Judy writes… This Thursday (Aug 1st) I am
doing the Olympic walk and it is the first time we will actually be going INTO part
of the Olympic Park.
Be one of the first to experience it. Come
along and here the story of the Games in 2012 and what is happening there now
& in the future. August 1st Olympic Walk, 2.15p.m West Ham
tube (Jubilee & District line)
The Great London Reading List! Essential
London books that Londoners take away on holiday to remind them of home… books
visitors should read before arriving in London… fact, fiction, poetry, all
genres welcome. If you’re in the mood to recommend a great London bookshop,
too, we’d love to hear it! All
suggestions to the usual address, please, or leave a comment below or get in
touch via Twitter @londonwalks.
No 8. The Austerity Olympics: When the
Games Came to London in 1948
By Janie Hampton
Adam writes… Janie Hampton’s wonderful book on the 1948
Olympics tells the tale of London’s second hosting of the Games.
For those of you stifling a yawn at this
point, perhaps anticipating lists and times and heights and team sheets and
medal tables, well think again. Hampton’s narrative is just that: a narrative,
a tale well told, mercifully free from dry match facts and mere sports
reporting.

Every corner was cut, every penny pinched.
Teams were put up not in a swish Olympic Village, but in schools and army
barracks. One official even expected the cycling competitors to be able to ride
their own bikes to Herne Hill for the races!
The Dutchwoman Fanny Blankers-Koen remains
the heroine of the ‘48 Games, winning four gold medals on the track. Despite
the fact that she beat British girls into silver position to take three of
those golds, the London crowds took her to their hearts. And her journey is
here too – from Nazi occupied Holland to the Hunger Winter of ’44 to the
winners’ podium at Wembley.
But it is the unsung heroes who make the
story such a delight. The overall tale that emerges is humane and moving,
nuanced and rich, truly Olympian. Left to a sports reporter, there’s every
chance this book would have garnered as many gold medals as the British track
and field competitors in 1948 – none at all. In the hands of Janie Hampton,
it’s a story as garlanded as the great Fanny Blankers-Koen herself.
A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.