From 19 May to 27 July the Olympic Torch will travel around the country, passing through hundreds of towns and villages, passing within 10 miles of 95% of the population. Associated with its journey there will be evening events at each of the 70 towns and cities where it stops overnight. The journey will pass through over 1000 towns and villages that have already been named, but further detail will not be released until the spring.
There is an interactive Torch Relay Map showing places visited, and there are lists of locations by region and date. You can click the places named on the route to see street level detail. You can also download the route for each day, with timings from the BBC website
Between these short sections of detailed route, the torch will be ‘in convoy’ (in a vehicle) and the exact route it will take is not specified.
If your tower is on the route, you should contact your local authority (if you haven’t already done so) to tell them that you would like to ring as the torch passes. There may be logistic constraints, for example barriers that would make it difficult to cross the route shortly before the Torch passes.
If the route doesn’t pass your tower, but goes through the town, it is still worth contacting your local council to see whether they are planning any events to mark the occasion, that you might be able to contribute to.
Find out who is responsible for planning such things, and make sure they know who to contact in order to include ringing as part of them.
Even if your local community isn’t doing anything for the Torch Relay, is your help needed at other nearby towers where ringing ought to take place, either because they are on the torch route, or because they are next to some related civic celebration. If they find it hard to muster enough ringers at the required time, you may be able to help ensure that the ringing community puts up a good show.
See also:
(Article in The Ringing World)
