The Olympic torch relay is soon to grace the streets of Hadleigh, allowing proud local residents to see sparks fly and be part of something truly unique. Taking place on Friday July 6th, the Olympic torch will begin its journey in Colchester, before heading to Hatfield Peveral, Heybridge, Maldon, Rayleigh, Southend-on-Sea and finally Hadleigh.
The Welcome to Hadleigh sign is the start-off point for the torch relay due to begin at precisely 13.49. It will travel along London road and Hadleigh high street before turning down Chapel Lane and arriving at the Olympic Mountain Bike course at approximately 14.30. The torch will leave the Borough at Rayleigh Weir to continue on its journey towards Basildon, Grays, Herongate, Brentwood and ending in Chelmsford for an overnight stay and special celebratory event.
Taken from each location via a motorised convey, the Olympic torch is to be carried along the specified route via the selected torch bearers. Among the Hadleigh torchbearers are Essex locals; Kim Axford from Canvey Island, Jonathan Pearce from Maldon, Bharat Thakrar from Harlow and John Hoskyn, Sacha Sewell and Maddie Baker from Chelmsford. Among the torchbearers from further afield are; Hong You and Shaowen Huang from Beijing. In total there are thirteen torch bearers for the Hadleigh relay, whilst over 8,000 people in total will carry the torch throughout the UK.
The Olympic flame was initially lit from the sun’s rays at the Temple of Hera in Olympia in a traditional Greek ceremony. After a short relay around Greece, the Flame was passed to London. On May 19th, the relay began its 70 day tour of the UK from Land’s End, Cornwall and is due to conclude its tour in Stratford at the opening ceremony on July 27th.
The torch itself – soon to be paraded around Hadleigh – is a triangularly shaped, gold coloured torch, with 8,000 perforated holes to represent the 8,000 torch bearers who will carry it.
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