The tragic death of 17 year old Jack Susianta near Lea Bridge on Wednesday afternoon is the front page story in today’s Daily Mirror (Friday 31 July 2015).

Jack drowned just below a footbridge, known as King’s Head Bridge, after running away from Police who had been called to help him. He jumped into the River Lea having run across North Millfields from his home in Clapton.

The subsequent search was between the footbridge, now decorated with flowers, and downstream Lea Bridge.

There are suggestions that the police were slow to enter the water. Around a hundred spectators, walkers and residents in the new flats, were allegedly advised not to jump into the water.

Today Lucy D’Orsi, the Metropolitan Police Commander for East London, made a long statement:

“Today’s headlines concerning the tragic story of Jack Susianta who drowned in the River Lea offers a clear picture of a complex situation. Or does it?

“Our thoughts are with Jack’s family – it is hard to comprehend the pain they must be feeling after losing a loved one so young. It’s also a traumatic event for the people on the river bank who witnessed the events unfold and the police officers involved in the incident. The call was not to investigate a crime but to help someone in distress. Reflecting on this point reminded me that policing is not all about crime. In fact over 60 per cent of what we are called to deal with in London is not crime. I, like my colleagues, joined policing to help people and that’s often the bit that is forgotton when people debate police activity.

“The Daily Mirror’s front page headline this morning, Friday 31 July, offers a definite conclusion – Police Refuse To Save Drowning Boy. No quotation marks, nothing to reflect our statement last night, Thursday, 30 July, that officers first tried to use a life aid and throw lines to him before an officer, who then needed assistance himself, entered dangerous water to try and safe Jack’s life. Met divers also entered the water in a rescue operation to try and save Jack. I saw no mention of this.

“When police have been involved in an incident where someone has died we must refer ourselves to the Independent Police Complaints Commission so they can look at the circumstances of what has happened. We have done this and this means that the detail and context around what exactly happened and the actions that were taken may take time to come out. Often when this happens the story is no longer front page news. It is only fair to Jack’s family and all those concerned in this case that we do not try to pre-empt the investigation by providing more detail than the brief description of events offered in yesterday’s statement. This feels frustrating but right.

“Our world is one of immediate news at a fast pace. We accept that headlines will be written before investigations have had time to run their course but this is sometimes disappointing and hard to understand. I think it is only fair on those involved in this incident to make sure that the way it is reported does reflect, for very valid reasons, the full context and the facts. Of course newspapers should quote the views of others but surely it would also be fair to reflect that the situation may, or may not be, more complex than some of the stories concerning this incident are reflecting. That might include putting quotation marks around a headline which is presented as a very factual statement.

“My colleagues across London deal with high risk situations everyday, putting themselves at risk and running to things that most would run from. It’s not easy for them or their families and therefore when judged I believe they deserve to be judged fairly.

“Followers of our Facebook pages will regularly read stories of officers who have been involved in incidents where lives have been saved, including water rescues. They are humbling stories which make me proud of the service we provide to Londoners. These rarely get reported in the national media but I recognise that in a democratic society which is proud of freedom of speech it is not for the police to suggest what is or is not editorially important. As it happens these Facebook posts are among our most popular.

“Our officers deserve a fair and independent investigation into how an incident such as this has unfolded but most importantly so do Jack’s family who are dealing with grief which most of us hope never to have to experience. A proper explanation of the circumstances surrounding the incident is required for everyone and I don’t think that has been reflected in the way it has been presented so far in the media.”

Last week Country Life sensationally revealed a picture of William Shakespeare as a young man.

This week’s issue (May 27) contains an article by Mark Griffiths who claims to have found an unknown Shakespeare playlet.

Its only performance was in the the Lea Valley.

Mark Griffiths says that in May 1591 Queen Elizabeth I travelled from Greenwich via Hackney to Waltham Cross where she stayed for ten days at Theobalds.

She was the guest of her chief minister Lord Burghley but he did not greet her. That task was left to William Shakespeare.

The Queen arrived on Monday 10 May. The playlet, with a cast of three at most, was performed later in the week with Shakespeare playing the gardener and another actor the mole catcher. A non speaking part involved presenting Elizabeth with a box.

Elizabeth’s successor James I swopped Hatfield House for Theobalds and it was at the former that Griffiths found part of the script.

We learn that after breakfast on day of the Queen’s departure, Thursday 20 May, she knighted Burghley’s son Robert Cecil who was soon to succeed his father as secretary of state.

