Teddy Bear Friends of Ormskirk were pleased to take a few hours off work this morning – 1st June 2012 – to see the Olympic Torch Relay pass through Ormskirk Town on its way to Stratford and the London Olympics 2012.
We were lucky that the rain came yesterday, and although the sky was overcast, it was warm and completely dry as the Olympic Torch Relay continued on its journey around England and to other parts of the UK.
The crowds were out in force, lots of schoolkids, parents and just about everyone turned out to see this once in a lifetime event. Many of us will not get to see any sporting action live, so it was nice to show our support for the London Games in our small way. Who knows, it may be the spark that lights the flame in our children’s imagination and spur them to compete in future.
We had applied for tickets but didn’t think for one minute we’d get them – I’m a purist when it comes to The Olympics and really see it as an athletics event so was not interested in applying for tickets to see the myriad of sporting contests that are included in the Games.
For example, it’s no surprise that many of the football tickets have yet to be sold – real football fans, as I’d like to describe myself, are looking forward to the European Championships and see the Olympic Games football tournament as a mere sideshow. However, that’s not to denigrate those sports – pretty much all sports provide a way to stay healthy, build social awareness and togetherness, provide work and I’d say are a positive benefit to society.
We were lucky, that the route of the torch relay was planned to go round the ring road of Ormskirk, having arrived via Chorley, Croston and Burscough, and then travelling off towards Southport and then on through Merseyside to Liverpool at the end of the day.
This was good news, because as you can see from the pictures we hardly got to see the torch through the crowds as it first went past. However, a quick jog up the road meant that we got to see the flame again as it came full circle on its way out of the town – and a far better picture of the torch bearer (see picture at top of page).
My boys were pleased. What a great way to start the Diamond Jubilee weekend.