The story starts at Bully Fen. A lost and undiscovered hinterland between the Lea Navigation, A12, and many mainline rail lines that intersect at Stratford.

 

Unbeknownst to fellow East Enders, a growing community had established itself among the garage workshops, dog track, bus depot and canals.

 

Then came the winning bid for the 2012 London Olympics.

 

History of Manor Garden Allotments (Wikipedia)

 

More about Manor Garden Allotments

Extract with thanks to: Moro East

 

Manor Garden Allotments were established in 1900 by Arthur Villiers who bequeathed them ‘in perpetuity' to East End families. They flourished on 1.8 hectares of land by the River Lea in Hackney, East London. The 81 plots were tended by a diverse multicultural community of Londoners. As well as born-and-bred East Enders, there were families that originated in Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and the West Indies. The allotments were enjoyed by all ages: children played there and some of the more senior gardeners were in their eighties.  

 

Crops included fruit such as wild plums, figs, and Rhubarb, every herb imaginable from parsley to purslane, to allotment staples - carrots, beans, potatoes - and more exotic plants such as artichokes, chillis, rocket and kohlrabi. The produce from the allotments fed some 150 families through the summer. The allotments were also a haven for wildlife - not just for butterflies, blue tits and bees, but for kestrels, pheasants, newts, toads, weasels and voles.

 

All this was lost in late 2007 when the site was bulldozed by the 2012 Olympic Committee. Despite a campaign by the Manor Gardens Allotment Society to have the allotments incorporated in the Olympic site, this fertile land will be concreted over and used, for the four weeks of the games, as a pathway between stadiums.

 

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www.moro.co.uk