Lower Lea Valley

The Lower Lea Valley is the southern end of the Lea Valley which surrounds the River Lea. It is part of the Thames Gateway redevelopment area and was the location of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

A 2005 documentary What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day? focused on the history and landscape of the Lower Lea Valley. The film was made by Paul Kelly in conjunction with British pop group Saint Etienne.

Geography

The area is within the London Borough of Hackney to the northwest, the London Borough of Newham to the southeast, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to the southwest, and the London Borough of Waltham Forest to the northeast.

Redevelopment areas

Responsibility for the redevelopment of most of the area was under the remit of the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation until 2012. The area around the Olympic site is now under the control of the London Legacy Development Corporation. It forms part of the Green Enterprise District. Part of the area is an enterprise zone including Silvertown Quays, Royal Albert Dock and Royal Albert Basin. Current areas identified for redevelopment are:

Lea Valley

The Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area. The London 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Stratford, in the Lower Lea Valley.

Geography

The northern section of the valley, although including several towns (Luton, Harpenden, Hertford and Ware), is mainly rural. Below Hertford the Lea flows on a wide floodplain, which becomes an increasingly urban transport corridor as it enters Greater London. Many of the upper sections have been exploited for sand, gravel or brickearth, and are now part of the Lee Valley Park.

From Hoddesdon a more or less continuous ribbon development runs south to the west of the river, running through Wormley, Broxbourne, Cheshunt and Waltham Cross to Freezy Water. To the south the wider expanse of Greater London includes the floodplain settlements of Enfield Lock, Enfield Highway, Brimsdown, Ponders End, Edmonton, Tottenham, Tottenham Hale, Clapton, Lea Bridge, Leyton, Hackney Wick, Old Ford, Bow, Stratford, West Ham, Bromley-by-Bow, Canning Town and Leamouth.

Lee Valley (disambiguation)

Lee Valley or Lea Valley can refer to:

  • Greer, Arizona, a unincorporated community founded as Lee Valley
  • Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea (or River Lee)
  • Lee Valley Park
  • Lee Valley White Water Centre
  • Lee Valley Ice Centre
  • Lea Valley Lines, a railway in England
  • Lee Valley Tools, a Canadian purveyor of woodworking and gardening tools
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    Struggling Asda has started a desperate supermarket price war

    The Daily Telegraph 20 Mar 2025
    Lee Stiles, from the Lea Valley Growers Association, whose members grow three quarters of Britain’s cucumber, aubergine and sweet pepper crop, says supermarkets have been asking for reductions but ...
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