“Jim Lewis is an extraordinary man” says architect Terry Farrell who credits him with revealing that the Lea Valley was the cradle of the post-industrial revolution.

It was thanks to Richard Rutter at the Lee Valley Park, now with British Waterways, that I first came across Dr Lewis. That was ten years ago.

Another book soon followed and now there are three new ones published by the Middlesex University Press.

In Battleships, Buses and Bombers: A history of transport in the Lea Valley, the author proves that it was not just British flying that was developed in the Lea Valley but steam engines and buses. London Transport was invented there.

Brunel’s Tamar bridge has girders supplied by the Thames Ironworks in Bow Creek where great ships were built.

Most revealing is the chapter explaining how the name Vauxhall was taken to London in the 13th century and brought back to Luton with the invention of the motor car.

Water and Waste: Four hundred years of health improvements in the Lea Valley starts with the parallel New River, still bringing water to the capital, and ends with the revolutionary London Waste EcoPark between Pickett’s Lock and Tottenham Marshes.

A chapter called ‘The Valley That Feeds The Metropolis’ has pictures of cucumber greenhouses at Cheshunt and flower pot drying houses at Tottenham.

Particularly interesting is the chapter on the recently reopened Markfield Pumping Station at Tottenham.

The third book, From Gunpowder to Guns, is the story of the Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey, a forgotten site until a few years ago, and the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield which has now become a residential island.

The chapters in each book are concise. There are maps and the illustrations show both the past and present of the now Olympic valley.

Indeed I await with great interest Dr Lewis’s next book in this series which is called From Eton Manor to the Olympics: More Lea Valley secrets revealed.

Forman’s, the smoked salmon company forced to relocate as it was in the Olympic Park, found a new site on Fish Island.

The company has launched a webcam showing the Lea Valley Walk towpath just above Old Ford Lock with the Olympic stadium beyond. You can watch progress.

I am interested to discover that the new film Fantastic Mr Fox was made the Three Mills Studios.

This is another major feat to add to the long list of inventions and creations in the Lea Valley.

The studios up to now have been known for Kavanagh QC, Bad Girls, Footballers’ Wives and, of course, the original Big Brother.

Incidently, the approach to Three Mills from Bromley-by-Bow Station is about to be improved by the rebuilding of Tesco.

See pages 119 and 120.

Leo Hickman has an interesting article in today’s Guardian on the River Lea. There has been recent suggestions that it could and should be much cleaner.

Over the weekend I picked up conkers in Springfield Park opposite Walthamstow Marsh and at Bow Creek.

The two Lea Valley Walk routes on the Walk London programme were enjoyed in lovely weather. We had a small group on Saturday for the Ponders End to Clapton Common walk.

But on Sunday a large number turned up at Bromley-by-Bow Station to walk as best one can the last few miles from Three Mills to the river mouth.

We were able to see the future thanks to Julia Humphreys from the London Thames Gateway project who pointed to new planned riverside paths and bridges which will keep walkers by the river for most of the final stretch.

We walked along some grim streets but the new route, known as the Fatwalk, should be finished by the end of 2011. It’s an ambitious and very exciting plan and we were fortunate to have Julia with us in this so far largely unknown part of London.

More Walk London walks during the last weekend in January 2010.

This morning I walked in lovely sunshine from Ponders End To Clapton Common.

This was to check out the route for next Saturday (26 September) when I shall be leading a Walk London walk.

It starts at Ponders End Station at 11.15am. We shall walk south from Wright’s four mill stopping at Pickett’s Lock. We shall have a proper pause for food and toilets at the far end of Tottenham Marsh.

The end is a mile walk along Walthamstow Marsh with a stop to remember AV Roe’s pioneer flight a century ago. Officially it’s just under six miles. Hope to be at Clapton before 2pm.

On Sunday I shall be at Bromley-by-Bow Station at 1.30pm for a ramble down the River Lea to its mouth. There is a bit of doubling back and grim streets but there are also some good views. We shall visit the light house too.

For those who still have energy there is a final stretch down the east side of the Isle of Dogs to Greenwich.

It’s 5 miles but I am not sure how long we shall take.

Walk London is on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September. All walks are free.

If you want to enjoy the entire Lea Valley Walk as it is now you should read Diamond Geezer’s bang up to date and fascinating blog.

His August holiday project this year is walking the route from source to Thames. It is so thorough that he even goes to the real source and not just the official springs.

The blog is always worth reading anyway but you can find all his Lea Valley posts so far in one place here.

There will be a grand opening, or reopening, this Wednesday evening on the path just south of Luton.

Sustrans has been working with local authorities to upgrade the Lea Valley Walk between Luton Airport Parkway and Harpenden to make it part of the national cycle network.

This means that walkers will find that the first stretch, parallel to Luton Hoo, is metalled. Although some will not like this, or the cyclists sharing the path, the scheme has provided a new safe route. Walkers do not now have to cross a dangerous road and then walk along the bottom of an airport runway .

The opening ceremony at 6pm is on a new bridge near East Hyde which which makes crossing the Lower Harpenden Road much safer.

See pages 29-34.

The River Lea is so little known that Griff Rhys Jones had to begin and end his River Lea episode tonight by the Millennium Bridge spanning the Thames.

I enjoyed the programme although I kept wanting to reach for  a map every time he jumped ahead on the north-south route. The presenter covered several interesting aspects.

He made a good point about the name Luton being partly derived from ‘Lea’.  There should have been more about the town and the charm of the River Lea’s first few miles. But it’s the London end that has more resonance to the viewer watching for just an hour.

Of course in three year’s time everyone will know about the River Lea.

If you missed it you can watch on BBC iPlayer.