Aerial view of the Olympic Park looking south.

Aerial view of the Handball Arena on the Olympic Park.

Aerial view of the Velodrome and the BMX Track on the Olympic Park.

London 2012 mascots Wenlock and Mandeville enjoy the autumn sunshine as they pay a visit to the Olympic Stadium. <br/><br/>The Stadium is located in the south of the Olympic Park on an 'island' site, surrounded by waterways on three sides.

A two-year planting programme to create the UK's largest new urban park for more than a century on the London 2012 Olympic Park has been completed. Some 250 acres of new parklands has been created from former industrial land by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), providing a colourful atmosphere for the London 2012 Games and beyond.

The London 2012 Organising Committee has unveiled the Olympic Hockey Centre's first blue and pink pitch and revealed that a yellow ball will be used during the Hockey competition for the first ever time at an Olympic Games. The Hockey Centre in the Olympic Park will host over 780,000 spectators during London 2012 staging both Olympic Hockey and Paralympic 5 and 7-a-side football competitions. The Great Britain women's hockey squad got the chance to train on the water-based pitch, allowing them a taste of what to expect next year.

Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, visits the Olympic and Paralympic Village to see how construction is progressing.<br/><br/>The number of completed apartments on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Village has <a href="http://www.london2012.com/news/2011/10/jeremy-hunt-praises-construction-progress-on-the-olympic.php">now passed the symbolic 2,012 mark</a>, signalling that the handover date of early next year remains firmly on schedule.

A striking new piece of architecture for the Olympic Park has been unveiled as the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced the completion of a key footbridge that spans over the River Lea, at a focal point between the Olympic Stadium and  the Aquatics Centre.<br/><br/><p>The bridge features two permanent footbridges linked by a central blade-like walkway, creating a ‘Z’ shape, clad in mirror-finish stainless steel. <br/><br/>The temporary Games-time bridge deck has been covered with a multi-coloured rubber surface, inspired by the London 2012 brand colours. <br/></p><br/><br/>

<p>Progress is being made on the London 2012 Shooting venue at <a href="the-royal-artillery-barracks">The Royal Artillery Barracks</a> in south-east London. The vibrantly coloured openings, seen here on the white façade, help create tension and provide natural ventilation and light. <br/><br/>The enclosures are being clad in around 18,000sqm of PVC membrane and are on track to be completed in December, in time for the Shooting test event next year.<br/><br/>The temporary venue will host the <a href="shooting">Shooting</a> competition at the Olympic Games and the <a href="paralympic-archery">Archery</a> and <a href="paralympic-shooting">Shooting</a> at the Paralympic Games. </p>