Lea Bridge

Lea Bridge is a district spanning an area separating the London Borough of Hackney from the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

In 1582 Mill Fields Lane ran from Clapton to Jeremy’s Ferry in the Leyton Marshes. At the same spot a timber bridge was built in 1745, and the road became known as Lea Bridge Road, with a tollgate at the Clapton end. A toll house was built on the west bank of the river in 1757, and the bridge rebuilt in iron in 1820–1. Tolls continued to be levied until 1872.

Lea Bridge gives ready access to the lower reaches of the extensive Lee Valley Park, which stretches for about 26 miles on both banks of the river. Next to the south side of the bridge are two public houses, the "Princess of Wales" and "The Ship Aground". To the south are the Hackney Marshes, and beyond Leyton Marsh to the north are the Walthamstow Marshes and Nature Reserve. Below the bridge, the river flows over the Middlesex Filter Beds Weir, marking the boundary with Leyton and providing the supply for the former East London Waterworks Company.

The old Middlesex Filter Beds have been converted into a nature reserve, and on the Leyton side the corresponding Essex Filter Beds are now a reserve for birds. The Lee Navigation continues south in an artificial channel known as ’Hackney Cut’, to the next lock at Old Ford (about 1.7 miles), where the natural channel rejoins the Navigation after its 2 miles meander towards Leyton.

Lea Bridge station opened on 15 September 1840 by the Northern and Eastern Railway as Lea Bridge Road and is thought to be the earliest example of a station having its building on a railway bridge, with staircases down to the platforms.

The station closed on 8 July 1985 but after service changes, reopened in May 2016.

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	VIEW THE KENSINGTON AREA IN THE 1750s The 1750 Rocque map is bounded by Sudbury (NW), Snaresbrook (NE), Eltham (SE) and Hampton Court (SW). Outside these bounds, the 1750 map does not display.
	VIEW THE KENSINGTON AREA IN THE 1800s The 1800 mapping is bounded by Stanmore (NW), Woodford (NE), Bromley (SE) and Hampton Court (SW). Outside these bounds, the 1800 map does not display.
	VIEW THE KENSINGTON AREA IN THE 1830s The 1830 mapping is bounded by West Hampstead (NW), Hackney (NE), Greenwich (SE) and Chelsea (SW). Outside these bounds, the 1830 map does not display.
	VIEW THE KENSINGTON AREA IN THE 1860s The 1860 mapping is bounded by Brent Cross (NW), Stratford (NE), Greenwich (SE) and Hammermith (SW). Outside these bounds, the 1860 map does not display.
	VIEW THE KENSINGTON AREA IN THE 1900s The 1900 mapping covers all of the London area.

Kensington

Kensington is a district of West London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, located west of Charing Cross.

The focus of the area is Kensington High Street, a busy commercial centre with many shops, typically upmarket. The street was declared London's second best shopping street in February 2005 thanks to its range and number of shops.

The edges of Kensington are not well-defined; in particular, the southern part of Kensington blurs into Chelsea, which has a similar architectural style. To the west, a transition is made across the West London railway line and Earl's Court Road further south into other districts, whilst to the north, the only obvious dividing line is Holland Park Avenue, to the north of which is the similar district of Notting Hill.

Kensington is, in general, an extremely affluent area, a trait that it now shares with its neighbour to the south, Chelsea. The area has some of London's most expensive streets and garden squares.

Kensington is also very densely populated; it forms part of the most densely populated local government district (the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) in the United Kingdom. This high density is not formed from high-rise buildings; instead, it has come about through the subdivision of large mid-rise Victorian and Georgian terraced houses (generally of some four to six floors) into flats.

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	Environs of London (1832) FREE DOWNLOAD Engraved map. Hand coloured. Relief shown by hachures. A circle shows "Extent of the twopenny post delivery." Chapman and Hall, London
	London Underground Map (1921). FREE DOWNLOAD London Underground map from 1921. London Transport
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	Ordnance Survey of the London region (1939) FREE DOWNLOAD Ordnance Survey colour map of the environs of London 1:10,560 scale Ordnance Survey. Crown Copyright 1939.
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