Olympic Way

For the road formerly known as Olympic Way in Australia, see Olympic Highway.

Further information: Forced labor of Germans after World War II

Olympic Way, more commonly known as Wembley Way, is the road that links Wembley Park tube station and Wembley Stadium in Wembley Park, London, England. Thousands of spectators walk along it to every event as the road leads directly into the stadium. The road is an easy access from the London Underground system to the stadium, and travels in a north-south direction.

Wembley Way was built several years after World War II by German POWs still held captive by the UK. Originally they were intended to be used for picking up refuse during the 1948 Summer Olympics, but their duties were changed due to criticism in the press; "It is fair to assume that the Ministry of Labour will think very hard before intending for a slave squad to operate quite so publicly and before quite so many overseas visitors." Instead they were put on less visible construction details.^[1]

Wembley Way looking down from the Wembley Stadium
New Wembley Stadium looking south, down the new Wembley Way, January 2007
Wembley Way before the Germany v England semi-final at Euro 96
A map of Wembley Stadium in relation to Olympic Way

References

↑ "Wembly Way built by German Prisoners of War", BBC News, 15 March 2010

Coordinates: 51°33′36″N 0°16′47″W / 51.56000°N 0.27972°W / 51.56000; -0.27972

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.