Lee Valley Regional Park Essay, Research Paper
`Abercrombie’s
1944 Greater London Plan proposed a regional park in the Lee Valley and in 1968
an Authority was formed to make a 37km long park. It reaches from hackney in
the East End of London to Ware in Hertfordshire. Progress has been slow but it
is worth visiting Broxbourne Lido, Waltham Abbey Gardens, the Eastway Cycle
Track and Springfield Marina. Abercrombie wrote that ‘here is a magnificent
opportunity for landscape treatment and tree planting’ but few landscape architects
have worked on the Park. One notable exception is the Markfield Action
Playground designed by Mary Mitchell. A disused sewage works was transformed
into an adventure playground by making the site a free tip until sufficient
subsoil accumulated to create grassed hills, mounds and ridges. The filter beds
provide spaces for roller skating, archery etc. Access from Crowland Road N15,
or from many other places – the park has a length of 23 miles.