The Torch Route Through Oxford
The torch will arrive in Oxford on Monday 9th July, have an overnight stay and then leave again bright (?) and early on the morning of Tuesday 10th from Iffley Road Stadium, the home of Roger Bannister's record breaking 4 minute mile.
"View Olympic Flame route in Oxford in a larger map
For those who want to line the streets and cheer (or those who wish to avoid the crowds), here is a breakdown of the Torch's path:
Monday 9th July 2012
17:15 Horspath Road17:15 BMW plant site entrance
17:19 BMW plant entrance lane
17:33 BMW Assembly Plant exit lane
17:33 B480 Watlington Road
17:39 Cuddeston Way
17:47 Blackbird Leys Road
17:55 Barns Road
18:03 B4495 Between Towns Road
18:05 B480 Oxford Road
18:11 B480 Cowley Road
18:32 A420 St Clement's Street
18:37 Morrell Avenue
18:46 Warneford Lane
18:46 South Park Celebration Stage
Tuesday 10th July 2012
07:15 Iffley Road Stadium07:15 Iffley Road Stadium, track
07:16 Pathway
07:17 Oxford University Rugby Pitch path
07:18 Oxford University Rugby rugby pitch path
07:19 Iffley Road
07:28 B4495 Donnington Bridge Road
Road Closures / Transport
back to topIn case you haven't seen the bright yellow signs stapled to the lamp posts along Cowley Road, you can indeed EXPECT DELAYS on both Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Bus services will be disrupted (view full info on the Oxford Bus & Stagecoach websites) and Cowley Road (from Magdalen Road to The Plain) itself will be closed be closed from 4-7pm on Monday 9th. There are also rolling road closures until 11pm on the 9th (details here) which will affect much of East Oxford, especially those roads that join either Oxford Road, St Clements or Morrell Avenue. Due to the shindig in South Park there will also be a number of extra parking prohibitions and road closures.
| 9th July | 2pm - midnight | Morrell Avenue parking suspended and road closed |
| 9th July | 7am - midnight | Warneford Lane parking suspended, except for coaches both sides |
| 9th July | 9.30pm - 11.30pm | London Place Road closure |
The rolling road closures begin again on Tuesday morning at 5.30am, from Iffley Road, to 10.30am, at Meadow Lane. The static road closures also affect Kidlington, Wallingford and Henley so if you live / work in or want to get in to / out of any of these areas on the 9th and 10th, it's definitely worth having a peruse of the potential disruptions.
Click here for the Council's List of Road Closures
Events
back to topEvening Celebrations in South Park
Tickets for South Park's evening celebrations are now, unfortunately, SOLD OUT. Still plenty of space to cheer on the Torchbearers though; venues along the route will be open for toasting the Torch as it gets borne past!
At approximately 6.45pm on Monday 9th July, the Olympic Torch will reach South Park and be ushered in with much ceremony (presumably without ticket - if you are not a torch / torchbearer you will definitely need a ticket to assure your entry). Gates open at 3.30pm for picnicking purposes and from 5 - 7.30pm there is the official Olympic Torch Relay Celebration. The London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (or, more succinctly, LOCOG) have orchestrated a champion musical menu, including fairly funky alternative rock band Young Guns, fresh from their European tour.
From 7.30pm, the Festival of Oxford officially begins. There follows 2 hours of both musical and athletic delights. One sporty stall we at the office are particularly excited about is the The Oxford Archers' have-a-go archery range, a great chance for anyone (as long as you're old enough to hold a bow!) to get a taste of this unique Olympic sport. Once you've had your fill of all the active activities there is plenty more to entertain you. Local folk musicians, storytellers and theatre groups will be joined by clowns, dancers and comedy acts; promised international highlights include a dance team called Ugar Purple Spider from Australia and Vilentango, a tango / rock fusion band from Argentina. There is even talk of a trampoline. And QUIDDITCH.
At 9.30pm there is the performace of The Tree of Light. This is a rather enigmatic collaborative art project involving over 1200 performers from around Oxford. There will be an original score by composer Orlando Gough and the light display is apparently going to be powered by pedal power and creativity alone!
Programme
| 3.30pm | Gates open |
| 5 - 7.30pm | Olympic Torch Relay Celebration: Olympic Flame arrives and entertainment follows, with Young Guns headlining. |
| 7.30 - 9.30pm | Festive Oxford 2012: Music, theatre, comedy performances and a special 'sports zone'. |
| 9.30 - 10.30pm | The Tree of Light: Collaborative art performance |
Getting to the Celebrations
As mentioned above, the parking is going to be, well, a nightmare (that is, of course, if you manage to navigate the road closures). A perfect opportunity to leave the car at home and go for a brisk July stroll, scoot, skate or cycle.
Events along the Route
A number of pubs along the routes have been chalking up their signboards with invitations to cheer the Torch on Monday evening, while sipping your beverage of choice. Some establishments have even decided to open for the breakfast run - The Magdalen Arms is opening for its stage of the route at (approx) 7.19am!
