Olympic Park

Today I thought I would go and have a look at the Olympic Park (or the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, as it is now called), having only seen it previously when passing on a train while it was bieng built.   Took the overground to Stratford, and after wandering through Westfield Stratford City - which, incidentally is not nearly as upmarket as the one in Shepherds Bush, and has large areas open to the elements, making it far from an ideal place to shop in our current winter weather - I found myself facing the park.   . 

Not that it is much to look at.   Just a rather muddy looking building site, surrounded by a 12ft. high fence, with some drab looking buildings in the middle.   I walked around until I came to a gate guarded by a very pleasant lady, who was informing prospective visitors - I wasn't the only one - that the park was closed until July.   She did, however, allow people to take photographs from the gate, which gave an interupted view of the buildings, including the famous Orbit.   And she also mentioned that there were free bus tours of the site, which we could find by googling Olympic Bus Tours, although we wouldn't be able to get out and have a look around, as it was currently a building site being prepared for its opening in July as a public park.   

She also mentioned that there was a good view from the top floor of John Lewis, so I made my way up there, where John Lewis had kindly provided a viewing platform, complete with seating and a map showing the various buildings.  Not that there was a great deal to see - just four items, all looking so drab they could ahve been designed to match the weather.   No doubt it will be very nice in July when it is all finished, but at the moment it is rather uninspiring.

As it was still early afternoon, I decided to get the train into Romford for lunch - I didn't really fancy any of the restaurants I'd passed walking through Westfield and Romford is only half a dozen stops, and I knew they had a museum there which I had not yet visited.     The station is conveniently right on the High Street, rather than the miles away that they so often are, and the service from Stratford is quite frequent.

There are a lot of small shops., and also a big shopping centre called The Liberty, which I later wandered through just to see what was there.   It's just like most town centre shopping centres, with all the usual multiples, and I later saw notices saying they had over 100 top name shops.

I had lunch at a little cafe called Godfreys Bakery, where they have a limited menu of foods cooked on the premises.   I had scrambled eggs on toast with a cup of tea, and the bread looked as if they might have baked it as well - thick chunky slices, so unlike the thin ones most places serve up.   I had asked for two slices, but one would have been enough.  

I wanted to have a look at the Havering Museum, which had been one of the main reasons for going to Romford, but I didn't get there will twenty past three and it closes at four.   As there is an entrance charge, it wasn't really worth it for the short time I would have, and the girl on the desk agreed that one needed a lot longer than forty minutes to see everything.    So that is something for another day.

But while I was there, I had a good look around the town, taking photos of St. Edward the Confessor Church, which was firmly locked, and also The Golden Lion, which is the oldest pub in Romford - it looks Tudor, but it may be mock.    I also wandered through the Romford Shopping Hall, which is much older (and smaller) than the Liberty, and has no big names, just small individual shops selling various things, with the bookshop being one of the largest.   It also has a number of cafes, including McDowells Pie Shop and Restaurant, which has a butchers (McDowells, of course) attached.   It's on two floors, and the whole place has a rather old fashioned atmosphere about it.