There was much excitement at CBC towers on Friday afternoon when the Olympic Torch came to Guildford, for its last stop outside London.
We were chuffed when we realised a while ago, that it was going to come past our office. For those of you who know Guildford, our office is on the Upper High Street, just past the RGS, on the first floor above the Marie Curie shop and Toni and Guy hairdressers. You know, the courtyard with the statue of the sheep!
Anyway — we got here early for our great vantage point of the torch, and an hour before it was due there were already large crowds in Guildford. Our friendly caretaker Tim opened up the unit above us so we had extra window space for us, our children, some friends and a reporter Surrey Ad who used our office to take photos for the paper. We naturally marked the occasion with a couple of drinks and nibbles.
And what a view we had — it was fantastic, as the police outriders came past the crowd went mad. And I’ve never seen a police motorcyclist “high five” a crowd before — good to see them getting into the spirit of things! And then the sponsors vehicles came through, the Coca Cola lorry being the most spectacular, handing out free drinks to the onlookers.
And then came the torch — and it didn’t disappoint. We were all thrilled to see it — Guildford has never seen the like of it. Congratulations to all the organisers, we all thought it was terrific!
Can’t wait for the real thing!!
Chaz