The play has an interesting reference to Sir Robert’s own home Pymmes Park which was to the south at Silver Street. Pymmes Brook, which runs through  the grounds, can be seen entering the River Lea at Tottenham.

The remains of the original Theobalds, Cedars Park, is near Theobalds Grove Station, or a short walk from the riverside White Water Centre.

Entrance to Cody Dock at South Crescent

The sculpture trail known as The Line has at last opened.

The first day was marred by lunchtime rain and the afternoon remained overcast.

But people did begin to make their way to Cody Dock and other sites between Three Mills and The O2 Arena.

The bridge at Cody Dock

The project has resulted in the bridge at Cody Dock opening and so allowing for more of the riverside path to be available to walkers.

The gate on the riverside path open at last

A further improvement is imminent upstream at Twelvetrees Crescent Bridge where it should be possible to pass more easily from the navigation towpath to the tidal path.

At Cody Dock not only is the long locked gate now open daily but on the grass there is  Damien Hirst’s Sensation first shown at Tate Britain in 2004.

Abigail Fallis’s shopping trolleys are by the tidal River Lea

Outside the Amazon building, on the promenade between Twelvetrees Bridge and Cody Dock, is Abigail Fallis’s DNA DL90 which consists of 22 shopping trolleys.

The The Line art trail, which has improved and liberated a stretch Lea valley Walk path, is open daily. Cody Dock, near Star Lane DLR Station, is open daylight hours.

Lord Brocket is looking to regaining control of his family seat Brocket Hall a little earlier than expected.

This follows the surprise news that the hotel company leasing the mansion has gone into administration.

The peer had to leave his home after being jailed in 1996 for fraud. The house was due to revert to the family in 2056 but Lord Brocket has said that he is now  interested in buying it back.

The Broadwater, the great feature of Brocket Park on the Lea valley Walk, is fed by the River Lea.

Cody Wilds has not won the Grow Wild Flagship competition.

Congratulations to Liverpool and Manchester.

But £5,000 will go towards assisting with the further development of Cody Wilds alongside Cody Dock and help towards securing alternative funding.

The full story is on the website.

The Queen and her sister Princess Margaret once worshipped at St John’s Church at Letty Green.

This was in the 1930s when the two princesses stayed with their grandparents Lord and lady Strathmore. Their home was Woolmer’s Park where the grounds ran down to the River Lea.

The Victorian church is now up for sale having been converted into a house.

Letty Green hamlet with its former church is to the south of The Cowper Arms at Cole Green on the Lea Valley Walk.

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David Bailey and Boris Johnson are backing a bid to green a stretch of the Lea Valley Walk near Bow.

The area to be known as Cody Wilds is alongside the tidal River Lea at forgotten Cody Dock downstream of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The Wharf has a full report.

You can vote for the Cody Wilds scheme here .

Today, Tuesday 14 October 2014, is the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 which is being marked at Waltham Abbey by a search for the body of defeated King Harold.

He is outside the east end of the town’s abbey church in an area which was once within the building.

The annual wreath-laying took place at the grave only last Saturday. However, some believe that the Saxon King did not die at the Battle of Hastings as depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry but lived on.

The team which found Richard III in a Leicester a car park two years ago are on site to look for a much older man.

Until now it has been thought that Harold was buried at Waltham Abbey after the battle since he had stopped there to pray on his way south to stop the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror landing.

The Lea Valley Walk passes lovely Luton Church which is highlighted in The Daily Telegraph today by Christopher Howse.

With the new edition of Pevsner’s Buildings of England Bedfordshire in hand he has attempted see the church’s very unusual baptistry dating from about 1340.

There are many other interesting features in the very large building including a chapel built by Mr Speaker Wenlock who died in the Wars of the Roses. More recent is the seat used by our present Queen earlier in her reign when paying an annual visit during her wedding anniversary weekends at Luton Hoo.

To see this remarkable church you walk to the far south end of the shopping centre where a huge window frames the church.

Christopher Howse laments that he found the church locked. Until a few years ago is was always open on weekdays. Keeping the doors, given by Cardinal  Wolsey, locked fails both Luton’s tourism push and Christian mission. Locals should be able to visit their own church.

Megan Piper, curator of The Line, has indicated that the sculpture trail which will unlock the Cody Dock crossing will be open by the autumn.

Tonight’s Evening Standard has a preview of the artworks which will make this possible.

The pedestrian Bridge across Cody Dock will mean that after years false starts by a quango it will be possible thanks to crowd funding to walk the last few miles of the tidal River Lea.