The Summer Olympics start in London sometime in the next month or so. The fact that I am unsure of the start date gives you an indication of the level of interest the Olympics hold for me. Today however, the Olympic torch relay came through our town. I wasn't going to watch it but I became interested when my son's PE teacher rang me to say that my son was going to be given the opportunity to run alongside the torch bearer because he has been volunteering to help out with PE at a school for children with disabilities. The relay route goes right past the front door of my parents in law's house so it was the obvious place to go to watch. We took chairs out onto the pavement just outside the front gate and settled down to wait alongside crowds of people who were happy to wait for an hour or two to see the torch pass by. We understood that the police were going to effect a rolling road block to keep the whole route clear and safe. Sadly it turned out that the road block was only in one direction. The footpath only runs down one side of the road in our location and that was the side of the road where traffic was to be allowed. We were no more than 400 feet from the end of the relay route but rather than stop the traffic at that point, the police allowed it to continue until it got stuck and had no choice but to stop. That meant that it queued back and completely blocked the view of those waiting on the footpath! We were able to cross the road and wait in the entrance to a house opposite but not so the children from a nearby primary school who were unable to see anything over the top of the queuing traffic. How sad is that? Own goal West Yorkshire and Metropolitan Police forces!
