Photos from before the Olympics

Photo above: dumped tyres, Trego Road, Hackney Wick.

Before Britain bid for the Olympics I had already roamed the canals and strange wasteland between Bow and Stratford with a camera. Back then I was shooting on transparency film, or on B&W which I processed myself. Here are some.

I was pleased that Britain won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics, but worried that we might screw it up. In the end the Olympics went very well, and the resultant park and legacy is miles better than the disaster that many host countries ended up with. The rapid sealing up of the building site and the closure of footpaths surprised many of us. Despite warnings lorries were still doing u-turns on Carpenters Road weeks after it was closed.

So much has changed that it is now difficult to remember where things were. I believe the above photo was taken somewhere between the Copperbox and John Lewis at Westfield. Neither of which existed when I took this photo.

The footbridge in the foreground has been retained and painted up. The locks have been completely rebuilt (photo below).

We went on a free bus tour (above) but it was a big disappointment as we were not allowed to get off the bus, so we couldn’t see anything properly.

Many building sites create viewing platforms for visitors, but the organisers hadn’t done that back in 2009. The best viewing platform was along the Greenway opposite the Big Yellow (photos below).

View my next post of photos from the Olympic site. Do let us have your memories of the lead up to the 2012 Olympics in the comments.

My feelings during the run-up to the 2012 Olympics are summed up by the photo below. Local residents were not welcome!