This excursion will be back soon. In the meantime we’d be happy to organise a private tour for you. Please contact us on 020 7624 3978 | [email protected] to make a booking.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Three Mills & Bow Back Rivers
Bromley-by-Bow tube station, London
Guided by Canal Guides
Short read: This is the walk that came first.
Long read: The pioneering walk. The walk that explored this area decades before the 2012 ballyhoo was even dreamt of. All that hoop-la is now history as well but it has, of course, made its mark. An out-of-the-way, hardscrabble, forgotten corner of London is now a jaw-dropping contrast of old and new.
And, yes, the new of course comes into this walk – the Olympic Park, the Stadium, the Aquatics Centre, the Velodrome, etc. – how could it be otherwise? That said, it’s still that old, came first, pioneering walk – it’s just that it’s got the “Bolt”-on of that 2012 supercharge! That “old, came first, pioneering walk” with its “historic parts” that are centuries, not months, old. Historic parts centred on the River Lea, for centuries the cradle of much of London’s history going right back to Roman times. And from those earliest beginnings the long, long march forward. King Alfred, for example, made use of the River Lea in his “dealings” with the Danes. Then there’s the 1776 tide mill. The biggest in the world, it was used for grinding malt for London’s gin industry. Its forerunner ground gunpowder – some of which very likely found its way into the Redcoats’ muskets that blasted away at the Boston Massacre! Well, you get the idea.
N.B. this walk is conducted in partnership with the Inland Waterways Association. It’ll be guided by a member of the Canal Guides team.
THE QUEEN ELIZABETH OLYMPIC PARK, THREE MILLS & BOW BACK RIVERS – THE PRACTICALS
The meeting point is just outside the exit of Bromley-by-Bow Tube.
LONDON WALKS HORS D’OEUVRE
The Olympics, Three Mills & Bow Back Rivers walk is one of a series of Regent’s Canal and other Inland Waterways walks that we conduct in partnership with the IWA (Inland Waterways Association). There are getting on for a dozen different canal and Inland Waterways walks in their repertory. The Canal Walks’ regular slot is the 2.30 pm Tour du Jour offering on the first and third Sunday of every month. And there are usually a handful of “guest appearance” canal walks that run as “Specials” on selected dates in any given Summer or Winter London Walks programme.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING
There’s more. The guides are all members of the IWA. They have some formidable expertise – know the canals better than “ordinary mortals” And – how special is this – they donate their fees to the IWA. So you’re supporting a good cause – doing a seriously good turn – when you go on one of our canal walks.
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make one of the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Three Mills & Bow Back Rivers it can always be booked as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Three Mills & Bow Back Rivers walk – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. Ring Fiona or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you. A private London Walk – they’re good value for an individual or couple and sensational value for a group – makes an ideal group or educational or birthday party or office (team-building) or club outing.
GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS
A private London Walk makes a fab gift – be it a birthday or anniversary or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.