V&A Strorehouse Stratford East – Wednesday 11th March 2026 – 10:30

7 of us met successfully at Stratford station ticket office and set off to explore this rapidly changing area. For most of us it was a repeat visit with memories of the 2012 Olympics or previous walks in the area when completing the Lea valley walk prompting lots of memories.

The overall vista seen today was of light, new build, very good planting of pedestrian zones and green area for relaxing along the waterways. Indeed drinks and ice creams on every corner
The V&A storehouse takes a little bit of time to fully understand so plenty of scope for a revisit

For lunch we elected to return to the Breakfast club which proved to be a saviour for lunch when the group was walking the Lea Valley path before the 2012 Olympics and the opportunity for a gastronomic lunch was minimal. This produced many exclamations such as we sat at the very same table last time and waves of nostalgia

After lunch we walked along the Lea canal and made our way to Hackney Wick station exploring a massive building site for housing for the next generation thus removing any further chances for our generation to reminisce. Ah well such is progress

Out to Sratford station on the central line . Return Hackney Wick on the Mildmay line.
Stratford is a large station on the central line. When you get off the train follow signs to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Westfield Stratford East. It is a longish walk. Wait in the ticket area after the barrier. DO NOT GO INTO THE SHOPPING AREA

From the station we will walk towards the Anish Kapoor sculpture and have coffee in the Aquatic centre or UAL fashion school. From there we walk to the V&A storehouse along the waterways.
Access to the store house is free but ALL bags must be left in lockers beforehand- these are also free
You are free to spend as long as you like at the Storehouse

This walk will take us through the wondrous reinvention of the 2012 Olympic site into a modern space of shops, museums, university buildings,sport and art venues and residential space to the V&A storehouse which makes artefacts available for all of us and allows us to keep a handle on how societies develop and change. We will also have the chance to explore the canals around the area The Lea canal etcAfter lunch we will walk to the Lea canal and see what things were like before 2012 and make our way to Hackney Wick station and home on the Mildmay line changing at Highbury & Islington to the Victoria line