Escorts in Stratford, E20 and E15: who is close, and how soon
Stratford stands on the east bank of the River Lea in the London Borough of Newham, on ground that was part of Essex until Greater London was formed in 1965. The old town keeps its Broadway south and east of the station; to the north and west, the ground of the 2012 Games runs down to the river as Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with the new streets of E20 built round it.
It is a place of big open spaces and big roofs, and a wet or bitter evening finds out which is which. Nobody on the board lives out here, so Stratford escorts come east from the central zones. On a bad night the useful question is how much of the evening can stay under cover once she arrives, and which open ground is better seen from a window; for escorts in Stratford, more stays dry than the open skyline suggests.
On the ground
Stratford in practice
Landmarks on the arrival slip
By postcode, never by nameE20 1FD, E20 1GL.
Nearest stations
Walking timeStratford, 2 minutes. Stratford International, 6 minutes. Stratford High Street, 8 minutes.
Getting there
E20, E15Travel is included across Zones 1 and 2, and counted from the moment the hour is set rather than from when she leaves.
On the board
Nearest prints to Stratford
Who works here
On the board in Stratford
The six prints above are a first shortlist for Stratford tonight. Any of the twenty eight on the who is free page can be asked for by name instead.
Note 02
Under a roof from the platforms onward
Stratford station is a small indoor world of its own, a sprawl of platforms, passages and concourses where the Central, Jubilee, Elizabeth line, DLR and Overground all meet. Beside it, the shopping centre that opened in 2011, a year before the Games, keeps its malls, a cinema and a long choice of restaurants under one roof, and many of those restaurants stay open after the shops have shut. On a filthy night it is the obvious refuge: busy, bright and dry.
On the town side, the Theatre Royal Stratford East, a Victorian playhouse on Gerry Raffles Square, offers the older kind of shelter, a warm auditorium for the length of a performance, with a cinema a few steps away for a night when a play is too much.
Count on roughly an hour from the office's yes to her arrival, more at rush hour or when rain slows the roads east; each length is listed on the rates.
Note 03
The park in rain and wind
The Olympic Park is at its best on a still evening and at its most exposed on a wild one. It is wide ground laid along the Lea and its side channels, crossed by bridges and broad paths with little to break the wind. In driving rain the walk from the stadium end back to the station feels twice its length.
That is a reason to choose the hour, not to stay away. A cold, clear night suits a short walk on the lit paths by the water; a wet one suits the view over the park from a hotel window, with the stadium lit in the distance. East Village, the former athletes' village, has streets of flats with shops at ground level that give more cover than the open park.
When the weather really closes in, an evening can move down the line instead: Canary Wharf is a few stops south on the Jubilee, much of it linked below ground, and Liverpool Street is a short ride west on the Elizabeth line.
From The Roundup
Two notes worth reading for Stratford
Asked most often
Stratford, asked and answered
Where can a wet evening be spent entirely indoors?
Is the Olympic Park worth walking in the rain?
What does the wind do to a winter walk across the park?
Does a play at the Theatre Royal suit a cold night?
One zone either way
Next along from Stratford
Royal Docks and ExCeL hotels
E16Same ladder, but outside Zones 1 and 2: the office confirms the travel and any minimum in writing on WhatsApp before booking.
Last strip
Say a name and an hour
Write in with a length, a time and the zone you are staying in, and a name from the board comes back with a window attached. That is the whole of the arrangement.