Well as predicted by the weatherman today was torrential! It's a very long time since I got so wet, LOL! But my soaking was soooooooo worth it. We saw the Olympic torch tour exactly half way through, day 35 of 70! We were going to see the torch around the Eric Morecambe statue but it wasn't due there until around 11:30am and it was only 10:00am when we were there. The officials and police weren't sure how it was all going to pan out so as we knew the torch was arriving in Morecambe at 10:36am (and it was so wet) we decided to get as near to the entrance to Morecambe as we could. We parked up in Bare and waited in the car a few minutes, we got soaked through anyway so I don't think those few minutes mattered but at least we were sheltered to start with! Although the weather tried to put a dampener on things the good old British public wasn't to be deterred, the atmosphere around us was exciting, we never expected many people to be there but there was quite a number! It all started with a really good parade of various vehicles, some playing music, do I admit now I had a little boogie, LOL!
Here's the vehicle that led the torchbearers, at this point everyone was cheering, clapping and whooping!
Our torch bearer was 16 year old David Helme from Morecambe, here's his nomination story taken from the official Olympic page.
I wish to nominate my Nephew David At the age of five he was diagnosed with brittle bone disease following a fall at school. Since then he has had several stays in hospital having operations to try and strengthen the bones in his legs. Recently he has been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and a growth hormone deficiency. He is now 15years old and is 4ft 4inches tall He has also had brain scans to check for tumours, which fortunately have proved to be negative but is having treatment for the underactive thyroid and regular growth hormone injections. Once these take effect he should start to grow but will never reach the height of his peers. Despite being mostly confined to a wheelchair, last year David chose sport as one of his options at school. Sport is a passion despite being unable to participate in most activities. Recently he has taken part in table tennis and football tournaments for the disabled. He was also nominated for extra coaching at County level for table tennis. He has mentored other disabled young people in various activities and for his work experience this year he worked along side the football in the community team attached to Morecambe Football club. He has been an avid supporter of Morecambe Football club since he was 6 years old and attends all home games and most of the away games. Despite all this David remains cheerful and communicates well with people of all ages and is an inspiration to all who meet him.
Just up the road from us was the changeover point, we saw it happen but didn't manage to get a good photo so I took this still from the live feed on the Internet.
Not long after we saw the torch it passed Nursery, they too braved the weather! Courtney is right over on the right side of the picture lifted by Julie, her key worker. Julie told us Courtney had really enjoyed the police motorbikes and did watch the flame as it passed by! (photo emailed from Nursery)
The torch then made it's way along the promenade to the Eric Morecambe statue by which time we were home, changed into dry clothes with a cup of tea in our hands watching it all on the live feed! I found this photo on the Internet!
Lastly on our experience of the torch relay was Charlie's turn! His school had hired coaches to take the entire school into Morecambe town centre, many schools had cancelled but I was delighted his school hadn't. We saw the torch pass them all on live feed and quickly took this still! They all had blue clappers which you could here quite loudly on the video!
I am very pleased we all got to see the torch, we all experienced a little piece of history today!
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