale Village in Tottenham is being modelled on the waterside Hammarby district of Stockholm.

Tottenham’s own twelve acre site is in Ferry Lane and was once the Harris Lebus furniture factory and more recently the Greater London Council bulk buying warehouse. The new buildings are to include mixed housing, student accommodation, a supermarket and a school.

Developers Lee Valley Estates are based at Tottenham Lock.