please empty your brain below

I wasn't sure where the "actual opening" was. Up on the Greenway someone rather unceremoniously, moved some metal fencing aside and a handful of us trotted onto the Tarmac ramp (and my guide dog and I were first to the bottom ... For the sake of the history books of course!). Anyway, the only thing I could find opening-esque was a massing of children around the Orbit as some overly dramatic music played. Was that "it"?
Many flimsy and unattended metal barriers were left up that members of the public had to move themselves to access the park. A strange thing to do after the mega security here before!

dg writes: It seems there was no coordinated plan to remove all the barriers at 10am, just a small team with a van driving round to pick up the fencing later.
There was very little publicity about the British Gardens being reopened. This had been one of the gems of the Olympic Park on the way to the Victoria Gate. Just like at the Games, the area was very quiet. Also the Waterglades wetlands next to the Timber Lodge were open yesterday (again with little fanfare).

dg writes: Both were very pretty (especially the Great British Garden), and pretty empty.
Not too many people, not too exiting, cloudy and too windy in the afternoon. Too much money for a cup of tea.
Time to stay home.
I expect a lot of people will be there when the Tour de France rides through.
You do get out and about much earlier than some of us! Thanks for alerting us to the opening. We went for a wander in the afternoon, and were (mostly) very impressed. Just a shame, given the large number of new bridges that have been built overall, that there isn't a bridge over that road that now carves right through the middle. Still gets 9/10 from me.
DG - can you look into what ever happened to the Opening Ceremony Olympic Bell which was meant to appear in the park in 'legacy mode'?

dg writes: no sign of it in the park, alas, as yet.
I saw the Olympic Bell a few months ago from the top of a 25 bus stored in that open area at the junction of Stratford High St and Rick Roberts Way. It was all protected by a wooden cage sort of thing.
DG, thanks for confirming the removal of the footpath level bridge at Carpenter's Lock. Even my guide dog seemed perplexed that there was apparently no way across, and we were eventually rescued by one of the walkie talkie carriers.

I hadn't seen the wetlands during the Games, so it was good to stumble across them yesterday whilst searching for a route to the DLR. I'll have to come back for the British garden, which I hadn't heard of until reading these comments.
Oh, and I second Island Dweller on the absence of a bridge over the road near the Copper Box. Yesterday it seemed that even the pedestrian crossing wasn't operational, or at least wasn't "bleeping ".
Hi Robert

There is a footpath underneath the road at the Copper Box, but it's not well signposted, and it's only accessible via a steep flight of stairs.

The key problem in creating accessible routes in the centre of the park was having to avoid the railways running underneath.

I'm pretty sure I walked past you and your guide dog yesterday, by the way, walking down a dead-end path where the barriers hadn't yet been removed.
Not a very good start to the BBC article

"The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London has opened to the public for the first time since the London 2012 Games."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26899369
Having downloaded the Park Map it's no wonder people aren't finding the Great British Garden. It isn't even shown on the map - assuming it's where it was during the Games.

The other thing that seems odd is that the Park map shows more bus stops in the park than TfL show on the Countdown pages for the 339 and 388. I'm assuming the 339 does have stops on its new route but TfL don't show any of them on Countdown. Having found some updated Spider Maps I see the 339 does have some extra stops. What a mess.
That park "map" really is terrible, isn't it? Bit of a shame, given there was a Legible London-style map in its place previously.

The public transport info they've included is vague and fuzzy (showing the alignment of the North London Line would be useful for a start), and there are some bridges missing around Carpenter's Lock. Showing the access to the Greenway would be useful too!

It's a promising start, and I'm looking forward to more of it being in bloom. I reckon you're right to be proud to have it as your local park. I'm certainly happy to be working next door!
Terrifying about the drones.
When I first found the Greenway and started taking photos of the area with its "Back The Bid" signs and Formans protest signs, the regular buzzing sound would be teenagers hacking up and down on a stolen moped, prior to torching it.
"my local park is now better than your local park"

I bet it is...when one thinks how much money was spent on it!

Hope you then understand how some people in other parts of the country have totally forgotten about "2012 and all that".
Now the other legacy thing was the Team GB petal from the cauldron was suppose to have made its way to the Great British Garden too, so did it?
How enjoyably paradoxical it is to learn that a probable 'sighting' of the elusive DG was made by a man with a guide dog.
Grumpy? Far from it! Just stating facts.
wouldn't the fountains have been even better if they formed 5 rings...
I doubt that was a security drone - more likely someone amateur mucking about with a GoPro camera. Drones can't be used (as far as I know) above crowds. From Wired Mag:

"UAVs have to remain 150m from congested events or large assemblies, 50m from a person or building, and within line of sight, which is 500m horizontally and 400ft (122m) vertically"
DG - your local park was always better than our local park. It's bigger and has had far more money chucked at it for starters.

Hey, I've been paying for your local park! No wonder it's better.
re. 'drones'. I was up on the Greenway a few weeks ago and there was somebody with a quadcopter/camera combination that was buzzing around. Didn't look to have any security aspect to me, more a hobbyist - after a few minutes, he packed it into his bike and cycled off...
MarcB - quick update on the bell. It's currently in storage, but will have a permanent home on Stadium Island once works on the Stadium are finished in 2016.
Also wanted to go on record about the drone.

Our security team have confirmed that they don't use drones and have no plans to in the future, so we think that this probably belonged to a hobbyist.










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