Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre

Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre was originally the venue for tennis and the hockey pitches were across two bridges on Hopkins’ Fields. During the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics, the venue had 9 competition pitches and 4 warm-up pitches. It was reopened in June 2014 as a conjoined site. The centre is at what is known as Eton Manor at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. You’ll be able to find the poem Carol Ann Duffy wrote for Eton Manor. War memorials dedicating to people who fought in World War I on Eton Manor are displayed on site.

The centre now holds 2 hockey pitches, 4 indoor tennis courts and 6 outdoor courts. There is Hockey training and weekend matches for all ages and skill levels that run as sessions weekly. The Hockey stadium holds up to 3,000 people. There is a café on the first level of the centre.

In early 20th Century, 4 pioneering men who attended Eton school decided that they wanted to give something back to the community so set up the Eton Manor Boys' Club. In over 100 years, Eton Manor provided underprivileged boys and men a chance to take part in sports, which built a community around it.

Carol Ann Duffy was commissioned to write the poem for Eton Manor which is now displayed on the outside the hockey pitch wall attached to the main centre:

The past is all around us, in the air,
the acres were once ‘the Wilderness’ –
“Blimey, it’s fit for a millionaire” -
Where Eton Manor Boys Club came to train;
Or, in the Clubhouse (built 1913)
translated poverty to self-esteem
camaraderie, and optimism smiled in smiles.

Hackney Wick –
Fleas, flie, bin-lids, Clarnico’s Jam;
the poor enclosed by railway, marshland, factories, canal –
where Wellesley, Villers, Wagg, Cadogan came,
philanphropists, to clear glorious space;
connect the power of place to human hope,
through World War One, the Blitz till 1967…
on this spot; functional, free, real - heaven.

This is Legacy –
young lives respected, cherished, valued, helped
to sprint, swim, bowl, box, play, excel, belong;
believe community is self in multitude –
the way the past still dedicates to us its distant, present light.
The Same high sky, same East End moon,
above this reclaimed wilderness,
where relay boys are raced by running ghosts.

The design of the poem was created by Stephen Raw who worked with a local sign maker to create the lettering. The lettering were created from brass using water jet cutting techniques which were then placed upon the stainless steel plating. The Eton Manor poem is part of the "Art in the Park" series.