please empty your brain below

Is Clarnico Road named after the sweets? They are one of the few sweets I like.

dg writes: Yes, their factory was here.
Not to forget the new allotments at Pudding Mill, just a few seasons in and looking established now!
A fascinating update. And it's good to know that white elephant-hood has been avoided.

I agree that the housing, built and projected, looks unimpressive. But what would we prefer it to look like? There ought to be some model, not necessarily in the UK, of good modern housing design.
Really detested that opening ceremony...

Was it really more inclusive ? Maybe you just didn't notice people who didn't join in with the rally and Olympics hysteria.
Thanks for the progress report and history – and especially for the reminder of the truly excellent NLS map site. This kept me busy. Ahh... Clarnico Peppermint Creams, 1/6 a box. I was so pleased to rediscover these in Sainsburys, even though they are called Maynards Bassetts Mint Creams now; they seem to taste the same. But blimey they are 30 bob for a 7oz bag.

Part of the factory was there just a few years back, just before H. Wick station, showing part of the name visible in big white letters. I was glad to see it and get a photo from the train, as uncle Harry Friart (dad's school friend from before the 1920s) worked there – he made mint creams. He cycled up Carpenters Rd from his back-to-back just south of Stratford Station – seen in the map off Carpenters Rd. I can remember visiting in the early '50s amid friendliness and noise along the terraces.

The whole area of the QEOP and Bow was one of (mostly really awful) smells from various works. I went for a job at Boake Roberts (ABRAC) chemicals but I'm glad I got a much less smelly job elsewhere. Worst smell was where bones were rendered near where Pudding Mill station is now. A perfume factory on the north side was better. The train stopped at lights quite often and you were stuck in one smell or the other. QEOP is heaven by comparison.
The CRT chugger was probably a volunteer.
The CRT chugger was a steely-eyed youth focused on brand positivity, which didn't feel like the kind of thing volunteers do on a quiet bit of towpath on a weekday afternoon, but I could be wrong.
On the day in question I remember vividly being at Stratford bus station. I had got Stagecoach to bring a "Back the Bid" bus to park in a prominent position.
Huge screen, huge crowd extending over Gt Eastern Road limiting it to a single lane.
All overseen by the (not - was it Denise or Farah?) Olympic winner statue you pictured.
A good day.
I didn't give a toss about the Olympics, but I bought the Blu-ray copy of it (once it had dropped in price) purely for the opening ceremony.

One of these days, I must have a walk around the old Olympics area, using your blogs as a guide. The nearest I've been so far was for the Shrouds exhibition.
Lawn to the south of the Orbit being turned into a UCL campus -that must be the area where the Shrouds of the Somme were exhibited.
There's an interesting optical illusion in the 4th photo.

The nearest end of the bridge at bottom right looks like it's several feet from the ground -- apparently held up there by one pole of that signpost :)
Just to say it’s not going to be a UEL campus, but a UCL (University College London) one!

dg writes: Updated, thanks.
DG, I've been reading your blog for years now & it just occured to me that it's been a while since I left you a comment. Thank you for continuing to blog - it's a brilliant medium, and too few of them are left. Thank you for continuing to be independent, I'm so done with having to dig through heaps of websites fed by marketing chum to actually find an active, independent voice.

And thank you for posts like this. I love your writing & attention to detail. Best wishes to you and yours x

(Heyyyyy I'm even loving this comments section where I can just drop a casual comment without having to log in and link it to nine of my other online identities!)










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