Followers

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Messing about...

...on the river - part 2.

Get those kettles on as here are the rest of the photos.

The Olympic stadium is now the home of West Ham United football club...
 ...but it remains one of the big venues for a variety of events held in London - there are a few BIG name concerts being held there over the Summer months as well as numerous sporting events.
 
Elsewhere in the park there is a lot of building going on...
...some is 'repurposing of buildings used during the Olympics...
 ...and much is new build.
The team were amazed at how much was going on...
 ...right on our working doorstep.
The river is beautifully maintained...
 ...which is a very different story to how it was found when development started...
...as this whole area had been a dumping ground for centuries due to its closeness to the City of London. Thousands of tons of contaminated ground had to be removed & cleansed whilst the river itself had to be cleared of thousands of shopping trolleys, cars and numerous in-exploded bombs from WWII.
Construction around the park is moving at a pretty rapid rate...
 ...and cranes  are everywhere on the skyline.
The Orbit was the end marker of our tour...
...and we headed back to the moorings. The park has a large number of sculptures...
 ...these are called "The Pencils" and mark the side of the waterway.
Back on the jetty we made sure we had details about coming events...
 ...and took a last few photos...
...and bid farewell to our guide...
 ...and skipper.
The Orbit was constructed especially for the Olympics and is a prominent feature in the park...
...it is one of the largest free-standing sculptures.
The edge of the park is still a massive building site...
 ...and this area is known as the International Quarter - many large businesses will be re-locating here from the City of London.
The Aquatic Centre is now a busy part of the community...
 ...standing next to the walkway that takes you into the par.
The view across the park towards London...
 ...is ever changing as new buildings join the skyline.
Everywhere is being maintained beautifully...
...and even the entrance into the Westfield shopping complex is beautifully planted.
The is "The Street"...
...original open to the sky, it has now been covered over so that folk can make use of the outside space despite the British weather.

We had a fabulous afternoon and we're all looking forward to the new tours that will be starting later in the year............................................................

3 comments:

Marianne's Craftroom said...

Just catching up with both posts, looks like a lovely time, so much to see

Redanne said...

Thanks so much for sharing your 'trip' photos Toni, it looks like a great way to see part of the city! Anne x

My Little World said...

That boat tour looks fab, what a great way to see the area from a totally different perspective. xx