About From Eton Manor to the Olympics
From Eton Manor to the Olympics contains a wealth of information concerning the
Lea Valley’s history, much of it connected to the forthcoming 2012 Olympics.
Jim Lewis tells the story of how the redundant track surface from the 1948 Olympic
Games at Wembley was uplifted and transported to Leyton and used, with the help
of volunteer members, to repair the track at Eton Manor. As a schoolboy, in the early
1950s, the author ran on this same track. He traces the history of Gilwell Park
Chingford, the ‘Spiritual Home of the Scout Movement’, and the growth of Speedway
into a major sport in the Lea Valley, with teams in Rye House, Walthamstow,
Lea Bridge, Harringay, Hackney Wick and West Ham – the only ones that survive are
at Rye House. These and many more stories of the Lea Valley’s fascinating history are
explored in From Eton Manor to the Olympics.
About Jim Lewis
Dr Jim Lewis has spent most of his career in the consumer electronics industry, apart from a three-year spell in the Royal Air Force servicing airborne and ground wireless communications equipment. When working in the Lea Valley for Thorn EMI Ferguson he represented the company abroad on several occasions and was involved in the exchange of manufacturing technology. Currently he is a Consultant to Terry Farrell & Partners on the historical development of London’s Lea Valley and a Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) tutor teaching industrial history. Among his published works are London’s Lea Valley: Britain’s Best Kept Secret (1999) and London’s Lea Valley: More Secrets Revealed (2001).
