Mick Hartley

Taking advantage of the clear autumn sunshine, I headed on up to the Greenway this morning for a look at the Olympic site. As they're re-surfacing up there it's now more difficult than ever to get a decent view, with fences in the way and just a narrow passage left to navigate – and a high permanent wire fence across the bridge where you used to be able to get a clear panorama over the whole area. See-through, but still annoying. This was taken through the wire:

Cranes wheeling, trucks moving around, groups of men in yellow jackets clutching clipboards, great piles of earth appearing then disappearing – it's like a slow-motion time-lapse film. Or a speeded-up reality.Somewhere in between. In the distance is the outline of Zaha Hadid's Aquatics Centre. 

Nearby across the Lea Navigation the mighty monkey still bares his fangs:

He's been there a while. As has his friend here, with the peg on his nose and the Olympic site behind him:

This guy's new (to me) though – in the courtyard at White Post Quay:

The monkeys don't have it all their own way though. What used to be this is now this:

Evolution at work.