1000 days to go

The national media are full of stories about the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games at the moment. Much of the news is focused on this weekend, which marks 1000 days to the Opening Ceremony. We've seen plenty of images of construction that's well underway, like that shown above. The emerging stadium isan 80,000 seat arena, that converts into a more easily maintained 25,000 seat venue after the Games.

I've been fascinated reading about the regeneration of canals around the Olympic Park. Many were built during the Victorian era, but have since fallen into neglect. They're part of the Bow Back Rivers system – which runs north from the River Thames to the Regent’s Canal. The last barges passed through these waterways more than 50 years ago. However a £19 million project of canal dredging and cleaning was recently completed, including the first canal lock to be built in London for at least 20 years.