River Lee

Lower Lee Waterways map. The Olympic Park now occupies most of the area from Eastway at the top to just above Stratford High St.

This pre-Olympic map situates the observer amongst the managed channels of the Lower River Lee where the Olympic zone was constructed (Map Pdf). A river was here before the first settlers discovered this meandering marshy delta. It will be here after the last of us are long gone. It has been used for boundaries, living next to, drainage, water supply, fishing, channelling, cropping, energy, industry, transport, excavation, recreation, hiding, dumping, and watching.

It draws people into its ceaseless flows because where there is running water there is always life unfolding.

Its many visible and buried tributaries, channels, and conduits have been altered by developers for hundreds of years. The Olympics, Stratford City and the ‘Water City’ project are among the latest schemes which are being imposed upon its complexities. It is well to remember that its qualities and its potential can be exploited and coerced but never completely controlled.