Tottenham Marshes, Leyton Marshes and the Middlesex Filterbeds are three of the 21 sites in London where sparrows are to be encouraged.

The attempt to restore London’s declining sparrow population is being made by the RSPB.

Working in partnership with six local authorities and organisations, a £170,000 SITA Trust funding will allow the Society to see whether long grass, wildflower meadows or arable flowers provide the food-rich habitats that  sparrows require. 

It is suggested that the new habitats will bring a host of other benefits for urban wildlife by attracting and supporting butterflies, bees, grasshoppers and other garden birds like tits and finches.  

This is good news for the River Lea. Sparrows are seen on the Thames Path near the Oxo Tower.

See pages 102 and 112.

Just back from a briefing for  the Walk London ‘Winter Wanders’ at the end of the month.

On Saturday 31 January I shall be leading the walk from Tottenham Hale Station south along the Lea Valley Walk to Three Mills.

Just after Old Ford we shall divert to see how work on the Olympic stadium is going.

It’s always a pleasant morning stroll and Three Mills is an attractive place to end for lunch. There is even a Tesco and toilets. Bromley-by-Bow Station is nearby.

The walk is free. No booking needed. Meet at 11am.

It is always fascinating to see which pubs on the Lea Valley Walk are mentioned in The Good Pub Guide. The 2009 edition is just out with several recommendations in addition to the ‘lucky dip’ county listings.

It highlights a pub at Batford I tend to forget athough it is handy. You just need to cross the river from the path to reach the Gibraltar Castle where “quickly served pubby food includes a good range of lunchtime sandwiches”.

The White Horse at Hertford, which is unspoilt, has “very inexpensive home-made bar food”. The pub is where you cross the main road to enter the castle grounds.

The far end of the Walk is Narrow Street in Shadwell where the new pub opposite is just called Narrow. As a Gordon Ramsey establishment, the prices are not too bad for the walker wanting to have a final quick snack after the last leg. There are bar snacks and they start at £5.50.

Just a few yards to the left is The Grapes which has much more history and “decent bar food”. Sadly children are not welcome there.

The book covers the whole country and is far too heavy to carry but it is certainly worth consulting before leaving home. A disappointing pub stop can ruin a good day out walking.

The Good Pub Guide 2009, edited by Alisdair Aird & Fiona Stapley, is published by Ebury (£15.99)

Only a handful of us managed the Enfield Lock to Tottenham Hale walk which took place this morning as part of the Walk London Autumn Ambles initiative supported by Transport for London.

We met in mist at Enfield but by the time we reached the actual lock the sun was breaking through.

As geese flew overhead we assisted a barge through the lock before setting off south to inspect Mossop’s Creek and pause at Ponder’s End where there is Wright’s flour mill.

At Pickett’s Lock we saw the geese who live there. Later we left the towpath to walk on Tottenham Marshes. The Water’s Edge tea room was open and we sat outside watching a canoe instructor taking novices on their first trip upstream. It was hot and just like summer.

We might do it the other way round next time. The Winter Wanders are on Saturday 31 January and Sunday 1 February.

Trinity Buoy Wharf is celebrating ‘ten creative years’ on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September.

The Wharf lies at the mouth of the River Lea and where it joins the River Thames.

This weekend there will be a regatta, live music, an exhibition and tours of the Container village. There will also be an opportunity to visit London’s only lighthouse.

A free boat service will run from the O2 pier (at The Dome) to the wharf which is open 11am to 5pm.

See pages 130 and 131.

I shall be leading a walk from Enfield Lock to Tottenham Lock as part of Walk London’s Autumn Amble weekend.

The walk is on Saturday 27 September and starts at 10.30am. Meet at Enfield Lock Station which is served by trains from Liverpool Street.

We shall walk down to the river and turn south on to the Lea Valley Wak to pass through Ponders End, famous for its working mill, and Pickett’s Lock. 

I am not sure how long it will take. That depends on who comes and the weather. 

We shall pause now and again to highlight some history. I have in mind stopping for a break on Tottenham Marshes. Bring a picnic although there should be refreshments available at Stonebridge Lock. 

It’s 7 miles of easy flat walking alongside the river. There is no charge.

The splendid gatehouse of Rye House is open free this Sunday 14 September as part of Heritage Open Day. There is usually an admission charge.

Rye House was built in 1443 on an island and the site, although stripped of the big house, still has the feel of an island. 

On Sunday you can climb up to the gatehouse roof and take a close look at the brick ‘barley sugar’ chimney. Inside there are details of the Rye House Plot to kill Charles II.

The best place for lunch is the Rye House pub although it is likely to be crowded.

The gatehouse will be open from 10am to 3pm.

See pages 76 to 80.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has received the Olympic flag in Beijing as the focus now turns to the Lee Valley for 2012.

A London Olympic flag was due to be raised on the flagpole at the Lee Valley Ice Centre alongside Lea Bridge this afternoon.

The Olympic venues are beside the Lea Valley Walk at Waltham Abbey and between Hackney Marshes and Bow where walkers can look forward to following progress over the next four years.

Interesting to see that the Lee Valley features in the list of the top twenty Secret Britain wildlife sites.

The locations are in today’s Independent on Sunday and Rye Meads, the Rye House Nature Reserve, is placed 14th in the list which starts with Ireland’s Slievenacloy Nature Reserve and Scotland’s Loch of the Lowes.

“Ancient flood meadow, marshes, reedbeds, wet woodland, old gravel pits and lagoons in the Lea Valley wetlands complex that stretches from the Thames way up into rural Herts” says the introduction. (Interesting choice of spelling for Lee/Lea.)

Rye Meads is said to have “thriving populations of water voles, water shrews and harvest mice” and be “a stronghold of the otters that have re-colonised the Lea Valley recently”.

There is also Rye Gatehouse and the lovely Rye House pub. All easily reached by train as well as the Lea Valley Walk.

See pages 76-80.

Since Monday the Army has been struggling to make safe a World War II bomb dredged up from the Prescott Channel in the Bow Back Rivers network.

It has now been neutralized but an explosion would have been felt not only on the Lea Valley Walk at nearby Three Mills but also in Stratford and Bow.

The bomb was found in the water near the original Big Brother site where a footpath has been closed for some time whilst a new lock is built. This path features in the latest guide’s final chapter called Olympic Park Walk. Fortunately I had warned that the route would be subject to change during the building work.

The Greenway, the best view of the Olympic Park, remains open; see pages 115, 119 and 134.