Thursday 26th July 2012

I do love to see blue flashing lights in the distance of a street vista because they might be flashing that Royalty are on the cusp, about to pass.

This morning, in golden morning light, crowds were gathered and spilling onto the street until policeman on motorbikes, some preposterous so porcine, pushed them back. Then a motley of vans and mini-buses proclaiming the sponsors such as Lloyds Bank (pre-War bus) and equipped with somewhat half-hearted drum majorettes, rolled by.  There was music and a ramshackle feeling of a village fete or local sports club parade. Ordinary members of the public, on bicycles, keen to get to work perhaps, had joined the procession.  After that nothing. The crowd spilled all over the road again until eventually more vehicles, more blue flashing lights and, yes! there it was – a male figure in white, possibly drawn from the ballet world,  bearing the brassy torch, a fiery orange flame, quite prominent, quite a blaze, gone in seconds.

The Olympic Torch About to Appear: Classic English Summer Morning

The Olympic Torch Procession: the Sponsors' Floats and Cheerleaders

Olympic Torch Procession: Cheerleaders

Small Bicycle in the Olympic Torch Procession: Gloriously Pointless

At Last the Torch Appears: London This Morning

The Torch Passes on Its Way: London this Morning

The Olympic Torch Passes on Its Way