Mick Hartley

So, what do we make of the new names for the post-Olympic neighbourhoods? - Chobham Manor, East Wick, Marshgate Wharf, Sweetwater and Pudding Mill.

Considering the possibilities for a PR disaster, it's fair to say that they've done pretty well. None of the bland aspirational names that developers of suburban estates are so fond of, along the lines of Meadland Park, or Sycamore Hill. And none of the "clever" names that were suggested – Plastic Fantastic, Dog and Bike, Little Athens, Redgravia. They've made a laudable effort to keep the old historical roots of the area. Chobham Manor is slightly suspect perhaps, but there was a manor there of that name, we're told, so you can't be too hard. Chobham would have been less pompous, but somewhere else got there first. And you have to think the old East End use of "manor" as your gang's area of control had a certain wry unspoken appeal. And full marks for keeping Pudding Mill and Marshgate.

For more analysis, diamond geezer is the man. 

On the other hand, there's the Guardian's What are your winning names for the London 2012 Olympic Park? When a paper like the Guardian invites amusing and witty comments, the responses are usually entirely without humour. And so it proves. (And it's East Wick, not Eastwick.)

Anyway, here's the ArcelorMittal Orbit, as photographed today exclusively for this blog:

This could certainly do with a new name. I think it's going to end up in Marshgate Wharf. The Marshgate Squiggle, perhaps?