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.

It was a delight to see so many on the walk today.

Thirty people turned up at Tottenham Hale Station at 11am for the walk south to Three Mills promoted by Walk London and the Lee Valley Walking Week.

After Hackney Wick we left the official Lea Valley Walk route to go up on to the Greenway where we could view the Olympic Park. 

There were no children with us which was a pity but the enthusiastic adults of all ages walked the five miles very well. We arrived at Three Mills in two and a half hours -earlier than expected. Tesco did well thanks to its toilets and sandwiches but it would have been even better if the mill cafe had been open.

The next Walk London weekend is at the end of September.

This Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June there are guided walks in the Lee Valley as part of the Walk London weekend and the Lee Valley Walking Week.

I shall be leading the walk called ‘See the Olympic Park’ starting at Tottenham Hale Station. Meet at 11am outside the station which is on the Victoria Line and the overground out of Liverpool Street Station.

We shall be walking about 5 miles south on the Lea Valley Walk, passing through the Olympic Park, to Three Mills. Arrival should be well before the planned 2.30pm. Bromley-by-Bow Station is nearby.

On Sunday there is a chance to explore the Lea Valley Walk from the London boundary to Tottenham Hale with an ‘expert birder’.

Meet at 11.15am out Waltham Cross Station. Arrival time at Tottenham Hale is about 2.45pm

All walks are free. But do note that on Sunday the Victoria Line will be closed between Brixton and Highbury & Islington. 

Canadian photographer Philip Jessup, who is documenting the remains of wilderness in several large cities, has included the London’s Lee Valley.

Lea/Lee Transformations at London’s City Hall is an exhibition of 17 pictures taken by Philip Jessup in the valley south of the M25.

There are pictures of Turkey Brook, Bow Creek Ecology Park and sheep at the William Girling Reservoir. He found lilies in Pudding Mill River on the Olympic site in 2006. Abbey Creek near Three Mills looks particularly attractive even with the gas works in the distance.

The exhibition, sponsored by Thames Water, is at City Hall until Tuesday 10 June; admission free.

I shall be leading a walk down the Lea Valley towpath at the end of May.

As part of the Walk London weekend there will be a five mile guided walk along the Lea Valley Walk route starting at Tottenham Hale and ending at Three Mills near Bromley-by-Bow underground station. 

The section of the Lea Valley Walk was recently included in the Ramblers’ Association’s top ten river walks. The guided walk will include part of the Olympic site. 

The walk is on Saturday 31 May and starts at 11am. Meet outside Tottenham Hale Station. 

There is no charge as all Walk London guided walks are free.

Ten detailed information boards have been placed in the grounds of Waltham Abbey giving information about the very first pre-Conquest church, the founding of the monastery, historic events and the closure of the community by King Henry VIII.

The magnificent abbey church has survived as the town’s parish church. 

An unveiling was performed by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Lord Petre. Although Waltham Abbey is on the edge of his county he claimed that the abbey church was his favourite Essex building.

Vicar Canon Martin Webster said: “The abbey church is absolutely delighted with the new signs. We’ve noticed already there has been great numbers of people stopping, reading and engaging with them, hopefully the people of the town will find them useful.”

The project is a partnership between the National Lottery Heritage Fund,  Waltham Abbey Town Council, Epping Forest District Council and Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

See page 89.