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This weekend is Open House London which sees several open days in the Lea Valley. On Saturday (10am-5pm) there are tours of Enfield Island which is the former Royal Small Arms Factory. Follow Ordnance Road from Enfield Lock Station. On Fish Island (Sat & Sun 12-5pm) selected buildings, studios and galleries. The co-operative owned Counter […]

Waltham Abbey held its most ambitious Holy Cross Day procession on Saturday. The Hertfordshire Mercury has pictures.

On Holy Cross Day Saturday 14 September Waltham Abbey is remembering the bringing of the miraculous Holy Cross from Montacute in Somerset to Waltham by Tovi the Proud in 1035. This is the third year that the Abbey and town, known as Waltham Holy Cross, has marked the day with a procession. This year 2013 […]

The Swan at Wheathampstead is usually missed by Lea Valley walkers who pass through the churchyard and head for The Bull which is handily on the route. But the 15th-century Swan is also in the High Street and very near the church. Sadly it has been damaged by a serious fire. The good news is […]

Cody Dock on the tidal River Lea needs just £77,783 to unlock the blocked Lea Valley Walk route to the Thames. This careful costing would build a footbridge over the dock entrance, remove fences that currently block public access and create a new right of way. Simon Myers, who looks after the project, announced today […]

I spent the last day of August walking from Luton Airport Parkway to Batford Springs. This section has the new silhouette statues of Eric Morecambe, ‘Capability’ Brown and a Luton sea scout. It was a beautiful day, sunny but too hot, and I saw lots of blackberries and flowers. But what struck me and my […]

Just after passing under the Lea Valley Viaduct, below Pickett’s Lock, the Lea Valley Walk is alongside an industrial estate. The only relief from this stretch, leading to a bus garage, is the cafe. Now a plan to redevelop the area as Meridian Water has been unveiled. It is described as a £1.3bn eco-development that […]

The way to Whitby from London is via the Lea Valley according to Will Self. The writer has a disturbing tale to tell about his latest long walk but his description of the slow change in landscape on long journeys with his son is interesting and inspiring. The Mail has the full story.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has announced a £250,000 grant for the ‘Lea River Park’. This means money for the proposed footpath between the Olympic Park with the River Thames. This is the climax of the Lea Valley Walk which should follow the tidal Lea instead of the Limehouse Cut. The announcement says: “…funding will […]

“When we first visited the Cody Dock reedbed, close to the mouth of the River Lea, in late 2010, it was instantly clear what a wonderful place it was and how damaged it had become,” writes Theo Thomas of Thames21 in a just published Project Reedbed Report. It was the Cody Dock reeds which inspired […]