In a couple of weeks thousands will head to Stratford, London, the epicenter of the 2012 Olympic Games. The borough is in overdrive. The day I was there this was especially noticeable, maybe because Prince Charles was visiting, also checking things out.
Much of the Stratford area has undergone a complete transformation. However it has an ancient, varied and sometimes infamous past. Geographically it is a low-lying marshy valley where the River Lea wends its way to join the River Thames. Indeed Stratford got is name from the river as strat means road, and ford a place to cross the river.
Records show it was a settled farming area before Julius Caesar and his Roman legions sailed up the River Thames in 55 BCE. They built a walled city named Londinium 8 miles west, now the main financial center of London. Stratford and its millstones are mentioned in the Domesday Book, completed in 1086 for William the Conqueror, who wanted to know who owned what for taxation. Later records note grinding of flour in mills at Stratford-atte-Bow in 1530.
In 1690 over 50,000 French Heugenots moved to England. In Stratford they developed the milling and built tidal mills to dry grain brought by horse and cart from the country. This was eventually loaded onto barges and taken to gin distilleries via a network of canals.
The mill complex was badly bombed during WW2 but rebuilt. Part of the buildings, which cover over 20 acres, are now used as a film and TV studios known as Three Mills Studios. These are popular with production companies and performers from Lady Gaga to Beyonce. It is a favorite of Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire director) who with Stephen Baldry will produce the opening night of the 2012 Olympic Games.
On June 12 Danny Boyle, as artistic director for the Games’ opening ceremony, unveiled preliminary plans. The concept is a vision of Great Britain as a green and pleasant land including village greens where cricket is being played, young women dancing around maypoles, meadows of sheep and fields being plowed by old fashioned horse-drawn ploughs. This original plan called for clouds which would produce real rain. With the wettest summer on record maybe this component will be dropped.
The House Mill remains the largest tidal milll in the world, although the water wheels are not in operation. The building is owned by The River Lea Tidal Mill Trust Ltd and is open to visitors on Sunday afternoons during the summer.
TTFN
I read where the UK is sending more athletes to the games than ant other country. I find that hard to believe even though they are hosting the games.