Olympic torch misses town

20/05/2011 @ 10:46

The Olympic torch is to bypass the whole of east Wales when it travels throughout the country before next year's games in London. But anger is mounting that Newtown, the largest town in Powys, should have been included in the tour.

The Olympic torch will travel to Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor, but misses the whole of eastern Wales, meaning most residents will have to travel over an hour at least to see the relay. One resident who contacted mynewtown said: "It's just typical. Everything goes to South Wales or North Wales. We always get left out." Another added: "If they want the Olympic torch let them have our pylons."

The Torch will undertake a 70-day domestic journey which will end at the Opening Ceremony, and, unlike previous torch relays, it will not go global but straight to Land’s End after its traditional lighting in Greece.

And with organisers promising that the torch will pass within an hour’s ride of 95 per cent of the population, local residents have unfortunately found themselves in the five per cent minority.

The route was unveiled this week by Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, which showed the 74 ports of call during its exhaustive route which will see 8,000 torch bearers share the workloads.

It arrives in Wales on day eight in Cardiff but will travel to Swansea before heading north to Aberystwyth and on to Bangor the following day.

However, organisers stress the route details are not comprehensive and more places will be visited, leaving the door open for Newtown and Welshpool. However, with most destinations along the west coast of Wales, it's unlikely to reach Montgomeryshire.

An Olympic insider told mynewtown and mywelshpool: “We have only revealed the overnight stops. The exact route will be confirmed nearer the time and will include many more hundreds of towns and villages across Wales.”

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