Mick Hartley

I was perplexed for a while by this photo in Andrew Sullivan’s “The View From Your Window” series – “Fish Island, London”. Where the hell is Fish Island? Never heard of it.

A closer look, though, and I recognised it. (Click to enlarge)

It’s taken from a new block of flats by the Lea River at Old Ford, looking north. That’s Old Ford lock ahead. The bridge at the bottom of the picture is part of the Greenway. Head left and you end up in Victoria Park, if you can negotiate your way past the Blackwall Tunnel northern approach road. Head right and you can make it all the way to Beckton, if you can negotiate your way over Stratford High Street – past Abbey Mills pumping station (the “cathedral of sewage”) along the top of Joseph Bazalgette’s northern outflow pipe. Here’s a photo of mine taken in the summer from that bridge.

As it happens this is of particular interest now because we are here in Olympics 2012 territory. The Olympic Stadium will be off to the right somewhere. As Diamond Geezer has pointed out, the bulldozers will soon be moving in. We’ve only got a few months left to enjoy the old Lea Valley before it’s gone for ever.