Public Loos
In addition to the usual public loos along the route, a number of businesses have kindly agreed to open their facilities to the hordes to increase capacity (presumably since all the UK's portaloos are already booked for the Olympics themselves). Here's a full list of what's available where, when:
| St Clement's Public Toilets | 9am-5pm | Ladies, gents, disabled, baby changing |
| Cowley Road Public Toilets | 9am-5pm | Ladies, gents, disabled |
| East Oxford Community Centre | 9am-11pm | Ladies, gents, disabled |
| Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre | 6.30am - 10pm | Ladies, gents, disabled, baby changing |
| Cape of Good Hope | 12noon-12am | Ladies, gents, disabled |
| O2 Academy | 10am-6pm | Ladies, gents, disabled |
| Subway St Clement's | 8am-11pm | Ladies, gents, baby changing |
| Asian Cultural Centre | 10am-5pm | Ladies, gents, disabled |
| Angel and Greyhound | 12noon-11.30pm | Ladies, gents |
| City Arms | 11am-7pm | Ladies, gents, disabled |
| Bullnose Morris | 11am-11pm | Ladies, gents, disabled, baby changing |
| The Corridor | Ladies, gents | |
| The Original Swan | Ladies, gents | |
| The Library | Ladies, gents | |
How Do I Get Involved?
back to top"We are saluting the dedication of sportspeople from all over world in reaching the heights of achievement in their chosen discipline, and the courage of the Paralympians who have had to battle against adversity to reach these Games...I would like to encourage everyone to come out, line the streets and welcome the inspirational torchbearers to the city."
Councillor Bob Price, Leader of Oxford City Council
There are some rather lovely (and very kid-friendly) ideas for how to get into the Olympic spirit on a pdf by the London 2012 committee. These include a recipe for flame fairy cakes and Dick and Dom's 'How To ' guide on making flaming maracas.
If you are planning on lining the streets for the Olympic Torch, the London 2012 Committee have asked that you let them know through their Local Leaders team - in the hope perhaps that you might inspire others.
Email Local Leader
Local Torchbearers
back to topThere are many locals that have been asked to carry the Torch, some of them through Oxford. Do you think you might know somebody who's been asked to carry the Torch? Check out the list below.
You can also follow the Torch on Twitter (#London2012TorchRelay) to get up-to-the-minute updates.
Names of Torchbearers
Monday 9th July
Bicester
1. Amie Ing. Age: 15. Hometown: Aylesbury
2. Carly Castle. Age: 32. Hometown: Banbury
3. Simon Cruden. Age: 31. Hometown: Kidlington
4. Tom Rollason. Age: 18. Hometown: Deddington
Kirtlington
1. Debra Toney. Age: 55. Hometown: Las Vegas
2. Gerry Darley. Age: 24. Hometown: High Wycombe
Woodstock
1. Roland Read. Age: 61. Hometown: Oxford
2. Graham Warland. Age: 64. Hometown: Banbury
3. Pat Pearce Mbe. Age: 67. Hometown: Berkshire
Kidlington
1. Julia Hayes. Age: 44. Hometown: Benson
2. Issy Jackson. Age: 12. Hometown: Aylesbury
3. James Harrison. Age: 18. Hometown: Didcot
4. Jim Bryant. Age: 87. Hometown: Winkfield
5. Pat Kerr. Age: 60. Hometown: East Sussex
6. Robin Gardner. Age: 54. Hometown: Banbury
7. Verity Westgate. Age: 28. Hometown: Kidlington
Oxford
1. Christine Carter. Age: 85. Hometown: Oxford
2. Nicola Byrom. Age: 24. Hometown: Oxford
3. Alan Chen. Age: 26. Hometown: London
4. Annie Andrews. Age: 38. Hometown: Aylesbury
5. Emma Cuthbertson. Age: 28. Hometown: Oxford
6. Fiona Danks. Age: 52. Hometown: Watlington
7. Harrison Anton. Age: 15. Hometown: Oxford
8. Ian Fowler. Age: 46. Hometown: Witney
9. Jodie Evans. Age: 25. Hometown: Faringdon
10. Malcolm Fretter. Age: 67. Hometown: Wantage
11. Margaret Stevens. Age: 49. Hometown: Oxford
12. Maureen O`neill. Age: 56. Hometown: Oxford
13. Mike Spicer. Age: 49. Hometown: Oxford
14. Nigel Roberts. Age: 50. Hometown: Oxford
15. Paul Kelsey. Age: 57. Hometown: Abingdon
16. Richard Cooper. Age: 65. Hometown: Oxford
17. Richard Tyack. Age: 45. Hometown: Appleton
18. Timothy Betts. Age: 44. Hometown: Oxford
Tuesday 10th July
Oxford
1.Brian Staite. Age: 40. Hometown: Abingdon.
2. Chris Bream. Age: 50. Hometown: Bicester
3. Gareth Robinson. Age: 27. Hometown: Witney
4. Paul Griffiths. Age: 48. Hometown: Didcot
Abingdon
1. Aron Steele. Age: 12. Hometown: Didcot
2. Sue James. Age: 46. Hometown: Carterton
3. Alfie Russell. Age: 23. Hometown: Enfield
4. Carly Houlahan. Age: 17. Hometown: London
5. Jerry Anderson. Age: 57. Hometown: Arvada
6. Margaret Brown. Age: 71. Hometown: Abingdon
7. Suzanne Dando. Age: 50. Hometown: Sandford St Martin
Wallingford
1. Dave Earle. Age: 48. Hometown: Banbury
2. Patrick Burns. Age: 25. Hometown: Bicester
3. William Anderson. Age: 54. Hometown: Swindon
Crowmarsh Gifford
1. Fiona Grist. Age: 39. Hometown: Camberley
Nettlebed
1. Mo. Age: 70. Hometown: Wantage
2. Will Traves. Age: 13. Hometown: Banbury
Henley
1. Beth Lawrence. Age: 13. Hometown: Oxford
2. Mark Chesterton. Age: 63. Hometown: Oxford
3. Roy Clarridge. Age: 75. Hometown: Northwood