The Lee Valley Regional Park

The Lee

Valley Regional Park Authority was set up in 1967 by an act of parliament to

develop the areas along the Lee, many of them by then dis-used and

derelict,? for recreation and nature

conservation.? Although the idea had

first been suggested twenty years earlier, the Civic Trust report published in

1964 was the catalyst for co-operation between the various authorities, and the

Lee Valley Regional Park Bill received Royal Assent in December 1966.? The

area covered by the park authority stretches from Bromley by Bow in East London

to Ware in Hertfordshire – a distance of some 23 miles.? Although some of the reports more fururistic

ideas have not become reality (such as a permanent circus above a lowered Lea

Bridge Road or a monorail),? leisure and

sporting facilities are now mixed in with large areas of open space and many

acres of water, created by the flooding and landscaping of the many gravel pits

alongside the river.? The Lee Valley now

form an important area for wild birds with more area covered by water than the

Norfolk Broads.As well

as running several campsites and leisure venues, the park authority organises

many special events throughout the year. Information on park activities is

available from the Information Centre at Waltham Abbey (Tel: 01992 702200).The

authority has it’s own web site with lots of information at: