Going for Gold in the East
Going for Gold in the East! - See It Before 2012
 
Julianne will light the place up for you like - well, like an Olympic Torch!
 
It's another one of those London Walks trifectas - or I suppose in this case you could say, Winner's podium, uppermost step. Winner's podium, uppermost step because 1) Julianne's a top flight Blue Badge Guide; 2) she's local; and 3) it's Gold Medal Award-winning London Walks. Enuf said? No? Okay, scroll down - there's lots more about this one further down the page. And for a hear, click here!
 
Going for Gold in the East - See It Before 2012! takes place two times in the London Walks Winter 09-10 programme: 
 
 on Saturday, March 27 it goes at 10.45 am.
 
 And in the Summer 2010 London Walks programme it'll take place every Saturday afternoon! It'll go at 2.15 pm.
 
And the starting block? The meeting point for all of the London Walks tours of the 2012 Games sites is just outside the exit of West HamTube.
 
West HamTube is one of three "gateway stations" to the Olympic Park, so we'll be walking the route that lots of spectators will be walking in 2012!
 
And look, Julianne's not going to be dishing out a hard hat and traipsing through a building site with you in tow. The walk is better than that. A whole lot better.
 
Better because you'll get a feel for the whole neighbourhood - past, present and future. In short, Julianne will "context" matters for you.
 
Stratford and East London have a long, eventful, rich history, a history that ranges back over the centuries (one of Chaucer's pilgrims - the Prioresse - learned her "Frenssh" at Stratford!). And Julianne will "take you through that history", right down to the present day - and yesterday. Yesterday being what's arguably the most extraordinary industrial history in London. That "past" is still very much there. But of course it's very long in the tooth. Which is one of the reasons the area was chosen for what's going to be London's most spectacular "regeneration" in a very long time.
 
Long in the tooth - but, in places, gob-smacking. I'm thinking in particular of the "Gothic Cathedral". A cathedral not to God, but to the sewage of Londoners. It's worth the trip just to see it!
 
What else? Well, should go without saying - the walk will be a crash course in the history of the Olympics. Especially the London Olympics - 1908, 1948 and now 2012. Yup, the greatest city on earth is the only city that will have hosted the Games three times!
 
And howzabout some stats? To wit: 30 new bridges, half a million plants, a new park for London, 1.4m tonnes of contaminated soil cleaned.
 
And: 26 sports Olympics, 9.2m tickets, over 20,000 journalists, 4bn people watching world wide, 14 million meals served.
 
The park itself - we'll have the most wonderful view of it (and the stadium) - runs to 2.5 sq. kms.
 
Last but not least - wrap up warm, wear sensible shoes, and maybe pack a sandwich and a bottle of water. This isn't "a Starbucks every 50 yards" territory. Which in itself is a recommendation. At least by my (David's) lights!
 
The walk will end at Pudding Mill Lane station.
 
Enjoy!