The Olympic Torch Arriving in Bowness

The Park has taken a back seat this week to the Olympic Torch, as unfortunately we were not sucessful in getting a run through the Park :-).   So, we had to go to it instead. Here, on the left,  is the torch  just about to arrive at Bowness; sailing down Windermere on the MV Tern, accompanied by a flotilla of little boats, on a cold and very wet mid-summer evening: a typical Westmorland atmospheric scene, on a typical Westmorland day.  The crowd was estimated at around 5,000.

The Olympic Torch Arriving in Ilkley

And, here, with a degree of contrast, is the Olympic Torch arriving in Ilkley, on Sunday 24th June;  accompanied by a fleet of ‘performing’ police outriders,  on a warm summer’s afternoon, watched by an estimated crowd of 20,000.  A typical Yorkshire scene on a typical Yorkshire …… (well maybe not that typical !).

In both cases the build up, anticipation, neighbourly banter, and peals of church bells were far more fun than the actual two seconds of fleeting flame, held aloft by who knows whom.

The flame is passed from ship to shore

Afterwards, Bowness celebrated ‘culturally’ with a stunning firework display, to the beat of French drummers and rhythm of English dancers, in absolutly torrential rain.

In Ilkley;  a beaming vicar proclaimed free tea and home-made cake served on a sunny lawn, whilst the Addingham Bell Ringers let all comers have a pull of the ropes.

An Ilkley torchbearer running to change at the traffic lights!

Maybe, that fleeting flame of peace, unity and friendship, had worked its magic after all.