Thank you to the 15 walkers who made it through snow and numerous rail line closures to get to Hackney Wick by 1pm for today’s Walk London ramble down the Lea Valley.

I think most of us had difficulty at Stratford Station finding the bus. I suggest that staff need to be more helpful and have some large notices.

It was glorious sunshine as we left the towpath just after Old Ford Lock to climb up on to the Greenway. We all enjoyed the view of the Bryant & May factory on one side and the Olympic stadium on the other.

The View Tube cafe proved a good stopping point for lavatories and food.

My cheese croissant and hot chocolate were delicious. I think this cafe is going to get crowded over the next two years but at the moment it’s very quiet.

We reached Limehouse Dock at about 3.40pm. Sadly the DLR at Limehouse was not running.

***View Tube cafe is on the Greenway E15 2PJ and open daily 9am to 4pm. Nearest station is Pudding Mill Lane on the DLR. Ask the security guard for directions.

The Olympic Delivery Authority has issued some pictures showing the Olympic Park after the 2012 games.

The Bow Back rivers are lined with wild flower meadows.

It remains to be seen how the towpath will benefit but the area will certainly have a different feel from the 20th century.

News also comes this week of support from the public for a wind turbine on Hackney Marshes. The ‘windmill’ could generate enough electricity for Waltham Forest council buildings and street lights.

Meanwhile, the project further south to create the Lea River Park between the Olympic Park and Bow Creek has won the International Urban Landscape Silver Award.

The announcement was made in Frankfurt and comes with €15,000 prize money for the project.

The ‘Park’ will consist of six new public spaces linked by footpaths and cycleways, new bridges and towpaths. It was one of five international projects shortlisted for the award.

See pages 112-118 and 126-131.

I have been on the towpath alongside the Olympic park today in preparation for leading the walk this Saturday 30 January.

One of the weekend Walk London routes is ‘The Lower Lee Valley: Hackney Wick to Limehouse Station’.

The Greenway will be open for us to look at progress on the stadium and the swimming pool. Open on the path now is the Olympic View Tube where we can stop for refreshments, toilets and the view. This is a little visited spot so it will be good to be there ahead of crowds.

After the future we shall see the past in the form of the tide mill at Three Mills.

The walk is about five miles although there is no need to do it all.

Meet at 1pm on Saturday outside Hackney Wick Station. This is one stop from Stratford.

No charges. It’s a TfL initiative to get us walking.

Hope to see lots of you there.

I shall be leading a free walk down the Lea Valley as part of the Walk London weekend.

Meet at 1pm on Saturday 30 January at Hackney Wick Station to walk south to Limehouse.

It’s  a chance to catch up on progress in the Olympic Park before following the Limehouse Cut from Three Mills to the River Thames.

There is a handy station at the end.

More information on this 5 mile Urban Amble in a few days.

Vanessa Feltz conducted a debate on BBC Radio London yesterday about the spelling of the Lea Valley. She called it a debate “gripping the capital”.

The first caller was Keith from Harpenden who made the very good point that the River Lea rises at Leagrave.

I had a five minute interview with her afterwards when we ranged over the various river spellings in past centuries.

This is what I said in the Daily Telegraph yesterday: “In the 19th century, the Ordnance Survey decided to use both Lea and Lee. In 1967 an Act of Parliament established the Lee Valley Regional Park.

“However, the Lee Valley Park recognises the river’s name as Lea. With the Olympics approaching, I think it is time to accept that the entire valley, extending from Luton to Bow Creek, is now known to most people as the Lea Valley.”

Following a plea in The Daily Telegraph letters page for us to agree on a spelling for the Lea/Lee Valley before the Olympics I have joined in the debate.

I have for some time been thinking that we ought to adopt the Lea spelling not only for the river but also the valley. I sometimes use Lea for the valley when talking about the river route rather than just place.

A second letter in the Telegraph today disagrees but it is difficult to hold the line. There have been many variations over the last two centuries so it is not  a matter of being correct. Maybe we need to be consistent. The press now tends to use Lea for both and river and valley.

BBC London has some surprising pictures of Limehouse Basin at the end of the Lea Valley Walk.

The Story of Limehouse is an audio slideshow of old and new pictures starting at the Narrow Street swing bridge.

The lock keeper reminds us that St Anne’s Church at Limehouse was there before the Lea Navigation. We do I think often forget that it was not always a waterside church.

See page 124.

By the Thirties the Lea Valley contained the largest concentration of greenhouses in the world.

Indeed Tesco headquarters is at Cheshunt because that was near the glasshouses and salad supplies.

The Lowewood Museum at Broxbourne is looking for old film and pictures.