There will be an attempt to clear the Floating Pennywort which is covering the water around Tottenham.

The plant can reduce water oxygenation levels and even cause flooding.

On Sunday morning 3 September volunteers working with Thames 21 will gather on the towpath by Tottenham Lock to manually remove the plants from the water.

Those who wish to join in should contact Thames21.

The first Great British Cucumber Festival, supported by the salad growers of the Lea Valley, takes place at Waltham Abbey on Saturday 17 September.

It also has the support of the National Farmers’ Union and aims to highlight the Lea Valley Growers’ contribution to the local economy.

At least 62 million cucumbers, as well as peppers and tomatoes, are grown each year in the Lea Valley. Most British cucumbers come from the Lea Valley.

Organisers are promising “stalls, tastings, Cool as a Cucumber music stage, Little Italy, Abbey Pride local businesses and organisations, cooking, health and beauty, entertainment, crafty cucumbers and entertainment area for the children”.

The festival is in the Abbey Gardens on Saturday 17 September from 12 noon to 4pm; admission free.

The Lea Valley Walk now passes under the Bow Flyover Junction.

A ’suspended’ pathway alongside the River Lea will be officially opened later this year but the route can be used now.

This means that walkers approaching the end of the Olympic Park boundary from the north will cross a new wooden bridge to go under the road junction on the right hand (west) side. You will emerge to join the existing towpath which after a short distance reaches Three Mills.

“We’re overjoyed to have completed this project which will make a real difference to thousands of journeys in the area every year and even more in the lead up to the Games in 2012,” said British Waterways enterprise manager Mark Blackwell last week.

“As well as being a functional route for local people this scheme improves access to the 28-mile Lea Valley Walk from Hertfordshire all the way to the River Thames which is an excellent way for people to explore the Lee Valley.”

This is just the first of many improvements planned for the Lea Valley Walk in time for next summer.

So successful has Folly for a Flyover been on the towpath just north of Hackney Wick that it is still open.

The cafe will be open from 12.30pm on Saturdays and Sundays until Sunday 21 August.

Then it will be dismantled.

Tottenham is a large place and many see Tottenham High Cross as its centre.

The eastern boundary is the River Lea and it was on Ferry Lane Bridge, just below Tottenham Lock, that Mark Duggan was shot dead on Thursday evening.

The looting which followed 48 hours later was at Tottenham Retail Park near Tottenham Hale Station as well as on the High Road.

See page 104.

I think it was somewhere south of Ware last week that I saw an angler with a giant crayfish on the end of his line.

Monster crayfish are a huge problem in the Lea Valley where they have been illegally introduced to the detriment of the more familiar small crayfish.

See story here.

Rye House Gatehouse is to be open Sundays & Wednesdays from Sunday 24 July to Sunday 28 August except on Wednesday 10 August. Admission is now £1.95 (conc £1.40).

The excellent tea hut at Carthagena Lock is now open weekdays 9am-6pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.

See pages 77-79 and 81-83.

How far south do you see deer in the Lea Valley?

Despite the Olympic Park last night a deer was seen in the Limehouse Cut.

The East London Advertiser has a report.

See page 121.

Good to see that Prince Charles went along to Trinity Buoy Wharf last Wednesday afternoon.

This is at the confluence of the River Lea and the River Thames where there is a lighthouse which the Prince visited. He also went into the Driftwood Cafe which has organic food.

A cafe visit is a perfect place to relax after completing the Lea Valley Walk but note that it is only open Monday to Friday 8am to 3pm.

See page 130.

At weekends from Saturday 25 June to Sunday 24 July there will be a café under the bridge just before the start of the long Olympic park fence.

This temporary facility is part of the Folly for a Flyover project occupying the space under the Eastway flyover and alongside the towpath.

The café’s daily changing menu will include smoked salmon from Forman’s on nearby Fish Island, bagels and ice cream.

There will also be boat trips from the towpath.

The café is open 2-6pm.

See page 113.