2012 Olympics in Waltham Forest: Leyton Market

Looking back at the past, an occasional series. Part two: ‘Our Olympics – “Chariots of Ire”‘

Purely for amusement, and to compliment all the remeniscing prompted by the 2012 anniversary, here’s a post that first appeared on this blog in 2015, one of a series on ‘Our Olympics’ (see links for the others). Who can forget the sight of no less a figure than LBWF CEO Martin Esom scurrying round the borough’s public libraries to collect in as many copies of the council’s Olympic guide to Leyton as he could, lest he and his chums be blamed for the evolving fiasco that was the Leyton Market? A ‘Gold medal for ineptitude’, indeed. ‘Our Olympics’: (1) LB... »

‘Our Olympics’: (1) LBWF and Leyton Market – the Council wins a ‘gold medal for ineptitude’

In the immediate run-up to the start of the Olympic Games in July 2012, LBWF proudly promoted a ‘new international food market’ in Marshall Street, adjacent to Leyton underground station, and, more important, metaphorically ‘just a stone’s throw away from the Olympic stadium’. In a press release, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Corporate Resources, Cllr. Mark Rusling, enthused: ‘This is a great opportunity for Waltham Forest to celebrate the Olympics by creating trade for local businesses and offering a diverse selection of international food and drink for residents and visitors to... »