Environmental History of the 2012 Olympic site: The Lower River Lea

Former industrial sites are constantly reinvented and redeveloped
reflecting changes in economies and societies over time. Nowhere
else in Europe is regeneration of a former industrial site more
spectacular than the 2012 Olympic site on the banks of the River
Lea in West Ham, East London. The creation of the Olympic park
promises the rehabilitation of the Lower Lea Valley by restoring
its eco-system and revitalising the community of the area. The
Lower River Lea has a long history, going as far back as the 11th
centry, of industrial development and associated environmental
degeneration. Jim Clifford, a doctoral student at York University
in Toronto, talks in this episode of the podcast about the
environmental and social history of West Ham and the Lower Lea
River. He highlights that there have been attempts in the earlier
20th century to improve the Lea River’s environmental and social
conditions but that the high expectations of these schemes were
not always met.


Music credit: Trawnicing by Pitx available from ccMixter